Your friend is under the weather, so you decide to make her soup. Chicken noodle would be easiest. But chicken noodle is so… ordinary.
What she needs is The Magnificent Medicinal Mystery Soup.
You remember seeing the recipe somewhere. You check the cookbook shelf. The kitchen drawer. The little wooden box where you keep recipe cards.
Your dragon checks under the table. Then inside a mixing bowl. Then under himself.
Nothing.
You pause to consider. Chicken noodle is still an option. You don’t need a physical copy of the recipe to make that.
You shrug, deciding. How hard can mystery soup be?
You choose carrots. The dragon chooses an apple. You hesitate, but apples are healthy. Into the pot it goes.
You choose rosemary. The dragon chooses honey. Interesting. You add ginger. Ginger goes with honey.
The dragon proudly rolls a potato across the floor. Potatoes go in soup.
Probably.
Soon, you have developed a system. You pick an ingredient, then the dragon picks one. Sometimes you discuss his selection. Sometimes the dragon hugs the ingredient until you agree.
Celery.
Cinnamon.
Peas.
A turnip.
A handful of parsley.
Three blueberries.
By now, the pot smells… complicated. You stir while your dragon watches from a stool. The Magnificent Medicinal Mystery Soup bubbles and burbles. Steam curls toward the ceiling.
It looks magnificent.
Possibly medicinal.
Definitely mysterious.
At last, you fill two spoons. You taste yours. The dragon laps from his.
You both freeze.
You look at the dragon. The dragon looks at you.
Ptooey!
Your spoon clatters into the sink. The dragon dives for his water bowl. By the time he comes up dripping, you are laughing so hard you have to hold the counter.
The dragon gives a soggy little snort, and you both laugh harder.
Finally, you dump the Magnificent Medicinal Mystery Soup, wash the pot, and start again.
Chicken broth.
Carrots.
Celery.
Noodles.
Before long, the kitchen smells warm and familiar. Your dragon curls beside the stove while you stir.
The chicken noodle soup isn’t magnificent.
It isn’t mysterious.
But somehow, it smells exactly right.
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