Gemotions

Agnes sighed, the sound echoing in her otherwise quiet kitchen. She drummed her fingers against the countertop, the cold granite doing little to soothe the restlessness that had settled in her bones. The same routine, day after day, year after year. Making jam. Selling jam. The cycle repeated itself, each jar a miniature version of her existence. She stared at the overflowing fruit bowl, its vibrant colors doing nothing to lift her spirits. A single strawberry, plump and perfect, caught her eye. She ate it, slowly, the sweetness failing to spark any joy.

Her gaze drifted to the cookbook, its pages worn and stained with the remnants of countless culinary experiments. She flipped through it, her finger tracing the well-loved recipe for "Grandma Elsie’s Raspberry Delight." A recipe that, as of recently, was all the rage under a different title. A title she'd seen plastered across every magazine and every social media site: "Ruby Red Royale."

She poured herself a cup of tepid tea and went to sit at the table, her shoulder slumped. The irony of it all. Grandma Elsie's recipe… her recipe. She had not had a creative thought in years, and someone else was getting the accolades.