Candy Store

In a little candy store

Not far from New York’s Bay,

In a time before the present

On a bright, crisp winter’s day.

Stood a girl and stood a boy

In white and blue and green and red,

With a sack of silver coins

And looks that clearly said:

“Oh, which sweet should I choose,

When they all appear so good?”

With a frown and with a sigh

The pair straightened where they stood.

Keeping eyes and noses pressed

To the glass of the display,

Taking in the sights and smells

Of the candy where it lay.

In those shiny tins and boxes,

In the cans of paper gold,

In the jars of crystal suckers,

All just waiting to be sold.

Purple, orange, white and pink,

Chocolates brown and mints of green.

Swirls of milk and caramel

In a cotton candy dream.

Both the girl and little boy

Seemed astounded by the store,

And they couldn’t quite decide

Which treat they wanted more.

Should he choose the licorice?

Should she choose the colored dots?

Should they lean towards something sour?

Or perhaps towards something hot?

There was a silence full of humming,

Bitten mouths tugged in tight frowns.

Then the candy man said something

That flipped their musings upside-down.

“Why don’t you choose a favorite,

With a new or different twist?

Instead of taking a new treat—

Instead of such a risk—

I find I like the tang of old

When feeling stuck like this.”

The girl and boy both considered

Staring at the wise old man,

Then the one with eyes of scarlet

Gently brushed his best friend’s hand.

With a start and with a smile,

With a hand upon her hip,

The young girl turned to face her partner—

But was greeted with his lips.

The action left her quite surprised—

The sudden, shy embrace—

But she soon began reacting,

Pressing closer to his face.

For a long and fleeting moment

The whole world just disappeared,

And there was no candy shop

Nor a man there with a beard.

Just a couple who was kissing

Feeling neither shamed nor weird,

As all worries of rejection fled

And were no longer feared.

Then with a silent sort of sigh—

His heels re-touching the ground—

The blushing boy grinned happily

And slowly turned around.

“I would rock candy, please,

In cherry would be nice.

I checked my sources and it seems

That flavor’s just ‘bout right.

“It’s sugary and tangy

Like a candied summer night.
It tingles like her laughter does

And her yells from when we fight.”

So with a chuckle and a beam

The man secured a stick,

Then gave it to the blushing boy

As the girl made clear her pick:

“I think I’ll take some strawberries—

The ones with the chocolate cream.

They’re sweet and soft and savory;

They taste like springtime dreams.

“And the colors tell a story—

Like the ones he told to me—

About a demon in the darkness

Who chose to be set free.”

Then with their purchases all wrapped

And payment on the stand,

The pink-cheeked boy and flushing girl,

Left smiling, hand in hand.