One of Skylar's favorite activities when John and Emily were busy was to flip through cookbooks. Especially when Skylar started going to the library to read those books, some of them focused on different countries and cultures. But one thing carried through most recipes that weren't listed as desserts or specifically intended as vegetarian, they were very meaty.
There were so many edible plants, with so many different textures and flavor profiles, yet they felt like after thoughts except when the dish was intended to be meatless.
Skylar was running a finger along the recipe books, enjoying the peace and quiet of the library to ponder. Thoughts actually racing about their ship, the famine on Qwortar, and their predicament, Skylar almost ran into a woman standing at the end of the aisle.
"Sorry." Skylar stepped to the side, and the woman looked up. Big brown eyes were the only facial feature they could see, as the woman was wearing a lilac hijab.
"It is okay." She spoke slowly, with a mild accent. Skylar nodded and took another step. "May I ask you something?" This time the words came a little quicker, the accent thicker, but Skylar didn't hesitate to say yes and turn back to her. "My husband's family is visiting for a barbecue," she twisted her hands together, "and he says he will cook the meat his family wants, but do you know if a book here has a recipe for homemade vegetable burgers? We tried some frozen ones and we disliked them, and we do want to be similar to his family in what we are eating."
While Skylar took a couple moments to piece together the question and to look up a specific book through their connection to the internet the woman continued to wring her hands.
"I'm sorry." She blurted. "I shouldn't have bothered you."
"It's okay." Skylar held out their hands. "I was just thinking." They tapped their chin. Skykar turned the corner and walked about halfway down the next aisle, the woman following. "There's this one," Skylar pulled a thick book from the shelf, the spine had the title "Veggies for the All American" as well as an American flag and some dancing vegetables. "Which I think uses black beans for the base of the burgers. Though I have also seen recipes which just take a large mushroom top and grill it like a patty." Skylar nodded at the shelf, "Here's where a lot of the vegetarian cookbooks are, so there's probably even more varieties."
"Thank you so much." The woman did a shallow bow before taking the book Skylar had gotten from the shelf.
"You're welcome." Skylar dipped their head. "I hope you find a recipe both you and your husband will enjoy." Their phone buzzed and Skylar hiked a thumb towards the library entrance. "I gotta go, but if you need anymore help the librarians are all super nice." Skylar waved and left the library and the woman with the cookbook behind.
Word count: 500
