The Recipe

                                                  The Recipe

Chomp Chomp Chomp.

Kayley chewed on her morning cereal, mindlessly nourishing herself. She kicked at the pole near her foot, working out some of her leftover frustrations from nightmares and yesterday’s worries.

The tiles featured all along the kitchen table were egg white, even though the Redmond family never came close to an egg besides the rare incident of baking for an extra special occasion. Colorful fruits were laid out in different ceramic bowls, each displayed proudly for nutritional reasoning.

Kayley’s older brother, Nathan, was rambling on and on about something to do with quantum physics when Kayley raised her hand eagerly. Both her mother’s and father’s eyes fell upon her as if her speaking was a somewhat inconstant occurrence (and it was).

Nathan’s speech came to an abrupt stop as his father raised his hand to silence him, welcoming Kayley’s question. At this invitation, Kayley lowered her hand and inhaled deeply, preparing herself and relishing the silence that surrounded her attention.

“Why do we eat the same thing EVERY morning?” She asked, nervously spooning circles into the skimmed milk that remained within her cereal bowl.

Her parents exchanged a look of desperation before her brother aptly responded: “It’s called a routine, Kayley. It’s within human nature; it’s something we do to provide a constant in our lives. It’s comforting.” Nathan proceeded to roll his eyes, mocking his sister’s “simplicity”.

Kayley glared at her brother but as the awkward silence revealed the truth of the matter, she returned to stirring her spoon and casually munching on the same taste she had tasted for years.

Realizing how disgusting it was to taste the same thing every morning for eleven years, she spat it out, cleaning the remnants away with the perfectly folded napkin that lay to her right. She stood up and walked toward the fridge, throwing it open with a single movement. Her eyes grazed over the plethora of food she had tasted hundreds of times, disgusted by the familiarity.

She began to rummage through it all, searching for something that she didn’t immediately recognize. Her eyes fell upon a blue carton.

She removed the eggs slowly, somewhat knowing of their delicacy and rested them upon the spotless counter. She ignored the confused stares of her family as she began to prepare the meal she had no recipe for.

Kayley pulled out a pan, wincing at the clang! it made as it hit the stove.

It sizzled as she turned the knob on the stove to ignite the flame. Nathan returned to his meal but her parent’s eyes remained curiously observing her.

She cracked the eggs, unsure of what part was the best to cook. Once she had randomly decided, she let those parts leak into the now boiling hot pan. Grasping a spatula she began to move her experiment around, waiting until she felt as if it were prepared.

The nervous sweat accumulated as she served her creation onto her family’s plates, expectantly waiting for their reactions.

Nathan was the first to make a sound. He gagged awkwardly, covering his mouth to mask his disgust. Her parent’s reactions were quite the same. 

Embarrassed tears began to spring to Kayley’s eyes but were soon halted by giant smiles of appreciation from every member of her family.

She sat back in her usual chair, serving herself her own plate.

The taste was dreadful but undeniably satisfying.