30 Shades of Red:

Lollipop Red

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He watched as the little girl dropped her lollipop. The red globe glistened on its bright white stick as it lay there on the ground. Jane gazed at it dispassionately.

His daughter had loved red lollipops. He could still remember the first time she had tried one, wary yet eager. He remembered how she had cautiously put it in her mouth as instructed, not sure what to expect. Her eyes had widened and she had sucked furiously, trying to get more of the wonderful flavor from the sweet. He had laughed and from then on, she had developed a great passion for lollipops, but especially for the red ones.

It wasn't her favorite color (that had been purple), but she had loved the taste more than anything. He had taken to giving her one whenever she did something good and, to be honest, whenever he felt the urge strike him. She had indeed had him wrapped around her little finger.

Although his wife had teasingly chastised him about not ever being the one to have to clean the remains of the sugary confection from her face, hair, clothes, toys (the list was endless, really) he had shrugged it off. He knew that neither of them could deny their daughter something so simple that made her so happy.

Looking at the pouting face of the little girl in front of him, he remembered his daughter's smile, liberally painted with sticky red as she smacked her lips in contentment. He watched as the child's mother quickly scooped up the fallen candy as if she expected her child to try to salvage it. She threw it in a nearby trash, retrieving another sucker from her purse as she ushered her daughter on down the park's path. A blue lollipop this time. The child took it, but looked longingly back at the trash can that held her red lollipop.

Jane felt that it was strangely fitting that the red lollipop, the very kind his daughter so loved, lay in the trash can, tainted and forgotten. It was irrational and petty, he knew, but it seemed to him for a brief moment that if his daughter couldn't enjoy it, no one should. The feeling would pass and he would feel slightly guilty for it, but it was there none the less.

Eventually, he would be able to look at a red lollipop and think of it as nothing more than candy.