"Who am I?" Asked the little jar full of pinto beans, "And why am I full of pinto beans?"

His question was met by silence. As he stared down at the terracotta tiles of the pantry floor far below him, he he was aware of just coming into being. But what was he, exactly, and what, he wondered, was his purpose in life?

"I believe," Said a calculated voice to his right, "That you are a mason jar. Roughly ten inches tall, good glasswork, brass top, Brewster & Brewster Inc. by the looks of the symbol on the top."

"Oh, don't intimidate the poor dear," Said a motherly voice. It came from the Jacob's Cattle bean jar one shelf up.

"Don't listen to the black-eyed pea jar. He just loves to analyze everything."

"That I do," Said Black-Eyed Pea, "And proud of it, too."

"So I'm a jar, then." Confirmed the little pinto bean jar.

"Right you are, son, just like the rest of us. You were probably bought somewhere and filled to the rim and brought here because someone in the house thought it would be a grand idea to have some pinto beans, and I can't deny I'm inclined to agree with them."

"Yes, how right they were." Said Jacob's Cattle with a smile in her voice.

"Why do I have to be a jar?" Little Pinto Bean asked, suddenly feeling as if he was missing out on a very great deal.

"So full of questions!" Exclaimed Jacob's Cattle, sounding proud.

"Take what you can get, kid." Said Black-Eyed Pea, "At least you're not a can."

"I resent that." Said a can of no sugar added pineapple slices in real pineapple juice.

"Hey, life's rough when you're aluminum." Retorted Black-Eyed pea.

The little pinto bean jar listened quietly to the others debate as he looked around the pantry. He decided he liked this bunch, although he still wasn't sure if he would enjoy being a jar of pinto beans forever.

"Can it, you two." Said a rather pleased sounding package of Asian vegetable ramen.

"That wasn't funny." Scolded a bottle of ketchup sitting tidily next to him.

"Does anyone know why I am who I am?" Asked the little pinto bean jar, not to be diverted form the questions at hand.

"None of us really know the answer to that, dear," Explained Jacob's Cattle gently, "Except the lentil jar. Some say he's been around for almost six months."

The little pinto bean jar considered this for a moment, thinking it did sound quite impressive.

"I wouldn't try asking him though," Warned Black-Eyed Pea, "He gets grumpy in this rainy weather. Condensation makes the lentils swell, you know." He explained sagely, as if letting the little pinto bean jar in on a very important secret.

"I wouldn't trust him anyway," Said the ramen, "He's full of beans."

There were a few heavy sighs from the preserves and other packaged goods, but no one found the energy to reprimand.

The little pinto bean jar took advantage of the moment's silence to enjoy the way the pale gray light from outside filtered in to glitter on the other jars. However, it wasn't long at all until another question occured to him.

"What's going to happen to all of us?"

There was silence as everyone pondered this. It was a while before anyone spoke again.

"I suppose we're not really supposed to know," Said a new voice. It came from the organic sandwich creme cookie bag on the second shelf. "That would take the fun out of it, don't you think?"

"Here we go again," Drawled the sugar free pineapples in real fruit juice can, "You snack food are always so philosophical."

"At least we're on the top of the food pyramid, Mr. Five-a-Day." Said the sandwich creme bag, sounding slightly wounded.

"Will all of you please keep it down?" Said a rather haughty can of grape juice concentrate near the top shelf, "You're going to wake the juice boxes, and we all know how well that went last time..."

"That was a sticky situation." Said the ramen smugly.

"ENOUGH!" Yelled nearly every canned, packaged, and processed good in the pantry.

From inside one of the white cupboards, a juice box began to wail.

"Now look what you've done." Complained a bottle of creamy caesar salad dressing.

The whole pantry erupted into bickering. The little pinto bean jar listened in astonishment, wondering if he had perhaps picked a bad time to come into existence.

"Silence!" Boomed a voice from above the other bean jars. It was the lentil jar. He had apparently been woken up by all the noise and didn't sound very pleased about it in the least. Everyone fell silent, cowed.

"You don't know how lucky you all have it," Said a low, somber, unfamiliar voice. Everyone looked around to see who was speaking.

"You could have ended up like me."

The little pinto bean jar realized the voice was coming from the kitchen.

"I could have been used to store rice or millet or even all-purpose flour, but instead here I am, full of banana peels and eggshells. So next time you find yourself resenting what kind of container you are, just remember you could have been a compost jar like me."

Silence wrapped the pantry as everyone pondered this bleak thought. It certainly didn't sound like it would be very fun at all.

"I think I shall like being a pinto bean jar." Said the little pinto bean jar.

Everyone agreed, especially the bag of linguine who gave a hearty 'amen.'

"That's the spirit." Said the motherly Jacob's Cattle bean jar, and everyone went back to silently contemplating their existence.

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