Jane: Bluh?

Your nasal passages stuff immediately, and you can feel the sugar coating your tongue in a way nothing ever has.

You've known the Faygo brand, its ouevre, its output for as long as you've been cooking. Redpop, the flavor of Faygo you just poisoned yourself with, it's strawberry-flavored.

But it's not. You know it's not.

A strawberry has the slightest pop when you bite into it. They're sweet, with just a hint of acidity. They come into season in the summer, and pair with other sweet fruits. You can imagine jars canned to be sold at the PTA bake sale. A syrupy cobbler for cul-de-sac potlucks. Airy, light shortcakes to impress your husband's friends down at the shooting range.

But Redpop stings your tongue when you drink it. It's sickeningly sweet, fizzy, and overwhelmingly... red. In its redness, you taste late nights wandering the aisles of a gas station, everything covered in a thin layer of tobacco smoke. Something sickeningly sweet after a long day. Sitting in the damp grass as the sun sets, next to someone you wish you could understand.