Take a piece of the leftover Halloween candy you’ve been saving–an M&M, a Skittle, or something else small with a hard shell. Pop it out of the package and put it between your back teeth. Start to bite down–no, that was too hard, you crushed it. Go ahead, chew and swallow, we’ll start over.
Try it again. Put the candy between your molars and hold it, hold it, bite down just a little and oh you broke it again. Fine. Just eat it. Are you trying to get in trouble? That’s for later. Just do as I say.
Okay. Last time. I’m going to put this in your mouth and push it all the way to the back with my warm thick fingers, and you’re going to hold it when I withdraw. Start to press down. There, like that. A little more. A little more, until you can feel the shell just start to crack and splinter–and stop. Hold. Good girl.
Right now, the thing in your mouth is still a piece of candy. It’s whole but it’s broken, intact but irreparably compromised. Opening your mouth any farther would destroy it; so would biting down, but for the moment, it’s holding together. You can find the new sharp edges of that little glossy smooth thing with your tongue. There. Do you feel them?
Because that
is what
I want
to do
to you.