Sweet Sweet Conflict by Mikaela Miyamoto

Mikaela is writing a bunch of short stories for 13 Days 13 Shorts this year! To check out more stuff from Mikaela, visit www.mikaelamiyamoto.com

Sweet Sweet Conflict

My family doesn’t handle conflict very well. So, my grandmother’s gotten very creative when it comes to dealing with “negative” emotions. Anytime things get too heated or someone seems to be really down and upset, she breaks out “the conflict clown”. My sister and I have nicknamed it the “candy corn clown”. But that’s because it’s usually accompanied by some sort of sweet treat and the first time we ever saw it was around Halloween when candy corn was the one thing my grandmother had on hand. We were in the middle of a fight over which tv show to watch. As we played tug of war with the remote, my grandmother cleared her throat from across the room and pointed past us to the coffee table. There sat a small porcelain doll with a jester’s hat and a tiny bucket in its lap full of candy corn. In shock, we both let go of the remote and approached the fragile doll to investigate. My grandmother simply gestured to the candy. We cautiously each took a piece and chewed. It seemed… as good as candy corn can be. We ate the rest of the tiny bucket before picking a third option we both wanted to watch. So the clown worked. I guess. If a conflict would arise, it would appear time and time again. When my grandmother scolded my mother, when my aunt yelled at my cousin, when I had an anxiety attack. Each time in a different place with a different snack. They almost seemed catered to each person too. Chocolate almonds for my grandmother, gummy bears for my mom, hard candies for my aunt and cousin. Lately, it’s been showing up at more random times and in places it seems impossible for my grandmother to set it. Like when I was sitting completely alone in my grandfather’s old room looking through old photo albums when it suddenly appeared right next to me. Or when my mom and I were reminiscing about my grandmother’s most recent birthday dinner and it popped up on the counter while my grandmother was supposedly out in the garden. We weren’t even arguing, just discussing old memories. We might have remembered her dinner differently, but we weren’t arguing. Now that I think about it, in the past few weeks it’s showed up anytime we’ve been talking about the past or looking at old photo albums. It’s funny, it’s like the little guy wants to be there too, to share some memories or steer us towards the right ones. As if to say “I’ve got something to contribute too and it’s not just candy!” But I’ve actually become a little spooked lately. I hope it decides to stay in its tent for a while. I’m a bit sick of candy corn.