I'm back for a re-read and I appreciate the fact that you have fixed the error.

I am re-rating this for you, but you need to take out one of those the's in the the character in the last line.

Thanks for your entry!

Good Luck!

First off I would like to say thank you for entering my first contest!

Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. #1440514 by Not Available.

Now on to my review of your story ~

WHAT I LIKED

You have followed the prompt here very well. You keep the prompt as the theme in your story constant.

I like that you ended your story with the same words as you started it with.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

Actually, you have started with FOUR words and ended with the same FOUR here! When cut back to THREE (as stated in the rules of this contest) - they end up differently. Do you see that?

However, I don't have the heart to disqualify you for that if you change it toTHREE instead of FOUR

FORM/STRUCTURE

This is well written in first person - past and present tense is written fittingly.

I enjoyed the "penny candy" plot. You've packed a lot of story into your word count here and succeeded in pulling off a great beginning, middle, and end to your story.

SUGGESTIONS

The only suggestion I have is that you change your FOUR words at the beginning and end to THREE words instead. I loved your story and want to see your entry remain in the contest. I will even give it a higher rating.

OVERALL IMPRESSION

I enjoyed this somewhat educational 'penny candy' walk down memory lane with you!

Good luck in the contest!