Saturday Short: Jam Jars

photography of strawberry jam in canning jars

Holly looked at the cooling jars of strawberry jam with her arms on her hips, head cocked to one side. The jars sparked on the red and white checked cloth, like jewels but tastier. Jonas walked up and stood beside her.

“So what did you put in this batch?” he asked.

“What’d you mean? It’s strawberry jam, of course.”

“Yeah, but you always put something else in it. Remember last year?”

Holly shook her head and shivered. “Wouldn’t do that again and you know it.”

Jonas raised an eyebrow at Holly before walking out of the kitchen. When he was gone, Holly turned back to the jars with a smile on her face. Putting a pinch of foresight into the jam last year was a bad idea; it made the jam taste too tart and people had visions they didn’t understand for a couple of weeks, but Holly had smoothed everything over. This year she wouldn’t make that mistake. This year she just added a dash of curiosity to the jam. What could possibly go wrong?