A/N: The characters of Little Women are the creation of Louisa May Alcott and are not my property. A very short slice-of-life Day 24 (chestnuts) for the 25 Days of Fic Challenge.
The coffee grinder whirred merrily in Beth's hands as she fed it roast chestnuts and turned the wheel.
"One for the bread," Jo counted as she pulled hot chestnuts off the fire shovel. "Two for the bread. One for Amy's pale white hands."
"Set mine aside to be candied, please," Amy said. "That's the only way any person of style is eating them this year."
"Very well, then. One wholesome nut to be drenched in sugar in the name of style. Three for the bread. One for Meg, to give her strength after a hard day of governnessing." Jo tossed the chestnut onto Meg's lap.
"Not there!" Meg exclaimed. "You'll leave a scorch mark. It's bad enough we have to eat chestnut bread when there's no money for good wheat flour. Don't try to make a game of it."
"Four for the bread, and one for me! You should have seen me trying to shake the mighty chestnut. 'Twas quite the battle!" Jo leaped to her feet, holding out her hands as if to embrace a tree trunk larger around than herself. "The tree stood firm, while our hero shook and shook and shook and shook. All hope seemed lost when there came a rattling in the branches and the first nut fell!"
"And struck the hero in the head," Beth said. "But she got a great many nuts, and so we'll have hot bread tomorrow."
A/N: My goal was to write short! Chestnut bread was a real thing until the late 19th century.