Tuesday Tales: From the Word CANDY

Posted bySusanne MatthewsPosted inUncategorized

Welcome to this week’s Tuesday Tales. Mara is about to find herself in another mess. Our word this week is CANDY. I’m continuing with Naughty Rudolph, my Christmas Romance Comedy.

As if she were an adult and not a six-year-old child, Callie extended her hand to Albert and then to Mary. “Are you going to have babies?”

Albert laughed. “That’s the first time anyone has asked me that.”

Nell shook her head. “Oh dear. Our Callie seems to be obsessed with babies at the moment. It probably has to do with the Christmas pageant, but she asked me the same thing when Amos and I announced our engagement last night. It seems she’s misunderstood a portion of the Nativity story.”

Mary nodded and scrunched down to the child’s level. “I would love to have babies, but I’m too old for that now. However, I knew you would be here, and I brought you a gift.” From the reusable bag she held, she removed a doll dressed in sealskin. “This doll represents my people. She’s wearing an amauti, that’s the warm coat with a large hood, kamikluuk, pants, kamiik, boots, and aitqatik, mitts. Look inside the hood. She has a surprise there for you.”

Callie moved the hood aside, her eyes and mouth rounding at the same time. “A baby. She gots a baby. Look Mara!” She held up the miniature doll.

Mary smiled. “That’s always been the best part of giving this gift—the surprised look on their face when they find it. You have a beautiful little girl.”

“She’s not—”

Before I could finish, a chuckle from the doorway had me glancing over my shoulder.

“Well, I’ll be damned. Mara Howard. What are you doing in Miami, Manitoba? Someone told me you’d gone to Florida for the holidays.”

It wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be.

“Doug?” I gasped.

The second I did, the mint in my mouth slipped out of my mouth and down my throat, blocking my windpipe. Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe. I grabbed at my throat, trying to force the solid ball of sugar down. I tried to cough to dislodge the damn candy but couldn’t. I tried to speak but only managed a high-pitched squeal. My eyes filled with tears as panic overtook me. My gaze focused on Rudy across the room. I tried to suck in air through my nose, and slowly, the room around me dimmed.

Oh God, please don’t let me die, not like this.

Don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales.

Published by Susanne Matthews

Hi! I live in Eastern Ontario. I'm married with three adult children and five wonderful grandchildren. I prefer warm weather, and sunshine but winter gives me time to write. If I’m listening to music, it will be something from the 1960s or 1970s. I enjoy action movies, romantic comedies, but I draw the line at slasher flicks and horror. I love science fiction and fantasy as well. I love to read; I immerse myself in the text and, as my husband says, the house could fall down around me, and I’d never notice. My preferences are as varied as there are genres, but nothing really beats a good romance, especially one that is filled with suspense. I love historical romance too, and have read quite a few of those. If I’m watching television, you can count on it being a suspense — I’m not a fan of reality TV, sit-coms, or game shows. Writing gives me the most pleasure. I love creating characters that become real and undergo all kinds of adventures. It never ceases to amaze me how each character can take on its own unique personality; sometimes, they grow very different from the way I pictured them! Inspiration comes from all around me; imagination has no bounds. If I can think it, imagine it, I can write it!

10 thoughts on “Tuesday Tales: From the Word CANDY”

      2. The common practice is to perform 5-5.5 blows to the back followed by 5 abdominal thrusts . It used to be called the Heimlich manoeuvre, but Heimlich himself apparently asked that they change it when they added the blows to the back first because he didn’t agree with them. The idea is to repeat until the item is dislodged or help arrives. I’ve never choked on a candy, but I have had large vitamins feel as if they are stuck partway down. It’s a horrible feeling, that’s for sure. It took a couple of extra glasses of water to get it down. In my research, I learned that if a candy does get stuck and only partially obstructs, drinking something carbonated will make it melt faster.

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