Charlotte Fong
On Reflection
Ten years ago, my grandma made the best apple pie
I’ve ever tasted. Swimming in rich, thick custard,
piping hot with a buttery crust, it tasted like weekends and
puzzle books and trips to the coast. When we’d
eaten our way through the whole thing, utterly
satiated, I slipped away to her room and lay
on lavender-scented sheets, full and content.
Last week, at her funeral, I asked my mum
for the recipe she’d stored in a seventy-year
old notebook in a biscuit tin under her bed.
I followed it line by line, my grandma’s voice
in my head for each step. But somehow, when
the custard had been poured and the first hearty
spoonful, still too hot, gulped down, my taste buds
fell numb. Leaving the unfinished bowl, I went to
lie down and cried my first tears since she left us.
Charlotte Fong is a children’s book buyer for a library supplier, currently writing poetry, flash fiction, and short stories. Fong recently rediscovered her love of writing since studying it at university and is enjoying experimenting with different styles. She lives in Lancaster with her husband and an overflow of books.
Ten years ago, my grandma made the best apple pie
I’ve ever tasted. Swimming in rich, thick custard,
piping hot with a buttery crust, it tasted like weekends and
puzzle books and trips to the coast. When we’d
eaten our way through the whole thing, utterly
satiated, I slipped away to her room and lay
on lavender-scented sheets, full and content.
Last week, at her funeral, I asked my mum
for the recipe she’d stored in a seventy-year
old notebook in a biscuit tin under her bed.
I followed it line by line, my grandma’s voice
in my head for each step. But somehow, when
the custard had been poured and the first hearty
spoonful, still too hot, gulped down, my taste buds
fell numb. Leaving the unfinished bowl, I went to
lie down and cried my first tears since she left us.
Charlotte Fong is a children’s book buyer for a library supplier, currently writing poetry, flash fiction, and short stories. Fong recently rediscovered her love of writing since studying it at university and is enjoying experimenting with different styles. She lives in Lancaster with her husband and an overflow of books.