The Dangers of Love At First Sight

Do you believe in love at first sight? Well... Neither do I- but apparently, my husband sure did. You see, I was a seamstress's daughter that made the mistake of befriending one of my mother's clients. Between you and me, I think I was her only friend in that artificial world cage of hers. Even though she had "free range" of her movements, she was trapped and kept in place by the unrelenting chains of society. I guess even money can't buy you freedom.

As we grew older, we kept in contact through Turtle Tracks, the slowest means of conversation a person ever did see. She kept begging me to come to those outlandish soiree so-and-so was holding. My financial situation was tight. We were hardly able to make ends. There were times where we weren't even able to... Those greedy selfish jawbreakers! Taking every last pound of rock candy they could from us until there's nothing left! They kept saying that the reason they're collecting more each Candy season was due to inflation- which was really just a fancy way of saying the poor needed to make the rich even more money.

Anyways, as I was saying, we hardly had means to provide for ourselves. My mother worked herself to the bone day in and out making dresses and whatever jewelry she could. My father worked at a kitkat factory supplies for houses, fences, etc, during the weekdays and mined at the cotton candy mountains in the weekends. I haven't seen much of him since I was 10. I'm 18 now. My brother and I both have jobs as well. He works as a columnist at Juicy Fruity Gossips, one of the top magazine businesses in all of Candy Paradise. While I waitress at the local Nik-L-Nips Cafe. I started working there since the day I turned 13, the legal working age in our division. It was crazy. Really. It was just ludicrous. Even with all four of us working, we were still just making enough to get by- and with my brother's new baby on the way, we needed to save up every pound we get. After all, if us Coniglio don't stick up for each other, who will?

Anyways, with how busy life has gotten for me, I suppose I unintentionally started to fall behind on the Turtle Tracks we were sending back and forth. She wasn't exactly known for her patience that friend of mine. And little did I know the scheme she had for me. The fiend. 

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I was ambushed on my way back home. After working two consecutive 6 hours shift with a little over time on the side, my body was just not ready to fight off the foreign invaders. I mustered whatever energy I had to fight and scream. "FIRE!!!!" Isn't that something? People were more willing to help you put out a fire than they were to save you from a guy with a knife or a gun. They just assume that "someone else will handle it" or that "it was just a lover's quarrel things will get better soon. I'm sure of it."

Unfortunately, I didn't get to scream the full word though. I maybe got half way through before the word was muffled by a thick sheet of rice paper soaked in vinegar. I fought to keep conscious, refusing my eye lids to get the best of me. Eye lids, I swear you better stay open! Come on... It can't end this way...

............

Crap.

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Like any sane person, the moment I woke up and realize where I was, I jumped up, screamed, and flailed my arms and feet every which way around me. The only thing that stopped me was the taunting sounds of giggling from the other inhabitant in the room. The owner of the high pitched sounds was a few inches taller than I. She wore a flashy tight dress that left little work for the imagination. In all honestly, it was just strategically placed barks of vanilla covering certain areas and heavily accentuating the rest. The skirt of the vanilla dress wrapped around her tiny frame like large tail feathers, creating a train behind her. Her arms, lower backside, and of course, her hair, was the most covered part of her.

"Are you kidding me?! Do you know how sensitive my heart is! You nearly scared me half to death!!! What were you thinking!" "That you needed a break" she chirped, ever happy. Just like how I remembered her since the days of our youth. "This isn't a game! Take me home this instant!" "Of course, I'll take you home, silly. You needn't be so dramatic, you know? Though you are pretty cute when you have your fur puffed in a bunch. Hehe." I blinked a couple of  times in disbelief- but that wasn't enough to subdue the anger that was boiling inside. After all, she did call ME dramatic when SHE was the one who inadvertently abducted me! "You can't just kidnap people and expect them to be fine with it!!!" "Why not?"

............. My goodness. How long has she been isolated from the real world? Why not? Why not? What kind of question was that? Did she truly not understand the gravity of the situation? Gravity took over my features as my lips went there separate ways. I was completely dumbstruck and, at the same time, perhaps even saddened by the puzzle pieces I found. 

I'm sorry I wasn't there to save you.

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When I was mentally ready to have another conversation with her, I discovered that she convinced my family to let her keep me for the month. She paid them handsomely to compensate for my absence. As an added bonus, and as a gift to welcome in my new nephew, she managed to get those wretched Jawbrakers off not only our backs but the other families in the division as well. Maybe we can actually save up to replace those candy blox our house desperately needed. Either way, I felt better knowing that my family was going to be okay.

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I looked down at the dress... outfit... Thing? Yeah... Thing I was stuffed into. Feeling as uncomfortable as nerds around those miscreant atomic fireballs. "Are you sure this is the only thing that fits m-..." I paused thinking back on the horrors I saw in the closet-... room they designated for her clothing. "On second thought... This is fine. Though are you sure I can't just wear my clothes to the ball?" "Positive" I winced as she chirped that word. Positively insane was more like it.

I inverted sighed to myself. It was only for one night. How bad could it possibly be? When this month is over, I'll return home to my quiet and peaceful world. 

Relax, will ya? You got this. You're in control.

Only.... I wasn't.

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I stumbled to get out of the payday limousine and into the party room that was inside one of the biggest waste of candy rock my eyes ever did see. You know those big buildings that screamed over compensation? Well. That was this one right there. It was almost as high as the candy mountain my father mined at! 

As monstrous as it was, it was even worse trying to make my way around this crazy labyrinth. It was even harder with with these new platforms on. You see, us Coniglio never did like being away from the ground for too long. So I felt strange having my feet more than two inches off the floor. I watched my legs bend every which way, desperately trying to save the ankles from snapping in two. With how slow I was going, I lost my sweet nightingale, my guide out of this place. I grimace at the irony of it all.


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Somewhere along the route of twists, turns, dead ends, libraries, and other such things, I found myself outside. I let out an aggravated sigh. Well that was a good waste of an hour. I yanked the shoes off my feet and stuffed them in the purse she lent me. No point in having those portable torture devices on now.

I huffed and stormed away from the awful rock candy maze and found solace inside one of the most beautiful gardens I've ever seen in my life.

The lollipops stands lit up the salt water taffy bushes, showing off the starburst that were in bloom. Combine that with the colorful pixie sticks sky and those scattered ambiguous clusters of waffers and you'd have yourself a picturesque scene right there. Ah. The magic of nature. 

I smiled as my three toes played with the strands licorice ropes beneath them.

Now this was more like it

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It was hard to truly say whether my sweet moment of solitude was being burst in on, or if I was merely interrupting another's. You see, for a while my sense were taking in the wonders, so I was clueless to how closely I was being watched. Before I knew it, I bumped into something. But shortly before my eyes could make out what or who I bumped into, I was swept off my feet... Literally. 

Of course, I couldn't say something wonderfully sarcastic to catch the person/ thing off guard. Or even go the whole begging not to be eaten route. That was far too much for my scared brain to handle. Instead, I was barely able to make out the most overused two-letter word in the dictionary."....Huh-.... hi?"

I did what I could to smile, trying my best to work through this situation. I wished the fact that being in a place filled with people would've helped- but it didn't. It was hard to when you have ancient music, laughter, gossip, and mindless chatter filling the halls and ears of those inside. I looked into his eyes, his scrutinizing eyes that looked like they were trying to pry their way into my soul and take everything they could, leaving nothing but dark unrelenting emptiness in their path.

Oh Sugar King. Sweet. Succulent. Sugar King. Please. Please. Don't let me be eaten this day.

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And that was how I met my husband. While I was having the worst day of my life, desperately trying to keep my delicate heart from failing on me, he was intoxicated by loved at first sight. Unbeknownst to me at the time, it also marked the day that truth parted ways from me...

Goodbye reality. I won't recognize you enough to miss thee.

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Inspired by a conversation had with the wonderful ShikiKitty