Chapter 2

• Back in the center of Ekule, one of the most incredible villages of the Batang empire in Africa, Suzie released her breath. She had escaped from the unknown.
• She continued her walk home where her grandmother had long been waiting for her to prepare the mushroom soup.
• "Hi, big momma!" Suzie said as she was getting inside the house.
• "I am back home." She pursued while heading to the kitchen. She laid the basket of mushrooms in the sink.
• "Where have you been, you little blighter?" Suzie's grandmother asked her upset.
• "Big momma, I am sorry!" Suzie mumbled while rushing to hug the old lady in an attempt to calm her down.
• "Today there were so many mushrooms across the forest. I had to make sure I took home as many as possible. I also had to be very selective so I could bring the healthiest ones for your preferred soup." She explained.
• "Hmmm, now you are flattering me. You know every time how to appease me, especially when you bring at home my favorite chow." Grandma answered back in a mild tone of voice.
• Suzie returned to the kitchen. She removed the mushrooms from the basket and placed them in a pot. She opened the tap to get some water, then tidied the white Buttons up.
• And then…! The memory of what had happened in the woods popped up.
• "Big momma, let me tell you the strange thing that occurred when I was in Ekule's forest!" Suzie declared to her grandmother sitting on the rattan chair in the parlor.
• The sexagenarian who was airing herself with a floral folding hand fan glanced in the direction of her granddaughter and uttered "You again with your stories, what's up this time, little tattletale?"
• "No big momma, it is not the usual gossip about the people in the village." Suzie contradicted her.
• "I was stalked by a man in the forest. It seemed like he was a lumberjack but I did not have time to check." She asserted.
• "What? What am I hearing here?" Grandma expressed herself, astonished.
• "Who is this impertinent individual who endeavored to harm my precious angel?" She doubled down.
• "No big momma, I was not hurt. I was just unpleasantly surprised at his sight. I thought I was in the woods all by myself." Suzie described to her infuriated nanny.
• "Whatever! This should not repeat." Big momma reacted, firmly sweeping away her little daughter's euphemism.
• Suzie whisted and resumed the cooking of mushrooms. She poured the pot's dirty water into the sink and grabbed a fresh one from the tap.
• She salted the white Buttons, then added chopped parsley, minced onions, and ground garlic. Finally, she laid the pot of mushrooms on the firewood that was gently burning down.
• Half an hour later, grandma started smelling the delicious aromas of her forever-loved dish.
• "Hmmm, Suzie, you are making me salivate already. How long is it going to take before you serve me?" Big momma asked impatiently.
• "Just ten more minutes to simmer the soup a bit and it's ready." The granddaughter answered smiling.
• "Alright! But be fast! I am starving now." Grandma told her.
• Ten minutes later the mushroom soup was ready. Its perfumed odor had spread all over the chalet. Suzie put a fair portion in big momma's assigned plate and brought it to the dining room.
• "Dinner is served!" Suzie yelled. Big momma jumped out from the rattan chair and hastened to the eating table. She pulled her Windsor seat and sat.
• "Yummy! Once again you have nailed it my dear darling. I am savoring it." The elderly woman praised.
• "Thank you, big momma! But now it's time for me to have some rest. I had a fastidious day." Suzie responded, then climbed upstairs to go to her bedroom.