*

Pete woke up with a start. 

He tried to open his eyes but they seemed to be stuck together. 

He panicked, thinking that he was suddenly blind. He tried to reach up with his hands to wipe his face but his arms wouldn't budge. They were stuck to his sides by something. 

Then he realised that it felt quite tight around his chest as well. 

He tried to turn and squirm to get free of whatever it was but it felt quite solid. 

He tried to open his eyes again, something was causing them to be stuck together. 

He growled and then found saliva dribbling down his chin. He realised that his mouth had been gagged. 

That made him really panic. He had been kidnapped. He was being held somewhere. 

He tried to scream but it was just a muffled sound and more saliva dripped out of the gag. 

He tried to kick his legs but they were stuck solid. 

Where the hell was he?

He could just about move his shoulders. He wriggled again with his upper body. 

There was a smell of cherry in the air which filled his nostrils. 

"Hmm… I can't decide," a loud female voice floated to his ears. It sounded like it was directly above him. 

"Take as much time as you like, the price list is here," another female voice, which sounded more authoritative, spoke. 

"What's it like for them?" The first voice asked curiously. There was a pause. Then the other voice spoke. 

"Nobody's ever asked me that… I suppose… I dunno…" the authoritative voice sounded much less certain. 

"Hmm…" the first person sounded like she was thinking something over. 

Pete shook his head, desperately trying to clear whatever was covering his eyes. The sticky stuff was so frustrating. He forced his eyes open as much as he could, stretching his eyelids. 

They finally popped open and he wanted to scream when he realised where he was. 

He looked around wide eyed, in utter panic. The sights around him were too overwhelming to process all at once. 

There were two giant women looking down at him from above, and then this massive shop all around him, and then to his sides were rows and rows of other tiny people encased in, what looked like…

He looked down his own chest and body and screamed. It came out as a muffled wail but it caught the attention of the giant woman who was browsing. 

Pete saw that his body was encased in a lollipop.

"That one looks lively," the pretty giantess pointed down at him. She bent forwards displaying a generous cleavage. "What flavour is he?" 

"Hmmm…" what appeared to be the shop proprietor leaned in close and her enormous nostrils came within inches of Pete's face. They were utterly huge and terrifying. He tried to scream but it came out as a muffled noise. There was a huge breeze as she suddenly took a deep intake of breath through her nose and sniffed him. She was smelling him!

The giant face ascended again. 

"Cherry," she declared.

"Ooh… I like cherry," the pretty younger woman clapped her hands. "Yes, I'll take him, ooh and I'll take that box of chocolate ones as well," she pointed over to the side. 

Pete felt his saliva pouring out of his gag as he tried to call out for help. 

He watched helplessly as the shop proprietor, Des’ire, lifted a gold box up into the air, Pete could just about see the contents, there were assorted types of chocolates in there, but what really horrified him more was the tiny waving arms and heads and the sounds of their screams.

Each chocolate appeared to have a tiny person half trapped inside, similar to Pete's situation. Except he seemed to be a little bit bigger than them, and he was tied to a lollipop stick and covered in a semi-transparent sugary treat, whereas they were coated in chocolate.