The Sweetness
..............................................................
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
You know how it is when you're not exactly sure what you're looking at, but you know it's there. You want it so badly - out of all the others, that one, that certain one, is the one. But when it's dark with just a pathetic mickey-mouse nightlight shining over your shoulder, the one you want isn't so clear. It isn't so smack-you-in-the-face-'cause-I'm-right-here obvious.
Two o'clock in the morning, and she had a candy craving. She was good to control her sweet tooth during the day, mainly because she had enough keeping her mind off of it. But when beddy-bye time rolls around, a few hours into it when she lays awake after a dream or listening to the leaky faucet or snored too loud and jolted herself out of her reverie, she knows what'll bring her back.
Suckers.
But not just any suckers. Those ones in the candy jar on top of the fridge. The big, classic kind. Not the blowpops with the gum in the center. Tootsie pops dipped in sugar water over and over and over. Lollipops were her downfall.
So there she was, sitting on the floor next to the fridge, rummaging through the sucker jar that was bigger than her head. Her favorites were the ones in the brown wrapper. The genius of it was, was that you get the best of both worlds in the brown ones: the lightness of candy coupled with the darkness of chocolate. Mmm, darkness.
But of course, since she always picked the brown ones, she wasn't so sure there were any left. She sifted through them, randomly pulling one or two out to examine next to the nightlight plugged in the wall only to find they were the damn blue ones. Damn blue suckers that lie of chocolatey goodness. Damn mickey-mouse.
See, all she wanted was the darkness. The chocolatey, lollipop darkness that'd keep her content until her eyes got heavy. She'd lick at it, suck on it, nibble a little bit to see if compromising chunks of its being would be enough for her to swallow. It'd keep her occupied until, oh, three or four in the morning til she could fall back into oblivion where it was normal and good and dream-like. Who needs the darkness when you're living in a dream?
Then the next night comes, and instead of innocent sleeping, she's patrolling again. Lately the shifts had been slow, so to bide the time, she pocketed a handfull of suckers. No more brown wrappers.
Halfway through the night, she's joined by the darkest vampire she'd ever known. She always thought it was sort of oxy-moronish for him to have white hair and white skin when the rest of him was black.
Pulling the assortment of lollipops from her pocket, she offered him one. "What's your favorite flavor, Spike?"
He selected the orange one and waved it in the air.
"Why?"
Unwrapping it, he held it up, it's orange candy sphere blocking out the street lamp glare. Glowing. Almost like the sun. "It's the lightest one."