jawbreaker
[jaw-brey-ker]
1. Informal. a word that is hard to pronounce.
2. a very hard, usually round, candy.
3. Also called jaw crusher. Mining. a machine used to break up ore, consisting of a fixed plate and a hinged jaw moved by a toggle joint.
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It was a thing of beauty. A perfectly round globe that seemed to shimmer in the light. While much of its surface was white, dots of every color of the rainbow peppered its surface. The twins looked up at the sphere with awe. They swallowed a lump in their throat, knowing that the only thing separating them from pure bliss was a glass case and the word of their mother.
They turned and looked at each other. With an unspoken signal to each other, they knew what they had to do. It only took a quick look around and saw their target. They ran forward.
“Mommy, mommy, we know what we want!” They shouted in perfect unison.
The boy’s mother sighed. She had positioned herself perfectly. Close enough that she could keep an eye on her boys, but far enough away that she could get at least a semblance of quiet. A moment of quiet that had lasted for much less time than she had hoped.
“Okay, what is it?” She asked. Each twin grabbed a different hand and together they pulled her towards the ball. The woman took one look at it and frowned. The jawbreaker was easily the size of a small bowling ball. There was no way she was going to get that much candy.
“Please mommy, please?” One of her sons said. He opened his eyes wide and smiled.
“We’ll be good, we promise.” Said the other.
“We’ll share it all the time.”
The children continued pleading with their mother. She took a deep breath. It was a lot of candy. Too much for one person, for sure. But then she thought about past experiences with jawbreakers. She had once gotten them more reasonably sized ones, and they had lasted a month each. This one would last at least a year, even if both of the boys kept eating it every day. She could leverage this into not buying them any other sweets for as long as the giant ball of candy existed. It might actually be worth it.
“Okay, let’s see here.” SHe eyed the display and her eyes bulged. “F-fifty dollars!” She exclaimed. That was too much. Far too much.
“Is there a problem, ma’am?” The question came from behind the counter. The man was younger than her, probably in his twenties. He was fairly thin, and had an odd sheen to him.
“Is this price correct? This can’t be $50.”
“Oh, I promise you, it’s worth much more than that. In fact, I’m practically giving it away at that price.”
“You can’t be serious? I mean, yeah, it’s big, but it’s still a ball of sugar. It can’t be worth more than thirty.”
The man looked offended. “Ma’am, I assure you, this is no ordinary confection. This is a work of art.”
“Art? Really?”
“Oh yes, this is an artisanal piece. It was made over the course of six months by a master confectioner using only the highest quality, organic ingredients. Every grain of sugar used was steeped for weeks in fruit juices for maximum flavor, with each combination of juices planned and designed to work with each other. Each layer of the finished product was carefully arranged to perfectly synergize with the layers above and below it. It was hand dipped thousands of times, and each layer was scrutinized and perfected before another layer was added. Trust me when I say, ma’am, that this is probably the greatest jawbreaker ever made by human hands.”
The twins watched the salesman. They had no idea what some of those words meant, but they sounded good. It made them want the ball of dreams all the more.
“It’s a big ball of hardened sugar, not gourmet dining.” The woman said.
The man took a step back and clutched his chest. “Ma’am, I will ask you not to insult this piece. Who’s to say confections cannot be fine dining? I see, you must be used to, ugh, brand name candies. I shudder to think that such fine boys were brought up with such...base sweets. Trust me boys, once you try this, you’ll never go back to things in a grocery store.”
“Why not?” One of the boys said.
“Because this...this magnificent work of art with change the way you view candy forever.”
The boys looked at the glass covered ball. Before, it had merely been a grand dream. Not, it was akin to a thing divine. The light playing off its surface made it seem to glow with holy light. They somehow managed to tear their eyes from the holy orb and look pleadingly at their mother.
“No.” She said firmly. “It’s too much, it’s too expensive. I’m sorry boys, you’ll just have to pick something else.”
“You know, if you’d like, I do have smaller versions of the same thing. You won’t get the true experience, as many of the flavors are missing, but they are considerably more portable. And affordable.” The saleman said. He reached behind him and plucked two candy balls off a shelf behind him. They did indeed look like smaller versions of the big one.
The boys looked at their mother hopefully. The real prize was out of their reach, but these would do just as well for their needs.
“Fine, fine. How much?”
“$3.50 each.”
“Th-three…” She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Seven was still quite a bit more affordable than fifty. It still seemed like she was being ripped off. “Okay, fine, wrap them up. But these had better be the best damn jawbreakers in the world.”
“Oh, no worries there, ma’am. The only thing better than these is what’s in this case.” He said while stroking the glass display lovingly. “Unless you buy this, you will never taste anything better.”
The woman grumbled, but payed for the supposedly gourmet candies. The boys squealed with delight as they watched the salesman carefully wrap each jawbreaker in a separate bag. Their joy became all the greater when they actually held the packages in their young hands.
“Okay, you have your candy, now let’s go.” The woman said. She led the twins out of the candy store, hoping she had not made a terrible mistake.
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I'm not going to lie, I had fun writing this one. Just the idea of a "gourmet" jawbreaker is fun to think about. And making the size of a bowling ball may be overkill, but that's half the fun, isn't it?
So, you're saying you want one?
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