The Recipe: The Pickled Pepper 🌶️🍯(Fiction)

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"Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Pepper. A Peck of Pickled Pepper Peter Piper Picked." As Hannah effortlessly recited the rhyme, she couldn't understand why Katie couldn't get it right. "You see, it's easy, and you can do it; let's go!" Before Katie got to the sixth word in the rhyme, she had repeated "people pepper" more than twice. As hilarious as this seems, Hannah couldn't come to terms with the fact that her daughter is not doing so well with something that simple. "If she can't do well with just pronunciation, would she be able to master the practical?" She thought to herself.

Like Katie could read her mother's thoughts, "Mum, it's just a rhyme; I still topped my class, remember?" She said. Hannah couldn't help but admire Katie's cuteness. A lot of people told her that her daughter has her eyes, but she couldn't remember having eyes with such beauty. As a girl with just a year to become an adult, Hannah had plans to celebrate her daughter's 18th year in grand style. But there's more responsibility at such an age.

Hannah's phone rang. It was her mom, and she has an idea of what her call is about. Like a dog maintaining the pace of a snail, she sluggishly picked up the call. "Hello, Mum, how are you doing?" There was no response from the other end of the phone, and after a few seconds, Ruth's reply totally ignored Hannah’s greetings and was rather ruthless in tone. "Is she ready? Have you prepared her just like I made sure you're ready?" Hannah's mother inquired.

Hannah was hesitant to respond as she was so sure that her daughter wasn't ready, but other than blaming the girl, she knows she'll have to take the blame. "I'll call you back, mom; I have to go, please." As she quickly hung up the phone, she knew she had started off a fight, but she was willing to deal with that rather than hear Ruth's ruthless comments. "Now you're in a pickle," she said to herself.

Right from Hannah's youth, her mother had always been stern with her, and that somehow affected their relationship. Hannah never wanted that kind of relationship with Katie, so she had been more of a friend to her than an instructor or parent. She always wanted her to enjoy her childhood and not have horrible memories like she did.

Although her mother's sternness was beneficial to her, the disadvantages it had and the dents it left in her childhood are like dirt that no cleaner can wipe. She later got to know that there is a family tradition of passing down a particular recipe to one’s descendants, and the ritual must be observed by successive generations.

Hannah's mother lost Fred, her husband, at an early age, and even Hannah lost her own husband while Katie was very young. Looking at the trend, she had always suspected the tradition in relation to the demise of men in their generation. Like a man unsure of a path to toll, she had always wanted to reject the tradition. "You think you can confront your mother? Better teach the lady all she needs to know," are the thoughts that keep clearing her rejection ideas.

"The pickled pepper recipe and the ingredients remain a sacred secret you must always hold dear. You'll only cook it on your birthdays, and you are the only one who can eat it. It's a remembrance of how you came into adulthood and have to stay there with strength and confidence as long as you breathe."

Hannah can never forget how her mother, along with some of her family members, made her learn what she never expected. On her 18th birthday, she felt like she had been initiated into a cult. Although it was meant to be a recipe that should meet her taste buds and feeding needs, she felt more like it would upset her emotions and even her stomach before she had a taste of it. As Hannah reminisced on the past and Katie’s picture came to her mind, she shouted, "I don't want this for my daughter!"

A month before Katie's birthday, Hannah knew there's nothing she could do to stop her mother from 'initiating' her daughter, so she was already preparing the materials for the initiation. Although she knew Katie couldn't recite the rhyme or talk less of the other chants for the event, she kept hoping that a miracle would come up to save her baby.

Katie rushed in with joy. She was just coming from school, and Hannah could sense that something was right and wrong at the same time. "You are happy, but I can see traces of tears on your face. What happened, honey?" Hannah inquired. "Mum, I just got a scholarship! I have to resume almost immediately! So I may not be spending my 18th birthday in town with my friends." Hannah couldn't believe her ears. "So miracles happen," she said to herself.

As Hannah packed Katie's bags in preparation for her trip, she smelled a familiar aroma and was shocked at it. "This couldn't be coming from my kitchen." As she traced the smell, like a prey afraid of following the tracks of a predator, she was shocked that it was leading her right to her kitchen. It smelled exactly like her 18th birthday initiation recipe.

"Could my mother have arrived unannounced?" As this and other thoughts flooded her mind, she tipped her toe to the entrance of her kitchen, and she peered to see the culprit, but instead she saw her angel, Katie, all dressed as a chef.

"Mum, you're right on time; see what I made." Katie said. Hannah was dumbfounded to see the pickled pepper recipe so well made by her daughter. She was shocked and couldn't utter a word for minutes. But she managed to express herself with gestures. "How did this happen?" Katie said, in response to Hannah's body motions.

"Well, next time, keep your diary away from your darling," she added. Hannah had written all the steps for making the recipe in her diary, as she was afraid of forgetting them. Katie came across it and decided to give the delicacy a shot. "At least she now knows how to cook but doesn't have to cook. She'll be long gone before her 18th birthday." Hannah said to herself, "Darling, this is beautiful," she said to her daughter.