Mr. Bombompsky Returns to the Cover

Mr. Bombompsky smiled. He was very satisfied with what he had written.

He turned to the page with his notes on Emil’s grandma. He started to think more about her. That was the hardest character to write for him, because he had never had one. He remembered his old friend, Vince Tuckler, and the many afternoons he had spent at Vince’s house, were Vince’s grandma would be waiting at the door, offering cookies to them, and watching the boys because Vince’s parents were at work. Vince had never eaten the cookies, he thought they were disgusting. Mr. Bombompsky hadn’t thought so, but he played along anyway.

Mr. Bombompsky never had someone waiting for him at home. His parents were at work too, and his mom’s parents had passed away, and his dad’s parents were mean and didn’t get along with the family. Even though Mrs. Tuckler’s cookies weren’t the best, Mr. Bombompsky had found it comforting to be around her. Emil’s grandma was based on Vince’s grandma.

Mr. Bombompsky leaned his head back in his chair and stretched his arms out, the kind of stretch a writer does after they have been sitting at their desk writing for a while.

He got up, and went to his kitchen. Just three weeks ago, Mr. Bombompsky’s kitchen had been redone. Along with all his other passions, he thought it was vital to have a good cooking space, especially if you are a writer, like himself.

Mr. Bombompsky spent hours in his kitchen, cooking up delicious meals, and, every time he was working on a book, tried to cook the character: he tried to create the character through cooking, by adding spices, choosing what country the food was originally from, fresh food, caned food, was the character a vegetarian, a vegan, if they were stranded on an island what would they eat, etc.

That night, for dinner, he decided he would have a three-course meal based on Lee Cot. He opened his computer, and researched ‘classic foods of Arizona’. It turned out to have kind of a Mexican, American, fruity flavor.

But he wanted to add more to Lee Cot. He felt spices, from morocco, nuts, chili with cheese, of course pickles, prechuto, adventurous white wine. Lee Cot would not be shy to new things, but would have a sturdy mind; he knows what he likes.

That’s it, he said to himself. That’s it.

There would be a fried sea bass fish, covered in mushrooms, spicy cashews, almonds, raisons, and peppers. With that would come an air loom tomato salad, with sea salt, pepper, oil, and feta cheese. It would come with pita bread covered in hummus. That was the second course. The first course, an appetizer, would be two kinds of bread. One, baked with parmesan and melted brie cheese and prechuto, and the second one, a simple but full of taste French baguette dipped in a homemade olive oil and a platter of olives. For dessert, well, that would come to him after he made the first two.

He decided to invite a few of his friends over, a tradition for character meals. He took out his phone and dialed Saki Motto.

He could come. Then Mr. Bombompsky called his good friend from the Writers Weekly Newspaper (WWN), Liza Elfansso. She could make it as well.

“Hello, Mr. Cordele. Its Mr. Bombompsky.”

“Hi! What is it?”

“Well, I’m having a character meal tonight, and Liza and my good friend Saki Motto will be there.” He didn’t even have to invite him.

“I’ll be right over. I’d be a fool to miss one of these meals!”

Now, Mr. Bombompsky just had to start cooking.