Little Suzie skipped merrily down the sidewalk, her blonde pigtails bouncing with each sprightly step. The sun shone brightly overhead, bathing the world in a golden glow that seemed to promise endless possibilities. But for Suzie, only one thing mattered at this moment: the pack of bubblegum clutched tightly in her tiny hand.

Suzie had saved up her allowance for weeks, foregoing the temptations of ice cream and candy, all for this one perfect pack of gum. As she carefully unwrapped a piece and popped the small pink rectangle into her mouth, Suzie closed her eyes in pure bliss. The sweet, artificial strawberry flavor burst over her tongue like a symphony of deliciousness.

Suzie chewed vigorously, delighting in the satisfying squeak of the gum between her teeth. She blew an enormous bubble, watching in awe as it expanded bigger and bigger before finally popping with a snap. Suzie giggled gleefully, feeling like the luckiest girl in the world.

But then, as quickly as it had come, the wondrous flavor began to fade. Suzie’s chewing slowed as she desperately tried to coax out every last note of strawberry goodness, but it was no use. Within mere minutes, the gum had turned into nothing more than a flavorless, rubbery lump in her mouth.

Tears began to well up in Suzie’s eyes as the harsh reality set in. How could something so perfect, so utterly joyful, disappear so quickly? It wasn’t fair! Suzie spat the useless wad of gum onto the ground and collapsed to her knees, overcome by despair.

“Why?!” she wailed to the heavens. “Why must all that is good and pure in this world be so fleeting? Is there no justice? No mercy for an innocent child’s simple happiness?”

Passersby stopped and stared at the distraught little girl, but Suzie paid them no mind, lost in her own personal tragedy. She beat her small fists against the unforgiving concrete, railing against the cruelty of the universe that would grant her a taste of perfection only to snatch it away in the blink of an eye.

“Oh, ephemeral flavor, my lost love!” Suzie cried, her voice choked with anguish. “How I long to savor your sweetness forever! But alas, you are doomed to fade like a half-remembered dream. Leaving me with nothing but the bitter ashes of what might have been.”

The sun, which had seemed so bright and cheerful only moments ago, now appeared to mock Suzie with its garish light. She turned her face away, unable to bear its soulless cheeriness in the face of her overwhelming sorrow. Even the birds seemed to laugh at her misery, their carefree songs turned into shrill, jeering taunts.

Suzie reached a trembling hand into her pocket and withdrew the remaining sticks of gum. She gazed at them longingly, torn between the desire to recapture those fleeting moments of joy and the knowledge that it would ultimately end in heartbreak. In the end, temptation won out, and Suzie unwrapped another piece with a resignation born of addiction.

As the flavor once again bloomed on her tongue, Suzie was filled with a sense of bittersweet melancholy. She knew deep in her heart that this feeling could not last, that it was as transient as a soap bubble flickering in the breeze. And yet, she could not help but cling to it, this ephemeral echo of happiness, for as long as she could.

Suzie rose slowly to her feet, dusting off her scuffed knees with listless hands. She trudged onward down the sidewalk, a lost waif adrift in an uncaring world. In her pocket, the gum seemed to weigh her down like a millstone, a cruel reminder of all that she could never truly have.

And though the sun still shone and the birds still sang, for little Suzie, the world would never again be quite as bright or as beautiful. For she had tasted perfection, only to have it slip through her fingers like grains of sand. And she knew, with a certainty beyond her tender years, that she would spend the rest of her days chasing that elusive flavor, a joyless junkie forever seeking her next fix, doomed to disillusionment.

Truly, there could be no greater tragedy than this, the loss of innocence and the shattering of hope. For in a world where even the simplest of pleasures is fated to fade, what was left but the bitter dregs of a life half-lived? Little Suzie chewed on in numb misery, a child-sized Atlas crushed beneath the weight of a cruel and uncaring universe.

Feature Photo by Thamyres Silva