Wrong Pixie Stick
Around the time I was 13, I used to be a pretty good-natured and calm kid. However, my cousin, who was more on the wild side, managed to bring out the mischievous youngster in me. We found ourselves at a gathering where a lot of parents had brought their kids along.
My cousin and I had a playful, if somewhat thoughtless, idea to share a pixie stick we’d purchased earlier with one of the younger kids.
We secured an empty pixie stick wrapper we’d previously had, filled it almost to the brim with sand, and then sprinkled a little bit of candy powder from a new pixie stick on top to disguise the sand.
We tricked the young kid into believing that we were simply being kind and sharing our treat. Without suspecting anything, he took the candy and dumped it into his mouth, filling his mouth with sandy grit.
Immediately after biting down on what he assumed was a sweet treat, the kid knew something was off. His face twisted into a mix of shock and revulsion as he began to frantically spit out the sand.
The sand, however, had clung to the insides of his mouth, making it difficult for him. Tears started to flow and he scurried off to find his mother, while my cousin and I quietly slipped away, giggling until we had tears in our eyes.
We observed the kid attempting to explain the situation to his mom through his tears. He was so upset, he had trouble actually articulating what had happened. Even though my cousin and I had initially found it funny, we quickly felt a pang of regret. It’s a feeling that still stays with me.