Trip to the Candy Shop - Part 3

 Happy Friday!

I bring you the final part of this month's story. I hope you enjoy it. Life has been busy. Not with large word counts, but with editing and figuring out things for my stories. I also got older this week, reached 50 miles for the Spring 100, worked on blog posts, and did other things. Life is never dull and slow. At least not enough to make  me bored.

 

Trip to the Candy Shop

Part 3

    Biddy nodded and let him pick her up.
    “Hannah, here’s your pocketbook,’ Bobby said, picking up the red item. “Your hands are bleeding, want me to carry it for you?”
    “Please, Bobby.” She limped a little as she and Bobby followed Rob and Biddy across the street to a white colonial style house. Once inside, Rob set Biddy down on a chair in the kitchen and grabbed a first-aid box from a cabinet.
    “We’ll get you cleaned up and band-aids on those scrapes in no time, Rob promised the little girl with a grin. “Did you know that when I was your age I was always getting scrapes and bumps and bruises? I did it so much that my mom made me learn all about first-aid so I could bandage myself up.”
    “Do you still get banged up?” Bobby asked.
    “Yep. I play football, and sometimes we aren’t too careful.”
    Biddy whimpered as her scraped hands and knees were washed and bandaged, but she didn’t cry. Hannah was proud of her.
    “There you are. You’ll be good as new in a few days.” He grinned. “And we’ll get you a new lollipop because I’m afraid the other one won’t taste very good with dirt on it.”
    “It would be yucky,” Biddy said, smiling through her tears.
    “Sure would. Next patient?” Rob set another chair and motioned for Hannah to sit.
    “I’ll be okay,” she said. “It’s just scrapes.”
    “Yep, and you might as well let me take care of them now. It’s harder to get any dirt out if you wait. Believe me, I know.”
    “He doesn’t hurt you much, Hannah,” Biddy said. “And see how nice he put the band-aids on?”
    Seeing there was nothing to do but accept, Hannah limped to the chair and sat down.
    “Scrape your knee too?” Rob asked, turning over one of her hands and preparing to wash the scrape.
    “No.” She flinched a little. “The string caught my ankle.”
    “Ouch.”
    Hannah looked away from her scrapes and found Bobby feeding his sister another gumdrop. It was sweet and reminded her of the ants working together. Bobby was doing his part to make his sister smile again. But it also reminded Hannah that they would have to walk all the way back to the candy store and get another lollipop for Biddy. Only– And here she gave a start.
    “Sorry.” Rob looked up in sympathy. “This scrape is a little deeper and you have some dirt in it.”
    “Hannah,” Bobby said, before Hannah could reply, “Can Biddy and me go look out the window? I want to see if the boys who tied the string are there looking for it.”
    “Sure,” Rob answered for her. “But if you see them, don’t go out. They aren’t always very kind.”
    “We won’t. Come on, Biddy.”
    Hannah watched the two of them walk slowly from the kitchen and into the living room.
    “Siblings?” Rob asked.
    She shook her head. “Cousins. Spending a few weeks with us.”
    “Sounds fun. Other hand.”
    With a sigh, Hannah surrendered her other scraped hand to be cleaned and bandaged. “It’s supposed to be fun, but these weren’t exactly the birthday memories I was hoping for when we went to the candy shop.”
    “They share a birthday? Twins?”
    “A year apart.”
    “I don’t have any cousins younger than me. I’m the caboose of the family, as my grandpa likes to call me.” Rob didn’t seem to mind being the youngest. “All my brothers and sisters are older and in college or married. There, this hand is done. It wasn’t scraped badly. Now let’s see what the string did to your ankle.”
    “You don’t have to, Rob.”
    “Oh, I know, but I rather like pretending to be a doctor. I haven’t decided if that’s what I want to be yet, or if I’d rather play football in college.” He looked up and winked before gently folding down her sock. “Well, that string certainly left its mark on you! You’ll have a nice bruise and it’s probably going to be painful to walk for a few hours at least. Here, I’ll put something on it and wrap a light bandage over that.” As he talked, he worked, and soon a snug bandage covered the red mark left by the string. Sitting back on his heels he looked up at her. “Feel any better?”
    She nodded. “Thank you. We should be going now.”
    “Why don’t I drive you home in the car?”
    “Oh, I don’t want to be more of a bother. We can walk.”
    “Not very well you can’t.” Rob stood up and shut the first-aid box before going to the sink to wash his hands. “You should rest that ankle, and Biddy–isn’t that her name?–isn’t going to feel like walking much with her scraped knees.”
    What he said was true, Hannah realized when she stood and tried to walk. Her ankle throbbed and her hands still smarted. “All right.”
    Everyone was soon in the car and Rob was heading toward Main Street. When he pulled to a stop before the candy store, he said, “I’ll be right back with that new lollipop, Biddy.”
    Hannah opened her mouth to say something, but he was gone before she could.
    Soon he returned with not one, but two giant lollipops. One yellow, which he handed back to Biddy, and the other red, which he handed to Hannah. “I thought you should have one too. And this one matched your dress.” He smiled as he handed it over.
    “Thank you,” Hannah whispered, an echoing smile on her own face.
    Rob whistled the rest of the drive, but when he stopped before Hannah’s house and the younger two had climbed out, he shook his head over the quarter Hannah tried to give him. “Your lollipop was a gift, and the Janas boys will pay me for the other one since they are the ones responsible for the demise of the first one.”
    Clutching her pocketbook and her red lollipop, Hannah slid from the car. “Thanks, Rob. For everything.”
    “Any time.” With a grin and a wave, Rob drove off, and Hannah walked to the house not noticing her limp or her smarting hands. 

 

Would you rather have a slow week or a crazy one?

What kind of candy would you want to get?

Can you believe it's almost May?

Trip to the Candy Shop - Part 2

 Here's the next part of the story.

 

 

Trip to the Candy Shop

Part 2

    “Oh, I’ll tell you after you’ve looked around and picked what you want, little lady.” He winked at Hannah and straightened. “Don’t want to influence this important decision.”
    Hannah watched with a happy smile as her cousins wandered the store in a sugar daze. They stopped at each barrel, each box, each different kind and flavor and color of candy. They whispered, and Bobby pointed to the little prices on each thing.
    “You might be here a while,” Hannah,” Mr. Donald remarked in a low voice.
    “That’s all right. It’s not as much fun if you don’t get to examine every single thing and figure out what you want. If you just grab the first thing or even the third, then you’ll be left wondering what you might have missed. I don’t have anything else to do today, so let them wander. Besides,” she looked over to find the children at the far end of the store studying the boxes of chocolates, “it’s their first birthday away from their parents, so it should be extra special.”
    “That’s so. How old are they? They don’t look like twins.”
    “They aren’t. Bobby is seven and Biddy a year younger.”
    The older man nodded.
    It was more than twenty minutes before Bobby had made up his mind and picked a quarter’s worth of gumdrops. But Biddy couldn’t decide until her eyes suddenly landed on the giant lollipops sitting on the counter. She leaned closer, her eyes widening. There were purple, yellow, orange, and red ones.
    “Hannah,” the small girl whispered in an awed voice, “how much are these?” Her eyes never left the large pieces of candy.
    “Twenty-five cents.”
    “Can I have a yellow one? Please.”
    “Of course!” And Hannah opened her pocket book and pulled out two quarters.
    Mr. Donald handed a large yellow lollipop to Biddy and said, “These are what Hannah finally decided on too.”
    “You did?” Biddy’s eyes were wide.
    “Yes. Only I picked red.” She handed over the quarters, and the children clutched their candy tightly in one hand as they waved goodbye with the other. “Thank you, Mr. Donald.”
    Out in the bright sunshine, Bobby asked if he could begin to eat his candy now.
    “Yes,” Hannah said, “you may eat some of it now. Just don’t make yourself sick.”
    “I won’t.”
    Biddy patted Hannah’s arm to get her attention. “Hannah, how can I eat any of my lollipop?”
    “Why, just put the wrapper back on it when you are done.”
    Much pleased with this piece of advice, Biddy was soon licking her treat.
    “Now, do you want to walk right straight home, or shall we go a different way?”
    “A different way,” the children begged.
    “Can we go that way?” And Bobby pointed.
    Hannah agreed and they started off. She was well pleased by her little sacrifice of half a dollar and determined that her small cousins should fully enjoy their visit.
    They were in another neighborhood where large trees shaded the sidewalks, and houses looked pleasant and inviting. Looking back to see what had become of Bobby, Hannah stopped. “What did you find, Bobby?”
    He was crouched on the sidewalk watching something intently. “Some ants carrying a crumb to their home. Come see them, Hannah!”
    A quick glance showed Biddy plodding on up the sidewalk happily licking her lollipop. Knowing that Biddy did not enjoy insects like Bobby did, Hannah let her keep walking as she hurried back to look at the ants. It was indeed impressive watching the tiny ants working together to carry and drag a crumb many times larger than them, to their home.
    “God made them really strong, didn’t He, Hannah?”
    “He certainly did. And see how they help each other, Bobby?” Hannah pointed. “They don’t leave everything to just one ant.”
    A sudden scream followed by a loud wail jerked Hannah’s head up. “Biddy!” Forgetting all about the ants she jumped to her feet and flew up the sidewalk toward the girl who lay sprawled on the walk. But just before she reached her, she tripped on something that seemed to bite into her ankle and fell almost on top of her cousin. Her hands met the sidewalk and slid as she tried to catch herself.
    “Hannah!” Bobby’s voice shouted.
    “What happened?” A new voice, one that Hannah heard every day in school, called from across the street. “Is everyone all right?”
    Pushing herself up, Hannah barely looked at the boy who had joined them. “Bobby, don’t trip on that string!”
    Bobby stopped short and then stepped over the string which was stretched across the walk in such a way as to trip people. “Who puts strings across a sidewalk?” he demanded.
    Not bothering to answer, Hannah was kneeling beside Biddy. “Come on, Biddy, where are you hurt?”
    “Let me help her.”
    “Thank you, Rob.”
    Rob picked Biddy up and seated her in the grass. “Let’s see, you’ve scraped your hands and your knees, but not your nose.”
    “Where’s my lollipop?” Biddy whimpered, trying not to cry.
    Hannah looked around, but it was Bobby who found it, cracked, dusty, and broken in a patch of dirt.
    The loss of her treasured candy was more than Biddy to take, and her whimpers turned to sobs.
    “Oh, Biddy, please don’t cry,” Hannah begged, nearly in tears herself. “We’ll get you another one.”
    “I’ll share my candy with you, Biddy,” Bobby promised. “Here, open your mouth.”
    Rob looked up at Hannah. “How are you?”
    “I’ll be all right.”
    “I didn’t ask how you will be, I asked how you are.” Then, not waiting for her to say anything, he added, pulling out his pocket knife. “Those Jonas boys have gone too far.” He cut the string and pocketed it. “Come on, over to the house. We’ll get you both bandaged up and on your way again.” He knelt down beside Biddy, who was whimpering now from the pain. “Hi, I’m Rob. I go to school with Hannah. How about I carry you across the street to my house and we put some band-aids on those scrapes?”

Trip to the Candy Shop - Part 1

 Happy April!

Here's a new story for you. It's 3 parts long and I won't tell you what my editor said about it. :P Enjoy it or not.

 

 

The Trip to the Candy Shop

Part 1

    “Are we really and truly going to the candy store, Hannah? Really and truly?” Biddy, in her green and white gingham dress, clutched her cousin’s hand eagerly.
    Hannah laughed. “Yes, really and truly. Since it’s your birthday, you get to pick out a treat.”
    “And Bobby too?”
    “Of course! It wouldn’t be fair to leave Bobby out since it’s his birthday too.”
    “But he’s older than me.” Biddy gave a skip, and her brown braids, tied with yellow ribbon, bounced.
    “Where is Bobby?” Fifteen-year-old Hannah looked around for her younger cousin. “Why don’t you go find him, Biddy, while I get my pocketbook.”
    With a promise to be back soon, Biddy dashed away, and Hannah went to her room. She checked the mirror and made sure her red bow in her hair wasn’t falling out. She couldn’t help smiling at her dress. She loved red, and the white lace collar and the lace on the sleeves and pockets were her delight. Picking up her pocketbook and making sure it held the money needed for a trip to the candy store, she left her room and then sighed as the bow on the back of her dress caught on the doorknob and came untied.
    “Oh, Mother,” she said, hurrying into bedroom where Mother was putting away some laundry, “won’t you please tie my bow again? It got caught on the door.”
    “Of course. Are you going somewhere?”
    “To take Biddy and Bobby to the candy store. Remember?”
    “Oh, yes. I had forgotten you were going to do that today. It will make their day special since they can’t be at home for their birthday. Perhaps I’ll get a cake baked for them while you’re gone.”
    “Oh, Mother, what a nice surprise that would be! They’d love it, I know.” And Hannah turned and kissed her mother’s cheek. “I’ll let them take as much time as they want picking out their candy. And maybe we’ll walk a different way home to give you more time.”
    Mother laughed and nodded. “All right. I’ll start as soon as you are safely away. Now you’d better go. I hear Biddy calling for you.”
    Hannah, pleased that Mother was getting into the spirit of making their young guests’ birthday special, hurried way, happy to do her part. “Do you have a clean shirt on, Bobby?”
    “Why do I need a clean shirt? This one isn’t dirty.” Bobby eyed his blue and white striped shirt carelessly. “We’re just going to the candy store.”
    “But you want to look nice, Bobby,” Biddy said. “Hannah and I look nice. And it’s your birthday.”
    Bobby ran his fingers through his wavy hair and snorted. “You’re girls. And if it’s my birthday, why can’t I dress as I want?”
    Fighting back the desire to laugh, Hannah motioned her cousins toward the door. “I think Bobby’s shirt is clean enough. I didn’t see any grass stains or dirt on it. Goodbye, Mother,” she called.
    Mother came to the hall. “Bye. Have a nice time.”
    The summer sunshine was bright and warm. For a time Biddy held Hannah’s hand while Bobby walked on ahead. It was fun, Hannah thought, to have two cousins to mother and play with for a time. Biddy was six and Bobby seven, and they had come to spend a few weeks at their aunt and uncle’s while their parents took a trip. Hannah didn’t have any brothers or sisters, and this new, though temporary, addition to the household was quite charming.
    “Hannah, which way now?” Bobby called from the street corner.
    “We have to cross the street and keep going straight another block, but wait for us, Bobby!”
    Hopping from one foot to another impatiently, Bobby waited. “I can cross the street myself,” he told Hannah as they crossed together. “I know how to look for cars, and there wasn’t a single car on this street.”
    “I’m sure you can,” Hannah replied with a smile, “but I didn’t want you to get too far ahead of us.”
    Mollified that he wasn’t considered a baby, Bobby slowed his pace a little and let the girls keep up with him.
    “Do you know what you are going to pick at the candy store?” Hannah asked as they neared their destination.
    “I want to see what they have,” Bobby said.
    “Me too,” Biddy agreed.
    “It might be hard to pick,” Hannah laughed. “But you can both spend twenty-five cents.”
    “On any candy?” Biddy’s eyes were large.
    “On any candy.”
    A little bell jingled as Bobby opened the door. He held it open for his sister and for Hannah who thanked him with a smile as she passed through.
    Collective gasps of amazement came from both children as their eyes traveled around the small shop where barrels and boxes, display cases and shelves held nothing but candy, candy, and more candy. There were boxes of chocolates, barrels of small candies to suck on, each onew wrapped in a little plastic wrapper. Taffy of all colors and flavors, chocolate bars, and chocolate bears, chewing gum, and chewy candies, little cakes and packaged cookies, lollipops and gumdrops. All there just waiting to be taken home and eaten until you had a belly ache.
    “Good afternoon, Hannah.”
    “Hi, Mr. Donald. These are my cousins, Bobby and Biddy. Today’s their birthday, so I brought them here to spend a birthday quarter each.”
    The older man, his hair, what little he had left, was white, and his blue eyes beamed from behind his glasses. Leaning on the counter he addressed the two wide eyed children. “Happy birthday. Did you two know that your cousin used to come in here on her birthday and get candy?”
    “Hannah did?” Bobby turned and looked at his cousin skeptically. “Was she ever as little as Biddy?”
    Mr. Donald gave a hearty laugh. “Oh, yes. She most certainly was. And every year she’d look and look and look at all the candy, but every year she always picked the same thing.”
    “What?” Biddy’s voice was hushed in awe.

Have you ever gotten to pick out candy for your birthday?

Did you get to watch the eclipse?

Do you plan to come back and read Part 2 of this story?