rshskshhhshhrsqueak!

Sampion paused in his sweeping, ears perking straight up. His green eyes darted around the shadowy corners of his bakery, ears flicking rapidly, but the sound didn’t repeat itself. After another several moments, he shook his head at himself and resumed cleaning. It had been a long day, and he was tired. Hearing things….

skshhshhchrrrskrrrshhhchrrp

He stopped dead again, eyes locking onto a dark space under the display case. Seconds ticked by, as he didn’t even breathe, almost hearing the sound of the dust settling as he strained his ears. The silence stretched on, but he didn’t resume this time,

The green furred feline shifted ever so slightly, one paw lifting ever so slowly, as he carefully lifted the broom off the ground. Ever so very slowly, he inched forward placing each step as silently as years of practice allowed him to be, ears half folded back against his skull.

skrrrshshshshhhh

His ears shot straight up, and he lunged, pupils dilating as a piece of the shadow detached itself. The broom whistled through the air. The shadow zigged, but not fast enough, as the bristles smacked down atop it with a crack. Sampion studied them warily for a moment, then crouched, slowly lifting up the broom as he peered underneath.

There was nothing at all there, just some oddly dissipating motes of shadow. He frowned at them, eyes narrowing as he contemplated the now empty floor. He’d heard the recent uproar about the invasion of void mice, but up until now, he hadn’t thought much of it.

skshhhhchrrsqueeep

“Gotcha this time you little….” Sampion opened his paws as he straightened from his pounce. His grin dissolved into a frustrated growl as the last shadow fragments quivered out of existence among his fur. “...I think I begin to see why there was such a fuss and bother…” He sighed and straightened up. He was going to have to go out and do a bit of research….see what was needed to deal with this new sort of…infestation. Lovely.

Homemade lollipops! Can find a recipe on the internet. <3 Make sure to use a candy thermometer and be extremely careful with hot sugar! I’d recommend a candy sphere mold.

Oh speaking of hot sugar, did I mention the other addition?

Hot pepper powder. Mmm.

You can dry and grind the peppers yourself, or find an appropriate pepper in the spices section. Customize to your preferred level of heat.

Hot lollipops are a fantastic start. I personally love hot and sweet together, so this is right up my alley.

Next, add your gummy worms and caramel. Melt the caramel gently, dunk the lollipop in to get a nice topping, then gently dip a gummy worm end and use that to glue it to the lollipop. I think the best bet would be gummy worms without sour sugar on, and correspond the gummy worm flavor to the flavor of the lollipop (you did flavor the lollipops, right?)

But if you’re like me and scared of hot sugar, here’s a cheater’s version:

Use premade lollipops, then use hot pepper infused honey (yes this is a thing, it’s delish) to attach the gummy worms to the pop. The honey can stand in for the caramel as well as adding that kick, but hey, if you want caramel, go for it!

-Chi 1046, aka Swedish-Fish-in-your-Ramen scientist

Hugo carefully considered the meal in front of him. Just because something was new to him, it didn’t mean it was something to be scared of—and if he didn’t give it a chance, how would he know if he liked it or not?

Also, it would be rude to refuse Ledore’s hard work in preparing this special dinner for the children tonight. Many of the adults in town had gone over to Silverwood Village to help with the Void Mice problem (and that was something new that Hugo was definitely interested in), which meant that Ledore didn’t have as many hands to help around the house. It was kind of her to still muster up the effort to make Halloween special for them, and Hugo really did appreciate it.

All that said, though.

The plate of curry remained in front of Hugo, unchanged and still gently steaming. He took in a deep breath to muster up his courage, and his nose twitched in confusion at the rich smell of chocolate mixed with vegetables. Honestly, a lot of the other kids didn’t like peas, but Hugo was okay eating them. And of course, he liked chocolate as much as anyone else.

But. But there was something in him that just drew up short at having them together.

^{“Sqmmeak!”}

Beside the plate, Huey’s mouth bulged with the marshmallows he’d stuffed into his cheeks. Somewhat muffled, the little hamster squeaked again at Hugo as he grabbed another marshmallow. Was it his third already?

Hugo sighed. “Okay,” he said, picking up his spoon. “I’m going for it!”

A Jellyfish Pop! With the sour neon gummy worms that are my favorite lol!

Certainly not my best work, but effort was put in with the few office supplies I could get my paws on. x_x