Julie the “Candyland twin”'s Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Julie had four tired gingerbread men in her arms and one slipping toward the sticky path. The blue one was sliding out from under her elbow. The yellow one clung to her overall strap. Two more drooped against her red striped shirt. Her lollipop bumped her chin every time she shifted her grip. King Kandy's castle was still a long way off, and she had promised herself she would not lose a single one. She had started this work months ago, after finding a gingerbread man sitting alone in the middle of the road. Now her twin Pip took half the route and she took the other. They always met at the throne when the work was done. Today her half was heavier than usual. Five gingerbread men was too many to cradle, especially with Gumdrop Pass still ahead. She set them down on a green tile that read stop until you roll a 6. The tile was a safe square. Travelers could rest there without sliding. The blue gingerbread man sat down hard. The yellow one stretched his short arms. Julie pulled off her sneakers and thought. Her eyes landed on the little red wagon she had left parked beside the plum trees that morning, half full of stray candies. She ran back for it. She dumped the loose candies in a pile under a plum tree and wheeled the empty wagon to the stop tile. "All aboard," she said. The yellow one climbed in first. The blue one followed. The other three piled in behind. The wagon held them all. Julie grabbed the handle and pulled. The wheels rolled smooth over the colored tiles. No one wobbled. No one fell. She pulled them past the plum grove and onto the edge of Gumdrop Pass. The path changed from flat tiles to a winding trail of sugared gumdrops, each one a step apart. The wagon wheels stopped at the first gumdrop. She tested it with her sneaker. It stuck, then slid. She looked at the gingerbread men in the wagon. "The wagon can't jump," she said. "You have to." The blue one climbed out first and hopped to the nearest gumdrop. He landed, wobbled, and steadied. The yellow one followed. The other three lined up on the rim of the wagon, waiting their turn. Julie parked the wagon at the edge of the pass and tucked her lollipop behind her bow. She had solved the carrying problem. Now she had a new one. Five small gingerbread men had to jump a sticky, slippery trail one at a time, and she had to catch any that slipped.