It was gray and rainy outside. The bare trees quivered between cold gusts of wind. The atmosphere inside Pete’s house was equally dreary and bleak. In a chipped plastic bowl in front of him, his mother had prepared “cabbage soup”, which consisted of hot water with some limp cabbage leaves swimming in it, along with some floating onions and a few chunks of potato. Needless to say, the meal was less than appetizing.
“Pete, eat your soup before it gets cold,” urged his mother. With her big, intense black eyes, she watched Pete fill his spoon, and then dump the contents out. His mother was young, but years of stress and exhaustion drained the youth from her face. Her full, black hair was her only feature that didn’t appear listless and sunken. But today she wore mascara and lipstick.
“I have a job interview today,” she explained. This meant that Pete would have to find ways to entertain himself for the day. With that, she kissed him on the forehead and rushed out the door.
Pete forced the soup down, and only felt hungrier after he finished. So he decided to walk into his stuffy room and uncover his hidden stash of coins he had been collecting in a sock. He spilled the coins out on a table and from his pocket he added a nickel he found on the street to his collection. After saving his money for three months, Pete realized that there were now many coins on the table. A feeling of accomplishment surged through him as he shoveled the coins back into the sock and carried it with him out the door.
Pete was oblivious to the miserable day during his venture to his favorite place in town: a small candy shop named Sweets Shoppe. Sweets Shoppe was a pink and blue-painted building that stood out from the other brown and gray rundown buildings surrounding it. As Pete entered the store, the vision of stacked boxes of sweets arranged like towers mesmerized him. The interior of the shop was the opposite of the gloomy world outside. Golden lights, lively music, and happy customers chattering away as they sampled desserts provided a sweet escape from Pete’s reality. But Pete didn’t waste much time looking at the rainbow-swirled lollipops or sugar-coated fruits. Instead, he dashed straight towards a glass counter where the hand-crafted and decorated specialty candies were displayed. His eyes landed on his favorite: The Chocolate Worm. The Chocolate Worm had everything on it contained four different types of chocolate, nuts, glaze, marshmallows, gummies, frosting, and even sprinkles. Pete couldn’t remember the last time he had eaten a sugary treat, so his mouth watered as he attempted to imagine all of those opulent flavors combining into one divine candy.
“Admiring the Worm?” boomed a voice from behind the counter. The voice belonged to a burly baker with cocoa powder spattered on his apron, “Oh, you’re the little kid that comes here after school often yet never buys anything.”
Pete’s face immediately reddened. When the baker saw Pete get embarrassed, he laughed and told him not to worry. The baker even revealed that he was the same way when he was a boy.
Pete felt a bit more reassured with this and boldly asked to buy a Chocolate Worm. He stood up on his tippy-toes to give the man his sock filled with coins.
The man accepted the coins and counted them: a grand total of $0.52. The Chocolate Worm costs $2.00, but the baker couldn’t resist Pete’s hopeful face. The baker smiled at Pete as he wrapped up a Chocolate Worm and tied it with a bow.

Pete’s heart swelled with happiness as he left the store. He had finally accomplished his dream of buying a chocolate worm. When he came home, he put the Worm on the kitchen table, and stared at it, smelled it, and inspected its every minute, perfect detail. It was getting close to dinner though, so Pete decided to save it for dessert.

Pete’s mother entered their home distraught. She clearly didn’t come home with a job. She served Pete a small plate of stale bread with some pieces of chicken and carrots.
“Mom, aren’t you going to eat anything?” asked Pete.
“Oh, I’m okay. I’m not the one still growing, after all,” smiled his mother. But her rumbling stomach didn’t back her point up at all. She brewed herself a cup of black coffee, and sat down at the table to read an old issue of Good Housekeeping.
Pete suddenly felt conflicted. His plate was already clean, and he had been waiting for this moment now to enjoy his Worm for months. But he couldn’t help but feel guilty.
Pete entered his room, sat on his bed, and held his prized Chocolate Worm in his hands. He had wanted this Worm for so long, but he knew what he had to do.

When he returned into the kitchen, and handed his mother the wrapped Worm, tied with a bow. “This is for you, Mom,” said Pete in a tiny voice.

His mother stared at him, and then at the wrapped package curiously for a moment. “What is it?” she inquired. She carefully grasped the gift and untied the bow and peeled back the paper slowly. She gasped when she saw the Chocolate Worm.

“Pete!” she exclaimed. “You went to Sweets Shoppe by yourself and got this!? Aren’t these one of the expensive goods?” her eyes narrowed a bit then and asked where he got the money.

“Mom, I promise I bought it. I didn’t use your money, or anyone else’s, just my own. I have been saving my money for forever! Please, take it; I just want you to be you again, not this person that constantly job hunts and comes home too tired to do anything anymore. I love you mom, and I just wanted to give you this, as a thank you for always giving so much to me, like even your dinner.” Pete professed.

Pete’s mother detected the sincerity in his voice, and changed her appalled expression to a warm and appreciative one. “Oh, Peter,” she said, on the verge of tears. “I can’t thank you enough for this gift. It must’ve been hard for you to save this money and to buy a treat I know you probably wanted on me,” said his mother.
Pete’s mother grabbed a knife and decided to split the treat in half. The two ate the delicious Chocolate Worm as the rain turned into a light flurry of snow outside. The way they talked together warmed and lifted up the spirits of the house, was the sweetest part of the Chocolate Worm.