lemon drops ; mileven

-lemon what?-

"ok, el. we are gonna go through all your candy, and i'll check them all to make sure no one is trying to poison or hurt you. ok?"

hopper had started sounding and acting more and more like a dad everyday. he was always making sure el was ok, and that nothing was wrong.

el looked around the little space open on the wooden floor. she studied the cracks and inconsistent designs as she nodded her head towards hop.

she excitedly dumped out the entire mass of candy onto the hardwood floor, studying every little bit of sugar that lied evenly spread out everywhere.

she proceeded to meticulously sort out her candy by name, which took her about an hour to finish.

she had gotten many candies she heard the boys talk and fight about, but there were a few she didn't recognize.

"huh?" she had quietly said to herself, questioning the look of them.

hopper had saw her face scrunch up into a confused face. "whatcha' lookin' at, kid?"

"what," she paused, "are these?" she said this so innocently, sort of like a baby.

"those are a candy called lemon drops-" he was cut off by el, asking even more questions.

el has such a sparkle in her eyes. she was such a curious little girl. exploring every little thing she saw.

"lemon what?"

"they're a candy called lemon drops. they taste kind of sweet and sour," he took a second to make sure it's ok for her to eat, then went on to tell her "go ahead. eat it. see what it tastes like!"

she had popped the tiny, round, yellow candy into her mouth. her eyes immediately lit up, and you can tell by the smile on her face she was enjoying it.

"mmm!" she said with delight. "this is really good!" she couldn't believe what she was tasting.

"not as good as eggos, but really close! can you check the rest?" she begged hopper to open the rest and make sure they were ok. she didnt want to eat anything else.

"ok, el, that's the rest of 'em. you can eat more candy tomorrow. time for bed." hopper was being a little strict, most likely because it was one of el's first night out without him, especially going with four boys.

her eyes turned sad, and started pleading to hopper. "can we get more another time? i really like them. i won't ask for anything else!"

"maybe. love you el. goodnight."

she trudged over to her room, and stripped of her clothes. she slowly got dressed in a light pastel pink nightgown, with a small flower pattern on the hem.

she grabbed her teddy bear, and climbed into bed. she thought about the great night she had had with mike and the boys. she still had the sweet lemon-y taste of her favorite candy in her mouth.

she fell asleep, and dreamt sweet dreams, full of her friends, her teddy bear, and, of course, lemon drops.

-🍋-