Chapter 1
Ever since Henry Swan could remember, he had always loved to cook. His mom used to tell him that when he was just five years old he would pretend to cook in his toy kitchen. Instead of playing with Legos or army figures, Henry "cooked" for his mom. Once he was finally old enough to actually cook in a real kitchen, he started making supper on a weekly basis. Henry's dream was to go to culinary school in Paris and learn how to cook and be taught by real professionals.
Emma Swan, Henry's mother, worked long, tedious hours as a detective in New York City. Every night when she got off work, she walked into the apartment with a smile on her face knowing her son had a nice home-cooked meal waiting for her. Now, Emma knew she herself could not cook worth a damn, so she was very thankful to have Granny teach him the proper skills whilst Emma was out working. Granny is a nickname that Henry gave her when he was just little boy because he couldn't pronounce her real name. Granny was practically family so she didn't get payed for watching Henry, but she was real keen to eating the food he prepared each time she was over.
One evening after work, Emma was on her way up the stairs to her apartment when she got a call from Henry. "Hey kid, I'm walking up the stairs right now. What's up?" she asked.
"Hurry up! I have a surprise!" Henry yelled. He hung up the phone and waited patiently for his mother to walk in the door. As soon as Emma swung the door open, Henry jumped from the chair he was occupying and engulfed her in a huge hug. Granny couldn't help but smile from where she was standing by the kitchen counter. She knew Emma would be surprised, but she wasn't sure how she would take the news.
"Whoa, buddy. What's going on?" she asked.
"Guess what, guess what, guess whaaaat?" Henry cried.
"What?" Emma asked.
"I got an audition for Master Chef Junior!" he exclaimed. "I might be on television!"
"Wow. That's amazing! I'm so proud of you!" she replied, before hugging him and leaning her chin on his head. She whispered to Granny, "Isn't that the show with the bitchy chef judge? Chef Mills or something?"
"I believe so," Granny replied. "But I heard she's actually nice to kids. It's the adults that need to be scared." Emma sighed in relief.
Emma released Henry and looked him in the eyes. "So where and when does this audition take place?"