Ripples 14 by KimB

[Editor's Note: Ripples is a serial story.
The author makes no guarantees as to completing the serial.
Publication dates are located in the left side menu.]

14 Comfort Zone

Comfort flowed through the air.

The simmering pots bubbled and steamed an enveloping serenity.

She placed the discounted chicken pieces in a large pot and covered with water, a bit of salt and a few herbs. She let it simmer until the liquid had absorbed all the flavors. She removed the pieces from the soup and pulled the meat from the bones. Setting this aside, she cut the few vegetables she had procured: potato, carrots, onions, celery and added these to the broth. In a nearby plastic container were a few green beans and sliced cabbage for the finish.

Another pot, she filled with 1 1/2 cups of water and some salt. Once boiling, she added the cup of basmati rice that she had rinsed and set to soak earlier that morning and turned the heat to a slow simmer. 11 minutes on, 10 minutes off: perfection. The cooking rice added its subtle perfume to the bouquet of aromas.

Happiness rising.

The dinner safely in progress, she sat a the worn table watching the steam swirling from the soup. The mist rising, swaying and shifting direction, influenced by imperceptible portents.

A much used and often recycled folder, extracted from the stack of at hand papers, its previous contents replaced atop the precarious pile, now enclosed the brochures and assorted printouts she had carried away from the Fruit Stand Store. She opened the folder, briefly scanning each item, arranging and grouping them in her own ordering. Satisfied with her arrangement, she returned to the first item in the folder.

It's generally best to start at the beginning, she thought.

But then again, she reflected, it was clear, this wasn't actually the beginning.