One Cup Sugar, One Cup Water, One Tub Fruit. Stir to Combine by M. Francis Le
Being so solitary, my whole childhood was spent running barefoot through Pa’s orchard. If I ran far enough, I always found myself stumbling onto Tom and Michael’s property. They were my favourite neighbours when I was growing up. They didn’t look like brothers — didn’t act like them either — but they weren’t no strangers either.
I was nearing nine that first time I crossed their property, and Michael found me bleeding their peach trees dry. He shoulda thrown me out, but the odd bugger just invited me inside to wash up and eat some more.
It was foolish for a girl to follow such an old man inside, but his eyes were too soft to say anything unkindly to. Sides, it was worthin it to taste Tom’s blackberry pies, to sample their enrapturous book collection. It was a lot of poetry and how-tos, but after two years of sneakin’ on and off their property, I reckoned them books’ influence had em to showin me their special jam recipes.
I brought a peach and jalapeno jam home to Ma once. It was Tom and Michael’s idea, something of an olive branch of peace. When I told Ma them men were unmarried, she had me show her their property. I warned her they was seeing a theater show that night, but she just let herself in anyway. She ignored them books and that kitchen I adored, nosing straight for their bedroom upstairs. I hadn’t a clue why that big bed with its handmade quilts and fresh coffee smell made her so pale, but I was banned from seeing them again.
Sometimes a jar of jam would make its way onto my porch. Raspberry, almond, habanero, sometimes even fig. Ten years later, I still use those old Mason jars for my cooking.
M. Francis Le’s fiction and non-fiction has appeared in the Kolob Canyon Review and Levitate Magazine. In 2025, their CNF piece “This is a Fairy Tale” was named Editor’s Choice. They currently study English education and creative writing at Southern Utah University. You can find them on Instagram @mfrancislewrites.
Artwork courtesy of Ambrie McNeel
Enjoyed reading this flash fiction? Like the artwork? Why not buy the author or the artist a coffee or a beer? Donate here – Please state the name!
Tags: