How Many Licks?

The lollipop was dark and rich, like caramel. He probed the sweetness with his tongue. He was wearing it thin. He wondered what was in the core. A chocolate center? Bubble gum? Something else?

He broke through.

His tongue plunged down, down, down, through cold and biting winds. An empty void, an unbearable absence, clutched at him, pulled him forward. He barely had time to emit a muffled cry before he was sucked in through the hold he had made.

The lollipop fell to the table. A few moments later the wood began to creak and warp dangerously around it...