The Lolly Shop

CHAPTER 1

Let us introduce ourselves.

‘Hi I’m Baxter’, Baxter waving

‘Hi I’m Ethan’, Ethan waving.

These boys are 8 years old and 6 years old. They own their own lolly shop.

‘Yes, that is right,’ Baxter says, ‘we own our own lolly shop!’

If you know them, this may be hard to believe considering Baxter can be too serious to enjoy lolly fun and Ethan can be too boisterous to do any bookkeeping and store organisation. But both boys put their heads together and came up with a rather fun, cool, exciting lolly shop experience.

It is simply named, ‘The Lolly Shop’.

‘We started this idea to have our own shop when our parents lost their jobs. We didn’t know how to help but what we did know is that we loved delicious lollies. If that’s what we wanted to spend our money on then no doubt other children would want to do the same,’ Baxter states.

‘And it seemed to do the trick! What started as a little stall at the Manly market, grew into a large shop. All thanks to children everywhere wanting to spend their pocket money on lollies. Jackpot!’ Ethan shouts!

‘One day we hope our lolly shop will have stores everywhere!’ Ethan said. ‘All over the world in fact,’ Baxter adds. ‘But for now, we own a small shop in the Brisbane seaside town of Manly. Manly is our home,’ Baxter proudly says.

The shop is so bright and colourful – it’s the only one of its kind in our village and children everywhere love to come and peak inside at the shelves full of colourful bright candy. Children also like to marvel at the shop windows as well. The boys always have new displays to show off their latest fantastic candy ranges. As the seasons change so does the candy and they keep it interesting all year round. Baxter and Ethan are so proud of their delicious creations!

The shop looks crazy cool too! Inside and out!

Picture this: the outside walls of the shop are painted brown with lolly decorations displayed all over to look like a gingerbread house. On the font of the shop are poles that look like candy canes, all striped red and white which make an arch around the front doors. Giant imitation candy swirl lolly pops are scattered all around the exterior walls and red and white candy wheels line the window ledges.

Walking inside you see striped walls and colourful tiles on the floor. Every shelf is a different colour and hanging all around the shop are bon-bon shaped lights – lots of different lolly lights! Dangling everywhere and shining bright. And we forgot to mention our gummy bear lamps that make our window displays sparkle. Yes, they have a glittery, sparkly lolly wonderland.

‘We are the cooks in the kitchen making all sorts of delicious treats for children in our village,’ Baxter adds. ‘Again, I am the serious one making sure all ingredients are measured just right and that we are fully stocked. Ethan, he is always in the kitchen sneaking a taste of the ingredients and finished products… he is why we are constantly running out of sugar!’

‘Rubbish Baxter! – It couldn’t possibly be me’ Ethan yells. ‘It’s got to be the crazy seagulls. They are always to blame…’

Both boys spend early morning and early evening making the candy then spend the whole day in the shop selling candy to children of all ages. It’s SO much fun! Every day it’s creating, crafting, inventing things that bring joy. Lots and lots of sugar filled joy!

‘I bet you are wondering how we fit in school?’ Ethan asks. ‘Not my favourite thing to do but my parents insist on us going’. ‘We only go to school for a few hours a week.’

Baxter and Ethan do most of their schooling at home Sunday afternoons… ‘and we do drop into the school for testing and parent teacher interviews.’ Ethan discloses. The school gives both boys the curriculum they need to complete every term. ‘But we figure making candy is a giant maths lesson on fractions and adding – Ethan has tried to convince the maths teacher this anyway… ½ cup sugar + ¼ cup of flavour = awesomeness! That’s an equation, right?!’ Ethan giggles.

Of course, that’s not real maths and until he can prove he’s a straight A student, he will be staying in school. ‘I get straight A’s in practical jokes’ Ethan declares. ‘But half the time, it’s not me – it’s the crazy seagulls…..’

Back to the lolly shop.

It’s not your ordinary lolly shop. Definitely not ordinary.

The shop was open for a whole year before it all went a little crazy.

During the opening year the shop produced hundreds of different lollies, chocolates, and candies. They were simple and all sold well. Nothing too out there, all the usual flavours. Strawberry, raspberry, liquorice, caramel, sherbet, mint, marshmallow, tutti frutti and cherry – just to name a few.

‘Business was steady and we were very happy – but most importantly – our customers were happy!’ Baxter reveals.

The store was full every weekend.

Their lives at the store were simply:

Creating, crafting, baking, inventing, selling and repeat.

Creating, crafting, baking, inventing, selling and repeat.

Until one day a kitchen delivery happened. This is when things started to get a little…. unusual you could say… peculiar even… very strange indeed…

‘Both of us remember, on this particular day our kitchen had a delivery of sugar – or so we thought it was sugar.’ Baxter tells. His eyes widen, as these thoughts grow. ‘Our stock was running low, so we hurried into the kitchen and started to create.’

‘We made our famous strawberry red lollypops.’ Baxter explained. These are bright red lollypops with a strawberry crust. Bursting with a raspberry filling all wrapped up in a red and white spotted wrapper, finished with a red bow. Ahhh…. delicious!

‘Our customers love them – kids say they taste like strawberry then raspberry and their burps always smell sweet after! …we add a pinch of popping candy in the middle for that last-minute surprise.’ Ethan adds.

Yum! These are always popular and they always sold out.

After every batch the little cooks in the kitchen test them to make sure they are perfect. But this time…Baxter sucked on the delicious strawberry coating and started floating in the air! Slowly started rising. Up and up. Higher and higher.

Baxter let out a nervous laugh. ‘Ahhh Ethan. Turn around quick! I’m floating!’

‘WHAT?!?!?!’ Ethan froze with amazement. He watched as Baxter rose higher and higher.

“We were astounded! How is this happening?!” Baxter only floated for a minute. He bumped his head on the ceiling. Still settled back on the ground with an uneasy laugh, unsure if this is a good thing or a bad thing… Baxter never floated before; this was his first time after all!

It only took a moment to realise the lollipop had something to do with the floating. Ethan of course just had to try one! Sure enough, with one suck, he too gently floated up to the ceiling and bumped his head. “Ouch” he cried. But there was no nervous laugh from Ethan, he was loving this and giggling all the way. After what must have seemed like a very short minute whatever magic was causing them to float, appeared to wear off, the sinking to the ground confirmed this. With little hesitation they each tried another one.

It was no mistake. It was definitely the lollies. Laughing and giggling the boys floated up into the air. Weightlessness? Buoyancy? Lightness? Oh, what is this indescribable feeling? We do not want this to end! Floating felt unreal! Ethan loved putting sugary fingerprints on the ceiling and Baxter couldn’t help but to notice all the dust on top of the shelves – ‘we boys are so different but we both love this floating thing!’ One minute again flew by and both sunk to the kitchen floor.

‘Again!’ Ethan yelled?!?!?! But Baxter stopped him. ‘We don’t know what we are dealing with here Ethan. It could have side effects’ Baxter warned.

‘By side effects, you mean I’ll become the most popular kid in the village?! Yeah,

CHAPTER 1

Let us introduce ourselves.

‘Hi I’m Baxter’, Baxter waving

‘Hi I’m Ethan’, Ethan waving.

These boys are 8 years old and 6 years old. They own their own lolly shop.

‘Yes, that is right,’ Baxter says, ‘we own our own lolly shop!’

If you know them, this may be hard to believe considering Baxter can be too serious to enjoy lolly fun and Ethan can be too boisterous to do any bookkeeping and store organisation. But both boys put their heads together and came up with a rather fun, cool, exciting lolly shop experience.

It is simply named, ‘The Lolly Shop’.

‘We started this idea to have our own shop when our parents lost their jobs. We didn’t know how to help but what we did know is that we loved delicious lollies. If that’s what we wanted to spend our money on then no doubt other children would want to do the same,’ Baxter states.

‘And it seemed to do the trick! What started as a little stall at the Manly market, grew into a large shop. All thanks to children everywhere wanting to spend their pocket money on lollies. Jackpot!’ Ethan shouts!

‘One day we hope our lolly shop will have stores everywhere!’ Ethan said. ‘All over the world in fact,’ Baxter adds. ‘But for now, we own a small shop in the Brisbane seaside town of Manly. Manly is our home,’ Baxter proudly says.

The shop is so bright and colourful – it’s the only one of its kind in our village and children everywhere love to come and peak inside at the shelves full of colourful bright candy. Children also like to marvel at the shop windows as well. The boys always have new displays to show off their latest fantastic candy ranges. As the seasons change so does the candy and they keep it interesting all year round. Baxter and Ethan are so proud of their delicious creations!

The shop looks crazy cool too! Inside and out!

Picture this: the outside walls of the shop are painted brown with lolly decorations displayed all over to look like a gingerbread house. On the font of the shop are poles that look like candy canes, all striped red and white which make an arch around the front doors. Giant imitation candy swirl lolly pops are scattered all around the exterior walls and red and white candy wheels line the window ledges.

Walking inside you see striped walls and colourful tiles on the floor. Every shelf is a different colour and hanging all around the shop are bon-bon shaped lights – lots of different lolly lights! Dangling everywhere and shining bright. And we forgot to mention our gummy bear lamps that make our window displays sparkle. Yes, they have a glittery, sparkly lolly wonderland.

‘We are the cooks in the kitchen making all sorts of delicious treats for children in our village,’ Baxter adds. ‘Again, I am the serious one making sure all ingredients are measured just right and that we are fully stocked. Ethan, he is always in the kitchen sneaking a taste of the ingredients and finished products… he is why we are constantly running out of sugar!’

‘Rubbish Baxter! – It couldn’t possibly be me’ Ethan yells. ‘It’s got to be the crazy seagulls. They are always to blame…’

Both boys spend early morning and early evening making the candy then spend the whole day in the shop selling candy to children of all ages. It’s SO much fun! Every day it’s creating, crafting, inventing things that bring joy. Lots and lots of sugar filled joy!

‘I bet you are wondering how we fit in school?’ Ethan asks. ‘Not my favourite thing to do but my parents insist on us going’. ‘We only go to school for a few hours a week.’

Baxter and Ethan do most of their schooling at home Sunday afternoons… ‘and we do drop into the school for testing and parent teacher interviews.’ Ethan discloses. The school gives both boys the curriculum they need to complete every term. ‘But we figure making candy is a giant maths lesson on fractions and adding – Ethan has tried to convince the maths teacher this anyway… ½ cup sugar + ¼ cup of flavour = awesomeness! That’s an equation, right?!’ Ethan giggles.

Of course, that’s not real maths and until he can prove he’s a straight A student, he will be staying in school. ‘I get straight A’s in practical jokes’ Ethan declares. ‘But half the time, it’s not me – it’s the crazy seagulls…..’

Back to the lolly shop.

It’s not your ordinary lolly shop. Definitely not ordinary.

The shop was open for a whole year before it all went a little crazy.

During the opening year the shop produced hundreds of different lollies, chocolates, and candies. They were simple and all sold well. Nothing too out there, all the usual flavours. Strawberry, raspberry, liquorice, caramel, sherbet, mint, marshmallow, tutti frutti and cherry – just to name a few.

‘Business was steady and we were very happy – but most importantly – our customers were happy!’ Baxter reveals.

The store was full every weekend.

Their lives at the store were simply:

Creating, crafting, baking, inventing, selling and repeat.

Creating, crafting, baking, inventing, selling and repeat.

Until one day a kitchen delivery happened. This is when things started to get a little…. unusual you could say… peculiar even… very strange indeed…

‘Both of us remember, on this particular day our kitchen had a delivery of sugar – or so we thought it was sugar.’ Baxter tells. His eyes widen, as these thoughts grow. ‘Our stock was running low, so we hurried into the kitchen and started to create.’

‘We made our famous strawberry red lollypops.’ Baxter explained. These are bright red lollypops with a strawberry crust. Bursting with a raspberry filling all wrapped up in a red and white spotted wrapper, finished with a red bow. Ahhh…. delicious!

‘Our customers love them – kids say they taste like strawberry then raspberry and their burps always smell sweet after! …we add a pinch of popping candy in the middle for that last-minute surprise.’ Ethan adds.

Yum! These are always popular and they always sold out.

After every batch the little cooks in the kitchen test them to make sure they are perfect. But this time…Baxter sucked on the delicious strawberry coating and started floating in the air! Slowly started rising. Up and up. Higher and higher.

Baxter let out a nervous laugh. ‘Ahhh Ethan. Turn around quick! I’m floating!’

‘WHAT?!?!?!’ Ethan froze with amazement. He watched as Baxter rose higher and higher.

“We were astounded! How is this happening?!” Baxter only floated for a minute. He bumped his head on the ceiling. Still settled back on the ground with an uneasy laugh, unsure if this is a good thing or a bad thing… Baxter never floated before; this was his first time after all!

It only took a moment to realise the lollipop had something to do with the floating. Ethan of course just had to try one! Sure enough, with one suck, he too gently floated up to the ceiling and bumped his head. “Ouch” he cried. But there was no nervous laugh from Ethan, he was loving this and giggling all the way. After what must have seemed like a very short minute whatever magic was causing them to float, appeared to wear off, the sinking to the ground confirmed this. With little hesitation they each tried another one.

It was no mistake. It was definitely the lollies. Laughing and giggling the boys floated up into the air. Weightlessness? Buoyancy? Lightness? Oh, what is this indescribable feeling? We do not want this to end! Floating felt unreal! Ethan loved putting sugary fingerprints on the ceiling and Baxter couldn’t help but to notice all the dust on top of the shelves – ‘we boys are so different but we both love this floating thing!’ One minute again flew by and both sunk to the kitchen floor.

‘Again!’ Ethan yelled?!?!?! But Baxter stopped him. ‘We don’t know what we are dealing with here Ethan. It could have side effects’ Baxter warned.

‘By side effects, you mean I’ll become the most popular kid in the village?! Yeah, I could handle that bro!’ Ethan exclaimed as he raced for another lollypop.

This is very peculiar?! How bizarre?! How ridiculous?!

‘HOW AWESOME IS THIS?!?!?!?!?!?!’ We both cried out! Both boys had no idea how I could handle that bro!’ Ethan exclaimed as he raced for another lollypop.

This is very peculiar?! How bizarre?! How ridiculous?!

‘HOW AWESOME IS THIS?!?!?!?!?!?!’ We both cried out! Both boys had no idea how