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Sue grumbled as she scraped burnt grains of rice from the bottom of a pan with a rice paddle.
“Great,” she thought to herself, “another pan ruined. Yuko’s gonna kill me.”
It’s not the first time she’s cooked, but it’s also not the first time she’s messed up at it. Sue could even mess up the most basic dishes as if it were a hidden talent of hers. But when her dad and stepmom (who she barely even considers as her stepmom) are out, leaving her alone with her half-sister, Prudence, and good takeout food was limited in their area, Sue didn’t have many other options.
This time around she figured she could make Prudence some fried rice, since it was easy enough, and plus, Prudence loved fried rice. So she got some leftover chicken, rice, and mixed veggies to throw together in a pan with soy sauce and other seasonings. Now she’s not entirely sure where she messed up. Perhaps she didn’t oil the pan well enough, or she put the heat on the stove too high, but while scooping the finished rice into Prudence's Sanrio-themed bowl, there was a hard coat of burnt rice and other ingredients at the bottom of the pan, and no matter how hard she scraped or scrubbed, they were stuck on for good.
After shoving the pan into the trash, Sue tried to resume on preparing Prudence's dinner, despite how frustrated she was. She sliced some strawberries and put them in a smaller Sanrio-themed bowl, and poured a cup of milk. Finally, she grabbed a spoon and fork, and carried everything to the kitchen table, setting it down nice and neat. All that was missing was Prudence to eat it all.
Sue went to the living room where Prudence sat on the couch watching The Backyardigins. She was fixated on the show, kicking her legs under her favorite blanket with her favorite stuffed animal of a white dog.
“Hey, Prudy, it’s time for dinner,” Sue told her. Prudence looked over at her, and then back at the tv slowly.
“Prudence, I mean it. No more tv for now,” Sue said, reaching for the remote, but before she could grab it, Prudence took it and threw it on the ground.
“Prudence please!” Sue said, unintentionally raising her voice and making Prudence flinch. Realizing she had yelled, Sue sighed out of frustration, and said more calmly, “Please Prudence, your dinner’s getting cold.”
As Sue went to retrieve the remote and turn off the TV, Prudence stumbled off the couch and walked to the dining table. Sue helped her into her chair and put a napkin in her lap so she wouldn’t dirty her clothes.
As Prudence ate, the two sat in silence. It’s not like either of them couldn’t think of anything to talk about. Prudence couldn’t talk despite how much she wished to, or how much her family wished she could, and Sue doesn’t think Prudence would understand things like high school or exams or anything like that. All that happened while Prudence was eating was Sue working on some extra homework, her eyes glazed and tired, and her head resting in her hand.
Suddenly, a spoonful of fried rice entered Sue’s field of vision, snapping her out of her concentration. A greasy grain of it almost dropped onto her homework, nearly ruining it.
“Hey, what the-“
Sue looked up seeing Prudence extending her arm out towards Sue.
“Um, what are you doing?” Sue asked. In response, Prudence reached out further with the spoon, closer to Sue’s mouth. It finally clicked in her head what going on.
“Oh, I’m not hungry Prudy,” Sue sighed. More determined, Prudence leaned over more, making Sue scoot away.
“Seriously Prudence, I’m not hungry,” Sue insisted. Still not taking no for an answer, Prudence leaned in even further, almost climbing onto the table and nearly falling while doing so.
“Woah, hey!” Sue said, catching Prudence. More bits of rice and veggies fell off the spoon, a few landing on Sue’s papers, staining them with oil. It didn’t bother Sue much however, at least not this time. When she saw Prudence, her face didn’t look so different than usual, but she felt a different vibe from her. A more worrying vibe that is. She was worried, but not for herself, but for Sue.
“Alright, I’ll eat a little bit, just get off the table,” Sue sighed, finally giving in.
After helping Prudence off the table, Sue ate a bite of her creation. It could’ve been better, but it wasn’t as bad as she thought it would’ve been.
Dinner went on without further incident, and Prudence finished everything with a slight smile on her face.
“You done?” Sue asked. Prudence nodded.
“Good… did you like it…?” Sue asked, a bit hesitant to ask. Prudence paused for a bit, and nodded again.
“Thank goodness,” Sue smiled. Even though she knew Prudence could’ve just been trying to be nice, she was still happy that she had finished all of her dinner. Sue took her dirty dishes, and put them in the dishwasher for the night, along with all of the other dirty dishes from the day. As she finished cleaning up, she felt a gentle squeeze around her lower half. When she looked down, Prudence was hugging her while smiling up at her. In response, Sue simply smiled back.