Strangers With Candy

One sunny Sunday afternoon, while walking with Kenna to the store,
we passed the residence of an elderly lady who was sitting on her
stoop. She saw us walking hand-in-hand and gestured for us to come
towards her. As we approached the house, she went inside and came
out with a lollipop in one hand and an unwrapped moonpie in the other.
I got the moonpie.
It was a sweet gesture, and McKenna remembered to
say "Thank you" and wave goodbye. But as we walked away, I had this
strange remembrance of my Mom's old Halloween warnings:
"NEVER eat anything from a stranger that's unwrapped! It could be poisoned!"
So I waited until we were down the block, and tossed the melted mess in the trash.
I told the girl the reason why I did it, but pointed out her lollipops were well-wrapped
and o.k. to eat. She tossed 'em too though...I felt kinda bad about it, but the lady was
like 95 years old, and she DID look a little off...
On the way back home McKenna wondered aloud why she gave us candy.
I told her- "Maybe she had a daughter too, and she would give her lollipops
when they went out for walks, and seeing us walking together reminded her of that.
So she wanted to give us something to make us and her feel good."

"Worst. Story. Ever.", she says, smiling.

"O.K....but what McKenna and her father didn't know what that the kind gentle
old lady was actually an alien leader from OUTER SPAAAAAACE!!!! And the lollipops
she gave us would've given us a DIFFERENT SUPER POWER with every lick!!!! And when
we were finished we'd FLY THROUGH THE GALAXY FIGHTING COSMIC CRIMINALS!!!! And then...."

I go on like this for another minute and finish quietly with-
"If we had only kept those lollipops for ourselves and not thrown them in the garbage...*sniff*..."

"O.K. Bad Ending, but at least it was interesting."- she deadpans.

It's hard out here for a Pop.