A Little Chef

There was once a little boy named Enzo. Little Enzo's attention was caught by many different things. He was a curious little lad who focused on almost everything he saw throughout the day. There was something that caught his attention more than anything though; that was his mom's cooking.

Every single day, once Enzo came back home from school, he'd rush into the kitchen to catch his mom cooking. He'd focus on every little thing his mom would do, from watching her open containers of food, to watching food being cut up. He'd always ask his mother if she needed help with anything. Whether it was with cooking or grabbing ingredients, Enzo wanted to help out in the kitchen. Enzo's mom would allow him to grab her only certain things, things which wouldn't break if dropped. She was very careful with Enzo being in the kitchen, knowing he could mess up her meals, so she decided to ask Enzo if he could go outside and play. Enzo then walks outside, looking for a soccer ball in sorrowness. As he kicks the ball around, he realizes he's not happy being outside. He misses watching his mom cook, but is sad knowing she doesn't want him inside. Enzo continues kicking the ball around, realizing his mom is cooking his favorite meal inside the house: spaghetti with breaded chicken. Enzo can't stand but to go inside and watch his mom do what he loves most, so he kicks the ball off to the side, and rushes inside.

"Mommy, Mommy! I want to watch you cook!".

His mom is somewhat annoyed, but also eager her son is very curious about cooking, so she allows him to stay and watch, "Oh yes Enzo, you can stay here and watch me cook".

So Enzo takes a seat near his mom in the kitchen, happy he will see his mom cook. "Mommy?", Enzo says.

"Yes, Enzo?" replies Enzo's mom.

"Can I help you cook? I really want to become a chef when I'm older. I love watching you make food and I want to learn to cook my own food too".

"Aw Enzo, I am glad you are optimistic about learning to cook, but I'm afraid to tell you that you're too young to cook. You can continue watching me cook and help grab me ingredients for now, but you're going to have to wait till you're older in order to actually start making meals on your own".

Enzo was very saddened by this. All he wanted to do was cook, nothing else. But even then, he was still "too young" to begin cooking.

Disappointed and saddened, little Enzo went into his room and began to cry. He wished for nothing, other than to be able to cook soon.

After a couple minutes of crying, Enzo was starting to feel a little better. He felt like going back out to watch his mother finish cooking, but he knew he would get saddened by the thought that he wasn't old enough to cook yet, so he decided to just stay in his room and lay down. All of a sudden, Enzo is sound asleep while his mom is calling him, saying that dinner is ready. Enzo doesn't hear a peep though, so he stays sound asleep. Later that evening, when Enzo is awake, his mom calls him into the kitchen. She asks him if he is hungry, but he replies with a "no". Enzo's mother realizes what it is that's making Enzo not be hungry, so she asks him if he'd like to help her cook his favorite dessert snack, strawberry cheesecake.

Enzo happily yells out, "Yes!!".

He quickly grabs all the ingredients as his mom tells him what to get. He's so happy, he can't stand still. Enzo and his mom cooperatively work to make the cheesecake. His mom shows him what to do, and helps him do all the different steps from measuring liquids, or mixing ingredients, to baking what needs to be baked. Enzo can't believe what he's doing. He's so happy he feels he's living a dream.

Until suddenly, he accidentally knocks over the pan with the cheese cake. His mom turns to look, the expression on her face is not good. She yells at Enzo. Not only for making a mess and wasting food, but also because she knew she should've waited for Enzo to be older before she taught him to cook. Enzo starts to cry once again and goes back into his room, letting everything out onto his pillow. He starts to think, "maybe I'll never ever become a chef". He just spilled what was supposed to be his first ever dish. If he can't even stop himself from spilling things, how is he going to learn to make a nice meal? He then falls asleep, laying on his wet pillow, not caring because of how sad and tired he is.

Later in the night during this, Enzo wakes up very hungry. He hasn't eaten all day so he decides to walk into the kitchen to find something to eat. Enzo doesn't find anything premade, so he decides maybe he'll try to make something of his own. He starts grabbing a bunch of ingredients by instinct, with only one thing in mind..."strawberry cheesecake". The recipe and steps all come to him; he can do it all alone. He starts doing all the different steps to make the cheesecake, making sure he doesn't forget a thing.

Some time passes by... Enzo has made a strawberry cheesecake. He's happier than ever and feels very accomplished. Not only has he made food on his own, but has also proved his mom wrong. He calls his mom to come in and try a piece. His mom is very surprised that Enzo was able to make the cheesecake. She begs him for forgiveness for her behavior earlier, now she's really happy with what Enzo has done.

After a couple minutes, Enzo and his family all have a slice of strawberry cheesecake. They are all very proud of what he has made.