The Prompt: Write a story in which a character cooks up something to impress someone. from blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts

Frank got up from the couch startled by the alarm. The pork is done in the crock-pot. As he walked over to turn off the crock-pot to check the temperature on the pork, he pulled out his phone to check the recipe for the next steps.

Two forks pierced the pork shoulder easily, and in short time a bowl of pulled pork sat at the bottom of the crock-pot.

Frank got the recipe up for twice baked potatoes and lent the phone against the crock-pot, now set to warm while he he moved on to the next thing. Frank had been cooking for a while and had gotten quite good at smaller dishes but still did not have the organization or experience to multi-task in the kitchen.

“Okay, you got this” said Frank to an empty apartment kitchen. The apartment was recently cleaned and made presentable with the exception of the bedroom closet now filled with all the lose articles that accumulate when living alone.

When Frank opened the fridge he grabbed the butter, sour crew, milk, and shredded cheese. The milk was in a small elementary school styled carton purchased just for this dish. The bacon had been opened a week ago and was in a zip-lock bag. Why don’t the make the bags resealable by default or why don’t they sell bacon in smaller quantities thought Frank as he pulled out the bacon.

Frank opened the dishwasher to find dirty dishes from the last three days with a washing pod sitting at the bottom. “shit” Frank muttered.

He grabbed the cutting board from the dishwasher and the sponge from behind the sink faucet.

Frank turned around quick as his phone beeped. “Hey im sorry about this but i might be a little late. I just got out of work and i still need to run home and change. I can be there by 8” popped the message from “Shannon from Mc’Murphy’s Pub”. Frank looked at the oven and saw 0715. Frank grabbed the phone and wrote back “no worries, I hope you are hungry :)”. Frank let out a sigh, he just got some breathing room and might finish in time.

Frank set the oven to 350 to preheat then grabbed the potatoes. He sliced the two potatoes in half then placed four halved potatoes on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Step two can wait a moment thought frank as he swung open the fridge to grab a can of Coors from the fridge and cracked it open.

“Bacon time” said Frank. He grabbed the pan from the cabinet and set the heat on high. He then turned around grabbed 4 slices of bacon from the zip-lock. “why do the always look so pale the moment after you unseal them” Frank thought to himself.

With the pan now hot Frank turned on the overhead vent and put all four pieces of bacon in the pan. The sound of the sizzle brought a smile to his face.

Beep. The oven was now up to temperature so Frank loaded in the potatoes. The time now only visible on the microwave said 0720. After a minute and a half Frank went to grab the tongs to flip the bacon but they weren’t in the holder. Frank opened the dishwasher to see them inside and dirty. He then grabbed a fork and began the delicate process of threading a piece of bacon between the teeth of the fork and then flipping them on the pan.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Frank quickly reached over the sink and opened the window. “Shit, shit, shit” he muttered to himself as stomped though the apartment to open more windows and turn on the overhead fan in the living room.

The phone beeped again.

Frank walked over to check it and saw on the home screen. “Hey I hate to do this but I think im just going to stay home. Traffic looks pretty bad and im really tired. Can we reschedule?” read the message from Shannon. Frank grabbed the phone to reply and flinched a little as he felt how hot it was. As he went to unlock the phone a notification popped “phone overheated, powering off”.

Frank then turned off the stove, grabbed his already open beer and another from the fridge. He then walked over to the couch as the last beeps finished from the fire alarm. He turned the TV as he waited for his phone to cool down so he could reply.

The end.