Journey to Candyland

Chapter 2:

Bradley stared at his brother incredulously for a moment, "Made of candy? How?"

The older boy just shook his head and studied the world around him, thinking hard. The sand was made of sugar. The trees in the distance that he'd assumed we're covered in pink flowers since they looked kind of like cotton candy... well, he was starting to think maybe they were made of cotton candy. It would explain why some of the other trees looked blue.

"Parker?"

He continued to ignore his younger brother. He looked up. The sky seemed normal. Intensely blue with a bright, cheery sun and a few white puffy clouds. He supposed those could be cotton candy too, but otherwise, it seemed like an Earth sky when he looked at it. No two suns or eight moons. Maybe they were in another dimension rather than on another planet?

"Are we dreaming, Parker? Maybe we're dreaming..."

Or it could be that... Parker scowled, finally looking back at Bradley, but his eyes didn't hold their usual scorn for his younger brother. "At the same time? About the same thing? Is that even possible?"

Bradley just shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe we aren't. Maybe it's just my dream and you're really awake in the other room talking with your girlfriend on the phone."

He gritted his teeth. "Sally isn't my..." he trailed off when he looked further down. "Hey, Brad, we're standing on a path." He bent and picked up one of the rainbow colored rocks from the ground below them and licked it. "Rock candy."

Bradley's eyes grew wide and he bent down and grabbed a pink rock, licking it tentatively. He was used to some of Parker's meaner jokes, and expected this to be one of them, but to the boy's surprise, it was true. "The pink ones are watermelon!" he crowed in excitement. He stuck the whole thing into his mouth and then tried a purple one. "This one's grape!"

He was too excited to even notice that Parker wasn't paying attention. The entire path looked like it was made of rainbow cobblestones. Just like...

Parker's eyes narrowed. "Brad, doesn't this look familiar?"

The boy paused in his shoveling of candy into his mouth long enough to look at his brother like he was nuts. "What? Where have you ever seen candy sidewalks before?"

"That crazy old woman painted her stones to look like this. At her house."

"You think she's been here before?" Bradley asked, interested, but still a bit too focused on the candy to truly pay much attention.

"Well it was her candy that sent us here..." he looked back down at the wrapper in his hand, "'Waste not, want not.'. What's that supposed to mean anyway?"

"Huh?"

Parker glared at the little boy in irritation. "Brad, can you maybe stop eating the street long enough to be useful?"

"But Parker, it's so good! You can't tell me you don't want to try-"

Infuriated, Parker snatched his little brother up from the street by the tiny collar on his shirt. "If we don't get moving now, we're going to be stuck in this sugar land forever. We need to find a place to stay, just in case we're stuck here overnight." He released the boy to drop him unceremoniously back onto the rock candy pavement.

Bradley let out a huff while Parker started down the colorful road, but he knew better than to complain. He just shouldered his very heavy backpack, which he'd dropped to the path in his excitement over the sugar, and trotted to follow his brother. The smaller boy quickly caught up to the older one, stomping his feet on the candy below him. With each step the boys took, the rock candy turned into smaller bits and fragments, which gave off an iridescent sheen to it with the warm sun beating upon it. Bradley couldn't help but admire the different colors mixed together with the light reflecting off of them. It was like crunching ice under his feet on a frosty winter day, only infinitely cooler.

"Come on, short legs, we don't have all day," Parker barked at Bradley, trying to get his kin to speed up the pace.

Bradley sighed. If only Parker would take a look around at this strange, sweet place, he would realize why he was walking at such a small pace. He continued to look around, taking in a breath of the sweet scented air. His nose tingled at the aroma, which put a playful smile across the boys face.

The two young boys continued to walk the rock candy path, passing pink and blue trees made of cotton candy, and huge lollipop flowers that were bigger than their heads. On the hilltops sat chocolate bunnies, munching on green marshmallow clovers while the gummy bears, which were about the same size as Bradley, sat on the outskirts of the cotton candy tree forest, eating bits of fluffy stuff they pulled from above them. It was incredible.

The boy was so fixated on the world around him, he didn't notice that Parker had stopped, and Bradly crashed into him.

"Watch where you're going!" the older boy snapped. "Here. Hand me my water bottle," he added, waving his hand impatiently at the boy. "All the sugar in the air is making me thirsty."

Brad obediently pulled a bottle of water out of the heavy backpack. After handing it to Parker, he took out his own.

"Only drink a little," the older boy warned, an odd look in his eye.

"Why?" Brad asked, the uncapped bottle stopping an inch from his lips.

Parker took a tiny sip and returned the bottle to his brother. "Because who knows if they even have water here."

Brad snorted and defiantly took a big swig from his own bottle, ignoring his brother's outstretched hand. After swallowing hard, he commented, "That's stupid. How would the plants grow without water?"

Parker's dark eyes were unsettlingly serious. "I don't know... but remember what that crazy old lady told you? That water would destroy her crops?" His brows drew together in concentration. He knelt next to a small purple flower that resembled the frosting roses on the top of a cake. Several similar flowers of different shades dotted the countryside. He uncapped his water again and poured a tiny amount on the flower. The petals quickly dissolved in the moisture. "Maybe she wasn't so crazy..." he murmured.

He stood and recapped the water, handing it back to Brad. The wide-eyed youth capped his own, and this time didn't fuss, taking the bottle back and shoving both into the backpack. As much as he didn't want to admit it, his brother might be right. If a few drops of water dissolved a flower, how could it rain? "What do you think people drink here, then?"

Parker had already begun walking away. "I dunno. Maybe soda or something. Or that really sugary fake juice that dad won't buy." He glanced back at his brother. "Maybe there aren't people at all. Maybe it's just this for miles around." He gestured wildly with his arms wide. "I feel like we're walking on a giant birthday cake." He scowled. "The mud's probably cookie dough."

"Brownie batter, actually," came a forlorn voice from not too far away. "Cookie dough comes from the mines."

At the sound of the voice from nowhere, Bradley yiped, dropping his backpack. He yanked his wooden toy sword out of his belt and swung it around wildly, accidentally cracking Parker in the shoulder with it.

"Put that stupid thing away," the older boy barked without even looking at his brother. He shadowed his eyes with his hand and peered ahead. He couldn't see anything except for a very large mossy looking tree a little ways ahead of them, just off the path. "Hello?" he called.

"You wanna tell short stuff over there to put the cutlery down?" snapped the same voice he'd heard a moment before. The owner of the voice was still invisible.

Parker motioned for Brad to lower the toy sword. The younger boy shook his head frantically. "Just put it away," Parker hissed. "It's not like you can't pull it out again later."

"I heard that," the voice groused. "We Plumpies have excellent hearing. You're not going to get anything past me."

"Plumpies?" Brad asked, finally lowering the sword and snickering a little bit.

"You got a problem with that?"

"Where are you," Parker asked, looking around, "Mr. ah—Plumpy?" Other than the tree, it was rolling hills all around them, leading off to mists in the distance.

"By the tree. What are you kids, blind?"

The brothers exchanged glances, and cautiously approached the tree. They were within a few feet of it when the greenish moss began to move. Bradley yelped and whipped his sword out again. Parker just smacked his hand down and narrowed his eyes at the tree. It appeared to be a huge plum tree with juicy reddish purple fruits dangling from its branches. The bark had a strange texture to it, and it appeared to have a crying face frosted onto its trunk. The moving green mass rolled over and revealed itself to not be moss at all, but rather a rather pudgy green creature with a coat of matted, moss-like fur and a long drooping green mustache. Around his neck, he wore a tattered pink ribbon with a red medallion covered in swirls on it. Around his ankle was a red, shiny rope that ran along the ground and was fastened at its other end to the mournful looking tree. It stood up, and the top of his head barely reached Parker's shoulders.

Brad let the sword dip again, its tip digging into the soft dirt near the path. "What are you?" he asked, awed.

The little creature puffed himself up importantly. "I already told you. I'm a Plumpy, Mr. Plumpy to you, thank you very much. Ambassador of the Licorice Regency." He bowed a little at that. "At your service."

Parker raised an eyebrow. "You're tied to a tree."

Plumpy bristled at those words, looking a bit like an offended green terrier. "Well, that's certainly not my fault. The Gingerbread Witch captured me in her quest to take over the kingdom." His eyes flashed. "I was minding my own business, delivering a message for my master, Lord Licorice, when she captured me and bound me to do her bidding." Fat tears rolled down his cheeks, though they seemed to come less from sadness and more from anger. "And now I'm trapped here, forced to pick plums from her Gingerbread Plum trees." He sniffed a few times. "For eternity."

"That's so sad," Bradley said, finally tucking his sword back into his belt. "Can we help?"

The green man-creature shook his head solemnly. "Afraid not. The only one who has ever been able to control the Gingerbread Witch has been removed from his rightful throne. Without him, we are powerless." His emerald green eyes met Bradley's. "Do you happen to have any soda? It's a hot day, and I'm awfully thirsty."

Brad shook his head. "I might have a juice box, though. Or my bottle of—"

Plumpy made a face as though Bradley had offered him gasoline rather than fruit juice. "Disgusting. No thank you. Too much of that rubbish will make a creature sick." He sighed desolately. "No, no. I'll just have to suffer alone." He paused, seeming to consider. There was a sly look in his eye. " Well, there is one other thing you could do for me."

"What is it?" Brad asked, eager to help, at the same time Parker replied, "No."

The younger Goody turned to face his brother. "What? Why not? He needs help."

"It's a simple little thing," the mossy man said eagerly. "I just need you to cut the candy rope that's holding me. You do have that fine sword..."

"It's just wood," Parker snapped, dragging his little brother aside. "Brad," he hissed, "don't be an idiot. We don't know anything about this guy or this place."

"We know he's an ambassador."

"Do you even know what an ambassador is?" Parker scoffed, harshly. When Brad didn't answer, he went on. "That's what I thought. Look, for all we know, he's lying. He could be a criminal. You know those community service guys in the orange jumpsuits that plant flowers and stuff by the park back home? Maybe he's the Candy Country equivalent. Maybe he did something bad and is stuck doing community service."

"Where are his guards, Park? If he's a criminal, he should have guards."

"There should be guards if he's an innocent prisoner, too," Parker snapped back. "We aren't cutting him free. That's final. You can go back to eating the rocks while we walk if you'll stop talking to weird animals on the side of the road."

Before Bradley could even reply, Parker stepped back up to Plumpy. "Look," he said quickly, "I'm sure you're a real nice guy, but we're new here and we don't want to get in the middle of anything. We just want to get home. So, I hope they let you go real soon. Um... Have a good day." With that, he grabbed his brother's shirtsleeve and half-dragged him away.

"Wait!" Plumpy cried. "Fine! Don't free me! Can you at least spare me some candy? All I have to eat are these gingerbread plums. Any candy at all?"

"I'm sorry—" Parker began, but Brad cut him off, cramming his hand into his pocket and digging something out.

"Here!" Brad said, tossing a small hard candy at the little creature. "It's all I've got. Sorry."

Plumpy caught the candy in the air, and looked hard at the small red and white peppermint candy wrapped in clear cellophane in his hand. His brows drew together as though an old memory were surfacing, and suddenly in an odd voice, he replied. "You half helped me, so I'll half help you." He looked up at them and said quickly in a hushed voice, "Be careful who you talk to. There's danger for your kind here, especially these days."

"Danger?" squeaked Brad.

The mossy man nodded. "An old enemy waits for you up ahead." His eyes met Parker's as he said those words, and it seemed as though Plumpy were speaking specifically to him. After a moment, he tossed the unopened mint back to Bradley. "Here. Keep it. You might need this later, and I'd rather not have to explain how I got it. Nope. Not at all." He shook his head as though to clear it. "Now scram," he snapped, his voice regaining some of its surliness.

"Wait! You can't leave us with just that! What enemy?" asked Parker, exchanging a worried look with his brother. "How will we know him?"

Plumpy glared at him. "Why should I help you? I might be a convicted criminal, after all..." He snorted. "And the place is called Candyland, not Candy Country." He shot a significant look at Parker with those last few words.

Brad stuck the mint carefully back in his pocket. "I'm sorry my brother's a jerk," he said, ignoring a sharp glare from Parker. "Can you tell us anything else? Please?"

The small creature's expression softened a bit and he smiled faintly. "Funny," he muttered. "You remind me of her..." He sighed. "Fine. All I can tell you is that your enemy will look for the dark part inside of you... will look for and use your desires against you. Your best bet is to get to the castle. If you get there before you're found, you might be safe. Someone might be able to help you there." His expression was suddenly fierce. "Until then, don't... trust... anybody..." He abruptly turned his back on them. "Now get out of here before the Gingerbread Witch comes back. If she catches you, you're going to be in a heap of trouble." He swallowed hard. "And so will I..."

"We won't tell anyone you helped us," Brad promised.

"Just go away," the little creature said, picking a few plums off the ground and putting them into a basket.

"Let's go, Brad," Parker said. Bradley just nodded, and the two boys headed off down the road.

Authors' Note: We hope you like the story so far. Sorry for the long wait between updates. Both x0Meechie and I are terribly busy with work and school. Hopefully things will slow down soon and we'll have more time to write!

Thanks for reading. Please review!

Sirius and x0Meechie