Ice and the Lolly Man

A little girl named Ice lives on the other side of town. She is not unlike other first graders, with eyes bright and curious, and fingers sticky more often than not, with paint or glue or perhaps even mud. She protests when her hair is brushed, complains about homework, and has had her share of spankings.1

But there is something that makes her different from other children.2

One sun-caressed Saturday, Ice decides to play Run-Away-From-Home. Her mother has given her a haircut that she hates, and she needs to find something to cheer herself up. Saturdays are meant to be happy, after all. So she slips out the back door while her mother is busy making dinner, and runs down the sidewalk with her arms spread out to the sky.3

She likes to pretend she has wings, and that one day she will fly home with a piece of the evening sky to hang on the refrigerator. She won’t bring home the sun, though. Her big brother says it would burn her up.4

At the end of the sidewalk, there is street – a wall to keep her inside this cage. She knows she’s not supposed to cross the street alone, so she skips back the other way, her apricot pigtails bobbing prettily. They aren’t as long as they used to be, but they haven’t forgotten how to dance when she moves.5

Shortly, she passes her house and continues in the opposite direction with which she started. Before long, she sees a funny-looking man in a rainbow-kissed suit. He is sitting in the grass, blowing bubbles and humming softly. His curls are white-blonde with just the first buds of pearl white, and at his chin the hairs taper down into a rich beard.6

“Hey, mister. You look like a rainbow threw up on you!” Ice informs him.7

“And you look like someone who would like a lollipop.”8

Ice tilts her head to the side. “What’s a lollipop?”9

“Goodness gracious, child. Have you never had a lollipop?” he asks incredulously.10

“Never.” She then sticks out her hand in a rather serious fashion. “My name’s Ice. What’s yours?”11

He is quiet for a moment, considering. “You can call me the Lolly man. Ice is a good name.” He shakes her hand, not minding that it is sticky.12

“Lolly man, aren’t you too old to blow bubbles?”13

“No, child. It is not one’s age that will keep him from pursuing his interests. Because I love bubbles more than I love to be thought of as a refined individual, I still blow them. Similarly, because I love to see children happy more than I love money, I manufacture lollipops and give them away for free.”14

“You still haven’t told me what a lollipop is,” Ice reminds him.15

“A lollipop… Well, I won’t bother to tell you when I can show you.” He stands up, putting the lid on his jar of bubble solution. With a snap of his fingers, there is a poof of sparkling green and yellow smoke. As the smoke clears, it reveals a cardboard box painted blue with silver and violet stars. On each wall of the box, there are a hundred hooks, and on each hook a lollipop hangs by a crimson ribbon, like an ornament on a branch of a Christmas tree.16

“These are lollipops,” says the Lolly man, eyes twinkling. “They’re a type of candy I’ve grown very fond of.”17

Ice moves forward slowly, reaching out to touch one. “Wow…” she breathes, her eyes growing large with fascination.18

There are so many of them, in so many shapes and sizes and colors. There circle lollipops, there are heart lollipops, there are square lollipops, rectangle lollipops, triangle lollipops, teddy bear lollipops, rose lollipops, diamond lollipops, star lollipops…19

There are blue lollipops, red lollipops, yellow lollipops, green lollipops, violet lollipops, apricot lollipops, pink lollipops, and multi-colored lollipops. There are scented lollipops and non-scented lollipops. There are lollipops for Sundays and Mondays and Tuesdays and Wednesdays, lollipops for Thursdays and Fridays and Saturdays, for Christmas and Easter and all sorts of holidays, for rainy days and sunny days and just-a-bit-breezy days. And no lollipop is the same as another.20

Just like people, thinks Ice. She smiles.21

“Pretty, aren’t they?”22

Ice nods. “Mister, what do they taste like?”23

“Why don’t you find out? Take as many as you want.”24

Ice blinks. “Th… Thank you!” She looks over the whole box, trying to decide what her choice shall be. Finally she picks a single lollipop, shaped like a rainbow with colored stripes.25

“What made you pick that one?” asks the Lolly man.26

She grins. “It reminds me of your suit.”27

“I see.” He looks pleased with her decision. “Ice, do your parents know where you are?”28

“No.” The thought that he might kidnap her doesn’t even cross her mind. After all, how can someone who blows bubbles and gives away lollipops be a kidnapper?29

“You should go back to them.”30

“Okay.” She smiles sheepishly, and turns to leave.31

“Oh, and Ice? The next time someone asks you that, pretend your parents are nearby. There are dangerous people in this world.”32

“I know. But you’re not dangerous, mister.”33

“You can’t know for sure.”34

“Goodbye, Lolly man.” She trots back down the sidewalk, a bounce in her step.35

There is something that makes Ice different from other children. She is allergic to peanuts, and according to the little slip of paper attached to the lollipop’s stick, it comes from a facility that uses peanuts. Therefore, it may contain peanuts, and she cannot eat it.36

But she doesn’t mind. The sun is shining, the grass is green, and her lollipop is as pretty as can be. She can hang it in her bedroom where it will be bathed in the light from her window. Whenever she wakes up, she will see it and remember how she met the Lolly man.37

There is more than one way to enjoy a lollipop.