It was actually like someone had dropped a real atom bomb on Barry’s tongue. Well, it wasn’t actually like that as that would have meant that his mouth would have actually exploded, along with his head, and Bottom Sweets, and most of Bottomley Bottom; but it felt really, really bad. Like the sweet was made of lemon, sugar AND THE CORE OF A SUPERNOVA.
Barry opened his mouth and silently screamed.
“Oh my God!” said Elliott Cool.
“Mouth emergency!” said Mr Muddle. “Mouth emergency!”
“What should we do?!” said Mama Cool.
Barry continued to move his face from side to side with his mouth open and his eyes wide with horror, like a baby who’s accidentally eaten a chilli.
“OK,” said Mr Muddle. He looked him straight in the eyes. “Barry. Lie down.”
Barry did as he was told. He lay down in the middle of Bottom Sweets. His mouth was still open.
“Mr and Mrs Cool? Could you form a line to the sweets behind the counter?”
Barry heard some shuffling. His mouth was still open.
“Right. I’m going to shout out the name of a particular cocktail of sweets that I think, mixed together in Barry’s mouth, will counteract the effect of the A-Bomb. It’s a long shot, but it might just work.”
“Like, OK?” he heard Elliott say.
“You pass me the jar, Mama C!”
“Right, my lover!” said Mama Cool.
“Sugar Sugars!”
Barry heard the sound of something rattling overhead. He looked up. Mr Muddle was standing over him with a jar of bright white cubes.
“Whatever you do, Barry,” he said, “don’t shut your mouth…” He tipped the jar forward and poured into Barry’s mouth two Sugar Sugars. Barry could just about taste the sweetness underneath the raging sourness.
“Don’t eat them yet!” said Mr Muddle.
“Orggghmff…” said Barry.
“Good boy.”
Then, one by one, Mr Muddle called for all the other jars.
“Banana Balls!”
Two of them went in.
“Caramel Hi-Kools!”
Four of them.
“Nougat Naughties!”
One of them.
“Toffee Snakes!”
Half of one of them. Mr Muddle broke it and ate the other half while dropping the first half into Barry’s mouth like a piece of spaghetti.
“And finally back to basics: pass me the Sherbet Bing-Bongs!”
Three of them. Barry had never felt his mouth so full of sweets. He’d never felt his mouth so full of anything.
“OK, Barry, now sit up…” Barry did as he was told. Elliott and Mama Cool were standing there, looking worried, holding a number of open jars.
“And… crunch!!!” said Mr Muddle.
Barry finally managed to shut his mouth, bringing his teeth down on the amazing confectionery mix in there. And Mr Muddle was right: the incredible blend of sweetness overwhelmed the sourness of the A-Bomb, bringing the feeling inside his mouth back to normal. He bit, he chewed, he swallowed.
“Hmm,” he said, looking up at the relieved faces of Elliott and Mama Cool and Mr Muddle. “Quite nice actually. Can I have another A-Bomb?”