I never believed in the Lollipop Man. He was just one of those Boogeymen that the bullies would use to try to make us cry on the playground. Their taunt started:



“The Lollipop Man drives an ice cream van

And travels from town to town.

He offers you sweets

But if you eat his treats

He’ll bury you in the ground.”



The boys would always start that stupid song every time we heard an ice cream truck from the blacktop. It never worked on me, though. Like Bloody Mary, I knew he was fake. Only kids believed in monsters. And I wasn’t a kid anymore. I could use the microwave by myself, I had a cell phone, and I could even walk to my friend’s house by myself.



And that’s what I was doing when it happened.



I was on my way to Melody’s house to work on our science project. It was almost spring, so I chose to break out my favorite plaid skirt that day instead of those ugly khaki uniform pants. But it wasn’t quite warm enough yet, and the wind was biting my knees.



Uniforms were just one of the things I hated about St. Mary’s School. Another thing I hated was Lent. I’d given up sugar again, which seemed easy enough, but after days of no soda, no cookies, and no candy, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make it to Holy Thursday. They said this was supposed to help me get closer to Jesus or something.



I could hear the circus music of the truck as it crept up the road behind me. My stomach ached, but I pulled out my phone and pretended to text, hoping it would just pass me by.



But it stopped.



“Good afternoon, little lady.” The man smiled at me. His gaze felt warm and inviting, and I couldn’t help but smile back as I caught a glimpse of his colorful clown outfit. He wasn’t wearing any clown makeup, though, which I found a bit strange. And he was strange-a stranger. I loved sweets, so I knew every ice cream man in town. But I’d never seen him before.



“Hello,” I replied politely, just as my mother had taught me. Then I looked back down at my phone and continued to walk to Melody’s.



“Do you want to buy a treat?”



“Um…it’s too cold for ice cream. Thanks.” I kept walking.



“I don’t sell ice cream, silly goose. I sell candy.” He was leaning out of the window, smiling at me with perfect white teeth.

My stomach growled, and I stopped. My mouth watered at the thought of it. I could hear Sister Agatha’s voice in my head: ‘Never fall for temptations, they always lead to sin.’



“That’s okay, thanks. Besides, I don’t have any money.” I forced my gaze back to the glowing screen on my phone and shuffled down the sidewalk away from the clown and his candy.



I did have money. That was a lie. And lying was a sin, too.



“Well, alright then. But I can’t stand to see a kid without any sweets. How about a sucker on the house?”



I looked around at our quiet suburban street for anyone who might see me break my Lent sacrifice. My mother would be so mad at me if she knew.



As if he could read my mind, he chuckled, “No parents here. It’s just a sucker, kid. Here. Have a nice day.”



He held up a bright pink lollipop the size of a large strawberry. It was so pretty and delicious-looking. I couldn’t help myself.



I took it.



He smiled as I brought it to my lips and put it in my mouth. The sweet sugar melted on my tongue. But then..suddenly…it was as if the sucker was made of glue. It stuck to my cheeks, my lips, my tongue. I tried to pull it out, but I couldn’t. It ripped at my mouth, and I could taste blood. Hot burning tears ran down my cheeks as I tried to scream, but it came out quiet and muffled.



The man reached down and pulled me up into the truck like I weighed nothing. He threw me on the floor with a thud as my head hit the metal floor, making me dizzy. Then he quickly got behind the wheel and started driving away. The circus music began to play again.



I yanked on the candy and tried to peel my lips away, but it was no use. I was beginning to see stars, and everything felt like it was fading to black, as my eyelids grew heavy.



The last thing I remember was the second verse of that horrible playground rhyme floating through my mind:



“Take one lick, and you’ll never stop.

And all they’ll find is a lollipop.”



And that’s all they ever found of me, too.