Good Intentions

Putting the final touches on it, Jasmine signed her latest complete piece of art. Pride radiated from her as she looked over the painting of the dragon in flight.

It's wings that opened to greet the storm overhead were only vaguely reminiscent of a phoenix in that the coverlet feathers were as dark in color as the scales along much of the body of the dragon, but then erupted into the pale purples, pinks and peach hues of dusk.

The dragon's body was based upon a wolf; thus, it was compact with long limbs that ended with clawed paws. Yet it retained the traits of a dragon in both the long, graceful neck and tapering, serpentine tail that terminated into a puff of blue. The blue being the same as the mane that trailed from the head of the dragon down it's spine to the end of its tail.

Pitch black plating had been painted along the underside of the entire beast, which both complimented and contrasted against the slightly lighter shades of black that were used the main body.

Its head was more typical of a European dragon in that it had an array of pointed fins than that of a mane of an Oriental dragon, but unlike the typical European dragon, this one wasn't breathing fire. In her painting, a flicker of electricity and the glow of light was within its gaping jaws. The effects of the glow were so bright that it nearly drowned out those golden, yellow eyes that the dragon had.

This was her answer for the art contest's theme of "What Dreams Become" as to her, dreams were something powerful and fantastical that flew freely. Just like the dragon in her painting.

Smiling, she put away the rest of her art supplies and grabbed the catalog that Takana-sensei had given her. With it in hand, she went downstairs to greet her father who would be coming home from work in short order.

Yet, she didn't get far before she was intercepted by Krystal, who had come to retrieve her from her room. "I was just coming to get you for dinner. Mom has cooked," Krystal emphasized the latter part of the statement as it was rare for their mother to have the time to cook any of their meals.

To this statement, Jasmine was a bit shocked. "Mom is still home?"

"Yeah. It seems she is lucky to have today off from work, so she decided to try a new recipe," she answered as she led Jasmine down the hall.

Jasmine inwardly cringed at the idea of her mother trying a new recipe as she recalled that her mother tended to experiment with recipes instead of following them. A decent cook could turn such experimentation into a treat, but her mother wasn't much of a cook, so her experiments in the kitchen often turned into something barely edible.

Honestly, her mother probably wouldn't be a bad cook except that she tended to try to make normal recipes healthier by adding ingredients with more nutritional value or omitting things but doing either of these could alter a dish too far from the original. Thus, ruining the favor and her family's appetite with it.

So, it was no surprise that by the time she drew near the dining room and the funky aroma greeted them that the both of them did their best to summon their iron stomachs in preparation to enter the battlefield.

Ethaniel was already seated at the table and had mastered his poker face in time. Krystal had a short internal struggle before taking her seat, while Jasmine assessed what was offered and tried to determine to the best of her ability as to which dish the awkward smell was emanating from.

None of them were willing to upset their mother who had done her best to provide for them. Yet, their father's arrival ruined the best of their preparations as a shout as soon as he entered the house broke the silence.

"Urgh! Did something go bad? Krystal, what did you cook? There must be something that has soured and shouldn't be used."

He hadn't even rounded the corner to enter the dining room proper before commenting. However, when he did and saw Julia at the table, his face flushed with embarrassment and he promptly shut up.

The damage was done though and Julia's disappointment was clearly on display on her features. Jakob's comment had crushed her small bit of hope for praise for having cooked dinner and having it ready for him by the time he got home.

Jakob knew his wife's propensity to change recipes up and experiment with food whenever she cooked, but he hadn't expected her to be home today to cook, either. Without anything to say to recover the situation, he wisely avoided eye contact and took his seat at the head of the table with a heavy sense of duty.

Jasmine had closed her eyes on hearing her father's outburst and knew that he was being relegated to the doghouse instantly by her mother, and nothing they could say would be able to rescue him. The spot on the couch tonight had his name firmly written on it.

'Fool,' thought Krystal, but she wouldn't voice this thought. Instead, she parlayed for her mother��s favor with a smile before saying, "It looks good, mom. Even if dad doesn't believe so by its smell. You went to the grocery store today to pick up fresh produce, right?"

Julia's eyes lit up with appreciation for her eldest daughter as she nodded, "That's true! It's good of you to notice! I hadn't wanted to disturb you while you were busy with filling out those applications and writing the essays for entrance examinations, so I went to the store on my own. I had especially picked out veggies rich in vitamins to promote brain function along with ginseng for energy."

'Ah, so that's the weird smell,' Jasmine thought as she noticed the use of spinach and ginseng together in one of the dishes, which was one of the unusual combination choices present. It was these kinds of oddities that were usual born from her mother's good intentions, much like the pumpkin and cranberry soup she once made them suffer through.

The empty pleasantries between her elder sister and mother continued, but Jasmine had long tuned it out as she faced the task of consuming such odious mixtures. Even when her father chimed in later in an act to redeem himself had not divided her attention from the battle that was on her plate.

Her brother was the quickest in getting through dinner and excusing himself, while Jasmine followed to remove herself from the table as well. Leaving the catalog and a few words about the needed supplies for kendo, she bid those remaining a good night, the pardoned herself with a lame excuse of needing to sleep early to be prepared for school the following day to leave.