Molly clutched to her mother. The crowd was massive, and every single parent in the line was sobbing. She didn't understand what the tears were about; she was very young. She met eyes with her friend, Peanut Geralds. Peanut had mildly purplish-pink hair when she had tried to dye it for Halloween a couple of weeks ago, and she was wearing a red-and-black striped tee. Molly was short, even for her age. She wore a yellow shirt with a ribbon tied around her neck. She had short brown hair and rosy cheeks. She looked at her mother, who had tears running down her eyes.

"And the next lucky boy for the Operation is…Biff Herson?"

A tall boy with dark brown skin nervously stepped up.

"Great to meet you, Biff! Please go this way."

Molly didn't understand the Operation, or what it would do to her. She was starting to panic. She looked at her mother.

"I don't want to go. Can you come in with me?" Molly asked.

"N-no, sweetie. Only children can take the Operation. We…we're going to stay here." her mother made a sad smile.

"B-but…I don't want to leave you!" Molly cried.

"I'm sorry, my baby," she whispered. She hugged Molly.

All too soon, the male announcer walked up to the pedestal.

"Molly Hills?"

Molly screamed.

The men took her.

They dragged her into a spotless, sanitary room.

Two people in masks were sitting there with smiles. There was a bed between them.

"Hello, you must be Molly! What's your favorite candy?"

Molly sniffed. "G-gummy bears."

"Lucky you! We have a big jar of gummy bears." One of the people walked over to a shelf with tons of jars labeled "Caramels", "Chocolates", "Gum", and other sweets. She pulled off a jug named "Gummy Bears". She pulled out a crystal-clear gummy bear.

"Here you go!" the woman said cheerily, handing her said gummy bear. Molly may have been upset, but she didn't turn down the free candy. She bit into it and chewed.

"Ew, it tastes weird," Molly complained. As soon as the words were out, the gummy bear broke open and she felt a foreign liquid fill her mouth. The excessive said liquid made her instinctively swallow. There wasn't even time to panic. The world dipped below her feet and went black.

I~I~I~I~I~I

"…uhhh…"

"The Operation was successful."

"Phew."

Molly opened her eyes sleepily. The two women were staring back down at her. Molly sat up quickly.

"Where am I?" she asked. The women looked at her closely.

"Molly, do you know your last name?"

"Last name?"

"What's the name of your best friend?"

"Friend?"

"What are you doing in this room?"

"I-I don't know!"

"Perfect. You're good to go." One of the women pointed to a door in the back of the room. Molly walked through it and was greeted by rows of seats. Some had hippos snoring, some had squirrels talking. A faraway instinct in her brain was surprised for a fraction of a second, then she shook herself and sat in the back. She looked down and observed her wings.

Wings?

Again, there was that fleeting confusion that quickly passed. Molly settled in her seat and waited.

For who knows how long, animals trickled in. At one point, a blindingly pink-and-purple squirrel came through and sat next to Molly.

"Hiya!" the squirrel said cheerily. "I'm Peanut. Who are you?"

"P-Peanut?" Molly gasped.

"Your name is Peanut too?!"

"N-No, I'm Molly." the name Peanut had sounded so familiar. But from where? Then finally, the last animal walked in; a tall, blue horse with a white horn; and the train conductor boarded the room.

Huh. So I'm on a train.

He began handing out slips of paper. Peanut looked at hers.

"Mine says Banana."

"Mine says Solaris." Molly remarked.

"These slips of paper contain the name of the town you will be going to. Do not lose them," the man ordered. Then he turned and went into the 'cockpit' of the train.

Whoooosh!

The train blast away quickly. For a second, the train was dark. And then it went into the open. There was a gigantic crowd full of screaming people, waving madly at the train. A neon-green sign caught her eye; it said "I LOVE YOU MOLLY." Molly was surprised. A moment later, a man grabbed the sign.

Signs aren't allowed, The voice in her head said quietly. This confused Molly again. Was she a movie star? Was this crowd for her? Why weren't signs allowed? The crowd shrieked and waved some more until the train descended into blackness again.

I~I~I~I~I~I

Molly squeezed her eyes shut and took deep breaths, looking around. The entire train was asleep except her, and the motion sickness was driving her insane. She would've looked outside the window to keep her nausea under control, but she couldn't see anything. Peanut snored quietly beside her. Molly puzzled over why she was in this train, puzzled over the crowd, puzzled over the neon-green sign. When she opened her eyes, a woman was checking each animal. Molly caught her eye.

"Oh!" the lady gave a surprised squeak. "You're still awake?"

"Er…"

"I thought the train conductor said the train vibrations were specifically engineered to lull everyone to slee-Oh!" she shuffled around a bit and cleared her throat. "You must be nauseous."

Molly winced and tried not to puke on the aisle, or, more distressingly, herself. The woman took a crystal-colored gummy bear from her pocket.

"Here, this is antinausea medication." Molly took it and almost put it in her mouth. Then she froze. Some deep gut instinct was screaming at her, shrieking, do not eat that gummy bear!

"Is something alright? Is that gummy bear…familiar at all?" the woman said nervously. "Oh gosh. I hope not. I don't want to re-do the operatio-Uhm! I mean…are you alright?"

"Yeah, fine," Molly mumbled, and put the gummy bear in her mouth. She may have tapped into that instinct and ignored the gummy bear, but she was about two-point-five seconds away from teaching the woman what she had for lunch today. She chewed, and then the gummy bear burst like a balloon. Molly gasped and some liquid spilled onto her shirt. She tensed up and swallowed nervously. Wait, did I just swallow the rest of that gross stuff-Wait. Sleeping sounds like a really good idea…

Molly sank into her chair and gave into the cold, silent darkness.