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Gummy Plight (16) : During the Star Festival, seasonal pop-up shops are everywhere. StarSweets is a new candy shop that touts a variety of ‘healthy’ sweets in addition to old classics and new favorites. Their reviews are great, and for good reason! Except, when you go, something’s wrong with your order. As you chew, it suddenly gets gummy, and then it gets tacky, and then you can’t chew at all. It’s so sticky that you can’t open your mouth. The only consolation is that the flavor stays fresh and delicious the entire time. Maybe it takes a few minutes, or a few hours; you can try whatever remedy you want, but if you wait it out it will eventually soften and you can free yourself. Overall it’s harmless, just massively inconvenient, and maybe a bit embarrassing.
Kianna finally had a day to enjoy the festival. The last time she was here she got to see the beautiful wishing tree. Today she wasn't sure what to expect as she entered the Star Festival gates. She saw the stalls of local vendors and the vibrant decorations that lit up the rest of the day. Kianna smiled to herself, feeling the excitement of the unknown as she navigated her way through the crowds.
It didn't take her long to run into a strip of pop-up shops. She stopped to admire the hand-crafted jewelry, scented candles, and one-of-a-kind items. She happily browsed through the selection, picking up a few things to take home with her. Then she ran into this rainbow looking sign that said Candy this way. Now the sign did not even phase her. All she saw was candy. She was so excited. With all this summer track training she had been doing she hadn't had a treat like that in forever.
So she grabbed the door and stepped inside. She was instantly greeted by a rush of sweet smells and the sight of shelves filled with brightly colored candies. She couldn't believe her eyes; it was like a real-life candy land! With a huge smile on her face, she started filling her basket with her favorite treats. She had a rainbow of items as she checked out. "Thank you," she said as she left the door smiling. As she looked around, she noticed a beautiful tree with a star charm that was vibrant and beautiful. She headed over and took a seat beneath its branches.
As she sat down she popped open her candy bag and grabbed a bright green piece of candy. She opened her mouth and through it in. It tasted like a sour apple and she loved it up until she opened her mouth. As she chewed, it suddenly got gummy, and then it got tacky. She wanted to scream for help, but as her face began to grow flustered she just took a deep breath and counted to twenty. Lucky after twenty seconds she was able to get her mouth back. First thing she did was spit it out in the trash and quickly grabbed a napkin to wipe her tongue off. She decided to stay away from that particular kind of candy from now on. She swore never to try anything like that again. She wished she had asked what it was before she put it in her mouth. She made a mental note to be more careful with what she ate in the future.
She almost thought of throwing all the candy out, but instead she just tossed the candy of similar nature and kept the other kind. She figured maybe that was just the bad candy and the rest would be fine to eat later. With that in mind she decided to just walk around the festival and calm down by playing some of the games the pop up stores had. Maybe with that she could forget about her gummy horrible candy accident.
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