It was a bright day, full of sunshine and laughter, and Sophie was skipping along the path after leaving her house. Today felt special, as if something exciting were about to happen—and, oh boy, was she right!
Suddenly, she spotted a strange shimmer in the air ahead. It looked like the air was filled with sparkling dust. Sophie was curious. She felt drawn to it, as if an invisible string was pulling her forward. As she got closer, she noticed a small archway covered in glimmering vines that sparkled in the sunlight like a million tiny stars. Intrigued, she walked closer until—whoosh!—the vines danced around her and pulled her through.
Sophie tumbled and turned in a whirlwind of colors until she landed softly on what felt like fluffy cotton candy! The air smelled sweet, and the sky was a fantastical shade of pink with lavender clouds floating by. Sophie bounced to her feet, looking around in awe.
Before her lay the most beautiful and weirdest place she’d ever seen—all covered with candy! Trees with chocolate bark had leaves made of jellybeans, and rivers flowed with milk chocolate, while clouds let raindrops of lemonade fall onto the bright, colorful ground. Sprinkles fluttered like butterflies, adding extra colors everywhere. Sophie felt like she had stumbled straight into a dream!
“Ow! Watch where you’re stepping!” shouted a surprisingly loud voice. Sophie looked down to find a tiny candy cane with arms and legs waving a little fist up at her. The candy cane was a little red-and-white striped fellow, and it was wearing a tiny blue hat. “You almost crushed my entire family!”
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” cried Sophie, stepping back carefully. “I didn’t see you down there.”
“Of course not!” piped up a voice from the shrub. Another candy cane appeared crawling out. This one was green and had little icing dots, a bit annoyed but unhurt. “We were doing a good family reunion when you came stomping in!”
“Reunion? What pets you own,” said a squishy but loud voice coming from behind Sophie. She turned to see a giant gummy bear standing tall before her; its eyes bulged, and it was chewing a bit of, well, Sophie guessed, gummy bear.
“Gem! Junior Harris Gem!” piped up the red-and-white candy cane. “Sophie, meet the candy family, an everlasting family at that. Their members can provide all the sweets and lollies for any number of parties,” he winked.
“How do you do!” Sophie exclaimed politely.
“Never mind all that,” said the giant gummy bear, winking too. “See, we’ve got a teeny weeny problem, and you look like a good person to help fix it.”
Sophie was a child of action and liked to help; besides, her interest was piqued. “I’d like to, but I don’t know how.”
“Listen close,” said the dreamy eyes of the gummy bear. “You see those rocks over yonder?” He pointed a yellow finger in the distance.
Sophie squinted, forcing herself to see past the landscape, although the brightness of the day made it hard to look in that direction. Finally, she began to make out purple rocks piled up like a mountain. A queasy feeling arose in her stomach. “Yes, I see them. And now that I look closely,” she reported, “I can see figures about them.”
“Exactly!” replied Mr. Gem. “They are the sourlings—small nasty beasts that eat away all the candy from our land, and now they even try to digest the trees. If they aren’t stopped soon, there will be nothing left in Candyland.”
“I would hate to be without candy!” exclaimed Sophie.
“Not only would you, dear child,” said Mr. Gem, shaking his head, “but imagine all the children in your world without candies.”
“I will do anything I can!” cried Sophie, determined.
“Come then,” said the candy cane, “this way!” And he scurried off, Nelson the gummy bear thudding heavily along behind. Sophie followed, her heart thumping with excitement.
Once at the foot of the great purple rocks, the candy cane pointed up with his glittering (but rather tired) eyes. “See the flowers growing along the ledges?”
Sophie gazed up with interest. There were beautiful flowers crawling along every crevice of the rock. “What sweet blossoms!” she exclaimed.
“Those are sweet blossoms! With their fantastic perfume, they allure the sourlings, to make them crawl and smell on the ledges all day long.”
“But can’t they escape?” asked Sophie.
“That’s just it. The secret of climbing lies within the flowers, and the sourlings become so tipsy with the odor of the flowers that they don’t come home at all till they tumble off, and that won’t be until after they are popped full of sweet essence. The trees therefore are perfectly safe.”
Sophie felt relieved but still lit with curiosity. “But what is the matter now?”
“Last night, in a most dreadful wild storm, the poor flowers lost their petals. Here they lie scattered all about us.” He waved a hand around them, and Sophie saw the pretty flower petals all blurred over the ground. “And there is no other way of allure “ the sourlings unto us, and groaned Mr. Gem.
“But can’t something be done?” asked Sophie, clutching the stem of a fallen flower.
“Those have to be picked and carefully set in their proper places,” said the candy cane.
“They must then dry before they can be glued in position,” it added.
“But,” interrupted Sophie, “that will take ages!”
“Yes, the dampness is trying, and must be first dried with the sunbeams. Why?”
At once Sophie jumped up. “Leave that to me!” And before all the candy inhabitants could understand what she meant, she tore branches from the trees and crowded them about on the rocks. The branches shone and glittered; the fragrance of the sweet blossoms filled the whole air, so that even Sophie herself almost got tipsy therewith. And, as if by magic realized the plan immediately, sweet aromas rose and floated about in the deepest shafts, and soon the sunbeams appeared to dry the places; at which Mr. Gem, quite overwhelmed with joy, shook Sophie’s hand till all her fingers cracked, and again commenced the work of fixing the blossoms.
“There will be an evil sourling or two amongst the sweets too, and that won’t be easy,” he said smilingly.
Sophie shook her head. “Then let no one dare eat of it for today!”
“Or, what is still better, just turn the flowers upside down, and it will naturally spoil the flavor of the herbs.” And that was what they did.
By sunset there hung flowers of every color all over the cliffs; and Mr. Gem, with joy, presented Sophie with a small bag full of sweets, in remembrance of Candyland. “And now,” he said, shaking hands again, and all the candy inhabitants surrounding him, “now the place is saved, do your very best to save it in future!”
With a sparkle in her eye, Sophie waved back to her friends, and standing for a moment by the squishiest gumdrops, thought how every child in the wide world would soon be as happy as she had been that day if proper attentions were given to Candyland.
Sophie skipped away, her bag of magical candies in hand, knowing in her heart that true sweetness comes not just from candy but from the joy of helping others and embracing adventure.