joeislove's 100-word story for May 5, 2025

joeislove wrote the following micro-story on Hectalex on May 5, 2025. Each story on Hectalex is inspired by a daily visual prompt and must be exactly 100 words.

Every year the ritual was the same. My grandma grew her own peppers. All different varieties, all sizes, shapes, colors. I remember her out there in the hot summer sun, picking her peppers. She claimed that you have to pick them on the hottest day of the year so they would be extra spicy. Then those peppers in their hundreds were meticulously tied by their stems to dry in the sun. To me, those little bunches of bright peppers were better than Christmas decorations. You could almost hear them sizzle. I opened the last bottle of her hot sauce today.

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