WordPlay Now! Bonus Writing Prompt
Here's one of my delicious memories, an excerpt from the cookbook I wrote for my family called How She Fed Us:
Oven Fried Chicken
"Are you coming home for supper?" One day when I called my mother, these were the first words out of her mouth upon hearing my "hello." What made that so poignant is that I haven't lived with my mother for over twenty years. For a moment, I wondered what to say, swallowing the lump in my throat that came
with realizing she had recognized my voice right through her illness.
"Yes," I eventually choked out. "I am. Soon." In my mind, it was 1978 again, and I was making a nostalgic sunset drive up Interstate 79 in my 3-speed Plymouth Valiant, heading home for a weekend from my senior year in college. It was a surprise visit, a
spur-of-the-moment decision based on the knowledge that I'd soon be "on my own" for real, living who-knows-where. John Denver was on the radio singing "Hey It's Good To Be Back Home Again." Supper was on the stove, I was sure of that. And while didn't know what my mother was making, I knew it would be delicious. And I knew she'd be glad to see me.
By then, I was grateful I had a home to come back to, no longer the
self-absorbed eighteen-year-old who hummed and sang non-stop for days before going off to college. "Aren't you sad at all about leaving?" Mother had asked me, as I was standing by the sink grating carrots. I didn't understand the question. Why in the world would I be?
Mother always encouraged me to go, to follow my dreams. She
bought me a trunk, a "hot pot," new towels and sheets. It would be many years before I had a college-age daughter of my own and could understand how much my mother must have missed me. When I miss her, this is one of the dishes I make. Her typed recipe, which has an asterisk by the garlic with a note: "Omit if husband is expected for the meal," always makes me smile. I serve this with baked potatoes, peas and Ambrosia
Salad -- and it's almost like being home for supper.
Start your writing process by picking a person you've eaten with many times. Write down his/her name, and mull over times that
you've eaten together. Brainstorm lines of dialogue either one, or both, of you have spoken, and write a few of them down.
Then, pick one to start with and create a scene that begins with this line of dialogue. Include at least one of each of these items:
- a question
- a specific object ( a 3-speed Plymouth Valiant)
- a specific sound (my "hello")
- a specific smell (garlic)
- a specific action (grating carrots)
Bonus points if you include a song in your writing piece!
When you're finished with your first draft, polish it up and share it with someone you love. Sometimes a food memory is, in itself, a feast.
I'd love to see what you come up with! Email it to me at info@wordplaynow.com -- you could be featured in a future
Word-zine.
