Short Story: Sweet Love

By Geraldine Seymour

The closeness of her soft form made him dizzy with desire. He wanted to cry out, I LOVE YOU! He wanted to shout it from the rooftops for all the world to hear, but he couldn’t.

He’d known instantly that he loved her from the very first moment. That magical moment, when time itself stood still and he toppled helplessly into her cavern of enchantment.

Squeezing himself as close to her soft body as he could, he could almost taste her sugary sweetness. He felt himself drowning in a sea of intoxication, he fought against his desire. He’d never felt like this before, never been so totally obsessed with another.

Thoughts of her, filled his every waking moment, and when he slept, ah! Such rapturous dreams of melting into her succulent, softness, luscious and tempting.

She was more than perfection in his eyes, more delectable than he had ever imagined possible. But would she ever return his love?

He stiffened and felt a tremor of palpitation as the unthinkable fear of rejection caused him to consider the danger of his advances.

Steady, it had to be, a gentle approach, yes, not too full on. He forced himself to remember how different she was to himself, gentle and so sweet, yet self-possessed. Whereas, he was impetuous, impatient, even controlling.

“Yes,” he reminded himself, easing slowly away from her closeness. Caution must be the keyword if he was to succeed in his advances.

He studied her, she seemed calm enough, detached almost! Was it this, he wondered, that fascinated him so? His gaze turned to himself. There was no reason why she shouldn’t find him attractive. He was handsome enough, tall and lean and his glossy black skin glistened with a sheen like no other!

Without warning, he was flung forward and onto his side, then it was as if a whirlwind had hit them all. Round and round they spun. Pure pandemonium broke out inside the bag, bits of liquorice and coconut hit him, and bounced off, then ricocheted back like a boomerang.

“‘What’s happening?” a multi-layered sweet cried out in terror.

“We’ve been kidnapped,” another screamed, “I saw it all. We’ve been abducted by a small boy!… Stop thief. S…stop! I say… I saw him with my very own eyes.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” a yellow coconut and liquorice sphere mocked. “You don’t have any eyes.”

“Well, how do you imagine I see then? If I can see, I must have eyes! Stands to reason doesn’t it!” the irritated all-sort replied.

At that very moment, the scene inside the bag itself was one of indescribable chaos. They found themselves flung up, then down, then sideways, then up again, and up and down, and back and forth and round and round. At the same time all the other liquorice all-sorts were flying through the air, in every direction.

A rainbow explosion erupted inside the bag. A saphire hailstorm pummelled against his black shiny body, and tiny bits of blue became pitted in his skin. All around him multi-coloured sweets were spinning around…

He saw a flash of pink, as his beloved was propelled to the bottom of the bag and crushed beneath the sheer weight of the others. He tried to push them away, trying frantically to save her from being squashed flat. Overwhelmed by his emotions, he pummelled against the sides, hoping to somehow split the seams. But the plastic was too strong, far too strong for his feeble efforts.

He heard muted sounds from outside, of feet pounding on the pavement below, as they were swiftly carried away. Faster and faster the feet ran, then there were other footsteps, coming nearer by the minute.

It was then as if the world had stopped, all at once they began falling. Down, down, down, would the fall never come to an end? Down, down, down, his whole life flashed before him, then suddenly, thump! splat! and an ear shattering explosion as the bag burst open as it hit the ground.

Escape at last, freedom beckoned. Scrambling to his feet, he searched for his beloved. Bits of broken liquorice and shattered sweets carpeted the pavement. Despairing, he scanned the scene of destruction, where could she be?

He prayed that there was still hope. Still hope of her being intact and not fragmented into tiny bits as was the fate of most of the others.

Just as the enormity of it all was breaking into his consciousness, he caught sight of a small crushed pink object, a shiver shot down his body.

His whole world was suddenly destroyed, as he saw HER. His Lois Lane, his Cleopatra, his Helen of Troy. His one true love was there, on the pavement, squashed as flat as a shiny two penny piece!

He stiffened with grief, suicide was the only option, he could not go on without the sweet that he loved by his side. As he began considering his options, fate delivered yet another cruel blow. He felt a warm, drip, drip of saliva on his black skin. He shuddered as it slid down the whole length of his taut body. Then without warning, an enormous pink tongue scooped them up into a hot cavernous mouth and swallowed them down with one whopping gulp!…

Somewhere in the darkness, between the larynx and the oesophagus, he smiled… now finally, at last his dreams had come true. They would be together, his beloved and he, for the rest of eternity… until that was, they were deposited on a grassy verge somewhere!

Geraldine Seymour is an author from Rhiwbina, Cardiff