In the sweet-scented heart of Santa’s Village stood Kathy’s Candy Shop, a cheerful corner store trimmed in peppermint and lined with jars of sugary delights. It was here that Kathy Clockwright—Shoe Elf and master confectioner—had created the first ever swirl-stick and engineered dozens of magical candies known across Dondavar. And it was also here, one chilly morning in January, that Dexter Tinker very nearly blew up the fudge room.

Dexter had just graduated from the Elfling Orientation Program three months earlier.  After a disastrous stint involving Bubblewrap, he had been reassigned to Auxiliary Confection Support, which meant he wasn’t allowed to make candy... but he was allowed to carry things.

“Dexter,” Kathy called as she stirred a bubbling vat of vanilla fudge, “could you fetch me the pop-rocks? Top shelf in the back storeroom. The pink-labeled basket, not the orange.”

Dexter saluted, then paused. “Wait. Pink… or orange-pink? Because they—”

“Just pink. And don’t bring the orange. Those are for soda fizzies. Completely different reaction.”

Dexter nodded and dashed off, boots thudding across the tile floor. A short climb up the stepladder revealed two baskets side by side—one pink, one orange-pink, in Dexter’s honest opinion. He reached for both to compare them more closely. And that’s when his sleeve snagged.

The baskets tumbled, showering pop-rocks down like candy hail. Most of them scattered across the shelf… but a good portion—perhaps half a pound—rattled and plinked straight into the large mixing vat of steaming vanilla fudge.

POOMPF!

The vat belched, then rumbled, then erupted in a geyser of molten, foaming fudge. Sticky ribbons shot skyward, coating the rafters and raining down in sugary blobs. The pop-rocks had reacted with the warm, aerated mixture, creating a violently expanding foam-fudge hybrid that sparkled and snapped as it clung to everything.