“[T]his was my first time making strawberry jelly,” says our narrator-protagonist. And the measurements need to be just right. Vicki Wilson’s “Jelly” opens with emphasis on deliberate and careful measurement. But as we’ll soon discover, there’s more at stake than making a common spread for toast. “If the jelly set, it was a sign that my mom wasn’t mad at me.” This recipe and its progress from harvested ingredients to set jelly is the metaphorical vehicle by which the reader is transported through generations in this family—past, present, and… future.
And our narrator-protagonist gradually reveals her family’s dynamics surrounding the jelly. “We had it every year…” To our narrator’s recollection, it all began with grandmother. Then, it passed to mother. “My mother would make jar after jar the next day and line them up on our tiny trailer kitchen table.” And in the present scene, we’re guided through the process alongside our protagonist, making jelly partially from the recipe, and partially from memory, “I remembered how my mom just left it out overnight…”
“…she’d wake up in the morning and go straight to the kitchen and tip the jar, and smile her once-in-a-year jelly smile.” What exactly is the mystery ingredient that allows the jelly to set? Is it the pectin? “‘It’s…’” I realized I didn’t know,” says our narrator who thinks back to her childhood in order to fill-in the blanks. What if the jelly doesn’t set? “It was the only time I remember her jelly not setting, and the first time she stayed in her bed for that long.”
There’s a break in the chain. What happens next? What, really, is at stake here? Read the story for yourself to discover how the past and present spread like jelly on toast to reach into the future.
Source: Wilson, Vicki. “Jelly.” Flash Fiction Online, is. 128, May 2024, https://www.flashfictiononline.com/article/jelly/.
Wanna read this story for yourself? Find it here: Flash Fiction Online
Watch for more story reviews yet to come: Pauline Shen’s Blog
Leave a comment below to start the discussion. And if you’d like to recommend a story for review, please read these guidelines first.
Cover Photo: Photo by Jonathan Borba on Pexels.com
Pauline Shen 