It is the custom at the office where I work to bring in unwanted candy and treats in the hopes of making one's coworkers fatter than you are. This, I'm sure, makes the skinny (or at least less fat) ones feel ever so superior.

I am usually able to resist these temptations, as I am extremely picky and like very little that other people would be trying to get rid of. However, I was recently taken in by some Dum Dum lollipops that were left as an offering on the break room table. There were only three, a cream soda one that is there still, a green apple one which I snapped up straight away (as I love any candy that is fake-apple flavoured) and a 'Mystery' flavoured one. They first intrigued me because there were so few of them, as you'd think a person would just finish them if they'd gotten that far through the bag. That's the only reason I paused to read what flavours they were in the first place.

At first, I intended only to take the apple one. Cream soda has never really appealed to me, and as for the 'Mystery' one, who would want to eat candy if you didn't even know what it tasted like? Still, I couldn't help being just a bit curious. What did mystery taste like? And how did the Dum Dum lollipop people know what mystery tasted like? One of them must have been brave (or inquisitive) enough to try it.

I found that throughout the day I could not stop wondering about this stupid lollipop and decided that, if it was still there when it was time to go home, I would claim it and give it a taste. Not surprisingly, I found it just where its previous owner had left it at the end of the work day. And so, it fell to me to solve the mystery.

Removing the wrapper, I first observed that 'Mystery' was a pleasing pink colour. Not a bad start. I gave it a sniff and found it to have a quite nice fruity sort of smell. All that was left was to taste it, so I thought I'd better dive right in. I popped the whole Dum Dum in my mouth with reckless abandon, and waited for a taste to register. It was good! With a sigh of relief I next endeavoured to discover if the flavour could be identified as something I'd tasted before. It could not. The best I could surmise was that the taste was very close to strawberry, but not quite strawberry.

In any case, I find that I really quite like the taste of mystery and shall never again turn my nose up at it. If you have never tasted it yourself, I highly recommend it!