I was given a private home carved out of a huge ruby-red
lollipop. It was shiny, warm, and smelled faintly sweet all the time. Helpful
sugar workers brought me food every day, and my life quickly turned into a
never-ending festival of tasting.
I tried many strange and wonderful foods:
- Licorice Root Drink — bitter and black, served inside hollow chocolate stones
- Florentine
Fountains — flowing caramel waterfalls where I dipped fruit crystals
- The
Nougat Navigator — light nougat boats that floated across lemon-curd
rivers
Every day felt exciting and different. I ate more than I
ever had in my life.
But three weeks later, something unexpected happened.
As I walked back to my lollipop home after a very heavy
lunch of gingerbread and cream, a small, dark object rolled silently to my
feet. It looked like a perfectly round black wafer, almost like charcoal.
It had no taste at all. But when I rubbed my thumb across
it, tiny carved letters appeared:
“The Balance is Fragile.
Meet me beneath the Licorice Root at midnight.”
Curiosity pulled me there.
At midnight, beneath the giant Licorice Root that twisted
like a black snake into the sky, I met a figure hiding in the shadows.
“Sweet Guava,” the figure whispered in a dry, crumbly voice.
“I am Truffles. I lead the Council of Crumbs.”
I stared at him. “Council of Crumbs? What does that mean?”
“We are the Preservationists,” Truffles said, stepping
forward. He was a dark chocolate truffle dusted with cocoa powder, and his eyes
looked old and tired. “We protect Candaria from destroying itself.”
He pointed toward the glowing chocolate river nearby.
“Look closely,” he said. “It flows a little slower than it
did before you arrived. Every sweet eaten here takes something away from the
land itself.”
Then Truffles told me the truth.
The Metamorphosis was not punishment. It was recycling. When
a human turned into a sweet monument, their soul slowly became part of
Candaria’s sugar, feeding the land over time.
“The King and Queen are becoming weaker,” Truffles said.
“They keep giving sweetness without stopping. You are not a guest, Sweet Guava.
You are an experiment.”
My heart sank.
“You have one year,” he continued, “but that year must mean
something. You must help us restore balance — or your transformation will be
meaningless.”
DEAR GUAVA FRIENDS,
HOPE YOU ARE FINDING THIS SERIES VERY EXCITING AND ENGAGING
STAY TUNED FOR READING THE NEXT CHAPTER.........
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