Write a story in which a character cooks up something to impress someone.

Posted in Romance on Dec 8, 2023

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✍️ 34 stories

“Aka” by Derrick M Domican

Submitted to Contest #228

Oh. You’re awake. Bit sooner than expected but…oh well. Must have got the strength wrong. I’m not exactly experienced with using chloroform, only tried it twice so far, and once was on myself. Yeah, I know that sounds crazy but how else was I supposed to see if it worked? Amazed it did, to be honest. Thought it was just a movie thing. But it gave me the best sleep I’ve had in years. Kenji too. Doesn’t look like it did much for you, you were only out for about three hours. Your eyes look like shit. Crusty and bloodshot. Lucky for you, she won...

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“Pheasant Under Glass” by Webb Johnson

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #228

A reflection of the azure-blue sky must have been the last thing the ring-necked pheasant saw before he flew into my floor-to-ceiling panorama window. I heard the house rattling thud and rushed to my balcony where I found the stately bird looking like a pile of pretty feathers. Sadly, the angle of his neck, and his half-opened vacant eyes told me he was a goner. It was a distressing moment, for sure, but the home chef inside me soon pictured a steaming, crispy-skinned entree stuffed with apples and brown rice. The living and dying were don...

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“The Morsel that Counts” by Iman Ahmed

Submitted to Contest #228

My mother has always said that the best way to make your place in someone’s heart is to feed them great food. Growing up this was something I heard far too often and I brushed it off. I believed it was one of my mother’s ways of getting me into the kitchen to learn to cook. Ultimately, her words became more than that, as today I am the head chef of the city's finest 5-star restaurant. While cooking for more than 50 people a day has its challenges, it is nowhere near the anxiety I have today. My fiance Amir proposed a few weeks ago and today ...

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“Mud Cake for Mom” by Chelsey B

Submitted to Contest #228

Mom was in a bad mood. The baby in her belly was making her feel sick. She’d been unwell ever since she found out that thing was in there. Della wished it would hurry up and get born, so she could have her mom back. Life was hard when Mom was crabby. She wouldn’t let Della watch TV. “You’ve watched too much TV already today,” she said, when Della asked. She had to throw up a lot, so she couldn’t take her to the park. “Daddy worked hard to finish the fence, and set up your play area. You can go out in the backyard,” she said, when Del...

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“"Get out of my kitchen!"” by Joana Sério

Submitted to Contest #228

"Why don't you make your own soups instead of buying pre-made ones from the supermarket?" I asked Nuno at the time."Because they're so good, not expensive, and it's enough for me." he replied."Yes, I agree they're good, but soup is such a special and personal food that should be made by us or by those who take care of us and love us. Soup is an act of love." I told him, trying to convince him to make his own soups. But I quickly realized that I had to start making his soups. It's not much trouble, and I know what goes into the soups. I feel ...

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“Fast Food Haberdashery” by Joe Smallwood

Submitted to Contest #228

“I hate it when my pants make noises when I walk!”It wasn’t our kind of day. So, her look said it all.“Can you still return them?” I replied, helpful, sort of.She stopped walking. “I can’t hear them,” I said. “I swear! Get them wifi enabled? Then you could get some online help?”“Oh, you!”#Me. So I cooked up something. Anything. Not a foodie, obviously. Mac and cheese. Now, that is something.“Oh, yuck! What is this goop?”She did that exaggerated ladling with the wooden spoon thing. You know when you lift whatever you despise and slowly l...

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“Arranged” by Paromita De

Submitted to Contest #228

ArrangedIt was 1974, and Priya was getting ready to get married to Rahul; a boy she barely knew. Her father and his uncle knew each other since childhood and worked at a factory together. The families were meeting together in their homes this weekend, and her mother asked Priya to cook the meal. It felt like an interview. She felt like her paneer tikka masala was going to be judged by her future mother-in-law, husband and future father-in-law as the last assessment before tying the knot. Priya’s mother, Darshana, prepped her for months ...

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“The Spread” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #228

“Tell me, how do you think I ended up here, in prison?” Lourdes leaned against the heavy metal door, muffled voices echoed from the hall outside; shouting, laughing and cursing. Lourdes wore a clean and pressed inmate uniform, her white tennis shoes glowed white. She pushed her thick framed glasses tight against her face with a knuckle. Gloria sat on the bunk, her attention on her wine red nails, picking invisible fluff off her bed, anything to not look at Lourdes. Her few possessions, still lay crumpled in a pile on...

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“Wizard Meets Witch” by James Lane

Submitted to Contest #228

The Magi Weekly Classifieds. Ad #1610Single Wizard, 42. Enjoys good books, star charts and deep conversations. Seeking a star-crossed sorceress with a passion for discovery. If you value serious research during the day and playful observation at night, please write back.“Playful observation,” Albert Limerno read aloud from his ad. “What a buffoon.”Albert tossed the issue of the Magi Weekly atop a heap of star maps on his desk. It took him a week to make those charts - plotting two new celestial bodies and calculating their apparent diam...

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“Girlfriend Material” by Audrey Knox

Submitted to Contest #228

Your eyes blink open, confused by the sunlight beaming in at an unfamiliar angle. Your brain does that startled moment where you don’t recognize the bedroom you’re in before it all comes rushing back: bar, bourbon on the rocks, truffle mac and cheese, laughing, a hand on your leg, getting the check, kissing on the sidewalk. A deep kiss—one with tongue and hands and arms. Your whole body. The release of tension. Years of tension. Friends to lovers kind of tension. The car. Pressed up against it. Pressed up against him. Hands. Begg...

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“Fatto con amore” by Rebecca Detti

Submitted to Contest #228

Do you remember that advert from the eighties? You know the one, advertising canned baked beans or maybe it was a toy kitchen? I can’t really remember the point of it or what they were selling. All I remember is the sweet little girl waking up early on what I suspect must have been Father’s Day. Creeping downstairs so that her unsuspecting parents didn’t realise what culinary delight she was preparing. She puts some cold beans on a plastic plate and adds what looks like a huge jam- sponge roll next to it. I honestly don’t know whose decision...

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“Eating In” by Martin Tulton

Submitted to Contest #228

Later life undoubtedly brings its share of travails, but one of its pleasures is surely a slowing of the pace. The urgency of youth, or the sheer size of the task mountain represented by home, work and family in mid-life, gives way to a more measured ability to notice, well, life. David sipped his wine and read those lines again. He had been focussed on his phone, only dimly aware of the warmth of the sun and the chatter of other customers scattered round the pub garden. The remains of a meal in front of him brought a realisation that he’...

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“Substances, Cigarettes” by Noa Garcia

Submitted to Contest #228

[TW: abuse, substance abuse, mental health]Stella was a careless dancer.The girls in 517 all described her as this because when she danced, which was often, she would close her eyes and move around the apartment with a broom or a hairbrush or a bottle of wine and forget that they had far less space in their home than that in a dance studio. The victims of Stella's dancing included Malia's desk lamp, three of Andi's potted plants, and (although only once) a TV remote that went flying out of the fifth story window.Stella had kissed Amber for t...

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“Parvum Sedatio” by Sam B

Submitted to Contest #228

The old rope rasped against the wood as Lenora cranked the handle at the stone well, her foot braced in the dirt, knuckles white. The young girl pulled an oak bucket into the air and unhooked it before resting it on the ground. It overflowed with clear spring water; the puddle it made trickled into the hole in the tip of her soft leather boot. She stepped back and shook her left leg. Lifting her pointed hat, she tucked wayward strands of chestnut brown hair behind her oversized ears and wiped her brow with the back of her hand. Subdued sun...

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“Pirouette” by PJ Town

Submitted to Contest #228

There was once a little woodsmaid, made of wood. She lived with her father – a carpenter – in a wood cabin on the edge of … a forest.Her father and his wife always wanted to have children but were unable to, for all the typical reasons. After his wife died, the old carpenter became very lonely; he only ever saw people when they came from the nearby towns and villages to commission his work, so any relationships he had were strictly business.Gregório – for that was the carpenter’s name – had been so devoted to his wife, and they’d been so hap...

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Contest #228

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Ended on 23:59 - Dec 15, 2023 EST

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Title: Cooking Lessons

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Write a story in which a character cooks up something to impress someone.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 34 stories

“Aka” by Derrick M Domican

“Pheasant Under Glass” by Webb Johnson

“The Morsel that Counts” by Iman Ahmed

“Mud Cake for Mom” by Chelsey B

“"Get out of my kitchen!"” by Joana Sério

“Fast Food Haberdashery” by Joe Smallwood

“Arranged” by Paromita De

“The Spread” by Marty B

“Wizard Meets Witch” by James Lane

“Girlfriend Material” by Audrey Knox

“Fatto con amore” by Rebecca Detti

“Eating In” by Martin Tulton

“Substances, Cigarettes” by Noa Garcia

“Parvum Sedatio” by Sam B

“Pirouette” by PJ Town

🌟 Similar prompts

Start or end your story in a bustling street food market.

Include in your story a scene about a family's last meal before a significant change.

Write a story in which a character eats something that they shouldn’t have eaten.

Write a story in which a certain food makes your character travel back in time.

Contest #228

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

230

Contest entries

88

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: