1:5 Loving Being in a Jam

It turned out that Benjamin had a gift for making jam.  Who knew?  Certainly not him.  He began collecting and canning like his life depended on it.  Which I guess it kind of did.  In the beginning all he had was blueberries and a few chocoberries, but he made it work.  He fashioned a table from some scraps he had pulled up while fishing and he had to admit, it made a pretty decent stall.  Tucking it in by his wall he stood around hopefully.  Watching customer after customer wander by without so much as a glance in his direction.  

Soon he realised that this venture would be all for naught if he didn't attract some kind of buzz.  So he began shouting:

"Step right up, you lovely lot—jam so good it’ll make your toast stand up and sing, ooh-la-la, sticky-wicky, boom-bam berry bliss!"

"Oi, you there with the sensible shoes—this jam’s a life upgrade, bingle-bangle, sweet-as-a-sunbeam, spreadable magic!"

"One bite and you’ll be shouting “cor blimey, that’s proper jam!” while your tastebuds do the hokey-cokey!"

Benjamin had no idea if it was his showmanship or the people of Henford-on-Bagley were just worried he was having a fit.  But they started showing up and as the crowd began to form the jam began to flow. So to speak...

The chocoberry spread seemed to be the big favourite and people started asking Benjamin if he would hand out his recipe.  He just shook his head and smiled.  No one must know it was just chocoberries all mooshed up...

Benjamin loved that his spreads and jams were a hit but he felt a bit of a fraud.  He wanted to learn more about the processes.  He wanted to know all the jams.  The spreads. The pickles.  The... other things!!

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Spurred on by his new found fame amongst the jam eaters of Henford, Benjamin headed down into the town and headed to the stall of Kim.  She had been so kind to him on his first day here that he was sure that he could find a market for his jams and spreads here.

'What? Chocoberry spread? Like, mooshed up chocoberries?' she said, giving him a look that said, your as mad as a box of frogs.  'I don't think that is really the kind of image I am going for here at Kim's Kitchen Krap.'

Benjamin was obviously disappointed but he knew he was on to something with this whole sugared fruit in a jar idea.  He knew he could convince Kim if only he could show her that he was serious about working hard.  

Kim scratched her head and said that if he would do a few errands for her she would think about his proposal.  Benjamin wasn't sure but this woman intrigued him.  He decided she was worth the effort and asked her what she needed.  She gave him a list as long as his arm of things she needed collected, but he took to the challenge with gusto and searched high and low for all the items she needed.  

Once he had found them he went into the town.  Kim had been a the local pub restaurant and he met her as she came out.  He presented her with her items, beautifully wrapped in a mouldy old cardboard box he had found by the bins.  She was overjoyed with his skills and thank him profusely.

Benjamin really liked Kim, in fact, he considered her a good friend.