The Sweet Shop

The Sweet Shop

     “What do you think you are doing?” Zian asked just before he knocked a Chocolate Creation about to go into his mother’s mouth. A second later and Ovia would have eaten it.

     “I was only going to eat just one,” said Ovia. “I’ve been giving out samples all day.”

     “You can’t eat just one, and you know it.” Zian pushed Ovia out of the way – and took over giving out samples to the Thindisians who came by Ovia’s Sweet Shop. “Go to the office, the delivery room or the creation room. Do whatever you need to do to stop yourself from eating any sweets today.”

     “Who is the parent here?” Ovia asked.

     “Of Course you are, but you told me to keep an eye on you.”
Zian finished off one tray of samples, and picked up another one from behind him. “That’s exactly what I am going to do too.”

     “I’m leaving, but not because of you. I haven’t had a break in six hours, and I really need one. Ovia got up and headed back toward a door. Because of her weight problem it took her a long time to do it.

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     As Ovia headed for her office she couldn’t help but remember what has happened to her in the last six hours. She remembered it all. Every chop, crunch, sucking sensation and the licking of the lips afterwards.

     Every time someone ate a sample, or something they acquired, she could hear the sound that it made. Some took just the sample, and left, but most acquired something else too. The same was true with them eating it there or elsewhere. A lot ate the sample there, but a few didn’t.

     A little girl, about six, had a hard time chewing it before she gulped it down. Another one, a boy about ten, who took one chew then swallowed it whole.

     Another little girl, around eleven, like to eat her food loudly. Then there were two lookalikes who ate their sample one nibble at a time. They also seemed to take turns doing it too. One would take a bit then the other one would.

     Ovia chewed and nibbled each one of those samples as though she was eating it too. She even gulped or swallowed like they did. The hardest part for her that day was when she went through Food Preparation. She couldn’t help herself. Making sure no one could see her Ovia took, then ate, one of her freshly made samples.

     There must have been at least two hundred kids of all ages, and twenty-five adults that didn’t have a kid with them that took a sample in the last six hours. Some only took the one sample offered to them then left, or continued shopping for that sample or more like it to acquire, but some took more than they should. Ovia didn’t mind that – especially if they got other sweets within that shop.

     One boy, around nine, took several, and before Ovia could stop him he at each one of them – one at a time. She ate each one of them too. Ovia also did it with another little girl, about eleven, who did the same thing.

     Parents would scold the child for doing it, then apologize for them doing it. Ovia said they didn’t need to do that, but out of guilt they ended up acquiring even more sweets. That Ovia liked a lot. It’s why she started giving out samples of her homemade samples.

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     Ovia finally reached her office. She knew she would have to start another Food Fasting tomorrow, but it was worth it. The taste she could still feel. Another memory she wasn’t going to forget anytime soon, and she hoped she never would.

     When I started The Sweet Shop it was the only one in the small Community of Candis on the planet of Thandis. I began it to support myself and my two sons, Kalib just turned four and Zian was six, after my Mate died. For the first five years the shop did very well in that community. Thanks mostly to my kids, and the other kids, there. Thought Ovia as she went over the acquirements she got for that day.

     I still can’t believe that I was a slim tiny young female when I started The Sweet Shop. Now look at me. I’ve more than doubled my weight. I have started several different Food Fasting Fads over the years – about three per year, and I would lose some weight, but I would gain it all back again. My kids weren’t the only ones who ate the sweets there. Ovia thought about that too as she put the Units she collected that day into the Collection Tube that sent it directly to her Unit Depository.

     Ovia thought about that almost every day since the second Sweet Shop opened up about five years later. I thought Alli was my best friend – until she opened up her Sweet Shop. That’s when I really starting to eat my future for me and my boys. It didn’t take me long, three months at the most, to gain that weight. I have been trying to get it off ever since then. Not only has it hurt my health, but I won’t need Alli to put me out of business. I’m doing that all by myself.

     Something had to be done. That much I knew. I also knew I couldn’t compete with Alli. She came from Units. Alli could afford to lose Units. I couldn’t. It took me almost four years, but I think I have found a way to save my business. I created my own sweet. I’ll know in a few months if I’m right about this or not.

     My son, Kalib, was going to be watching over me tomorrow. Which means I am going to have to start another Food Fasting Fad the day after tomorrow. “I wonder what the latest fad is?”