A few minutes later, as they approached the end of the main street, Lillia peeped a huge shed etched on it with bold, black words: “DANGER! DO NOT ENTER.”
It was a cold but sunny day while Lillia and Olivia were nearing the borders of Lolly Land.
From a distance, the young girl spotted numerous green pastry-coloured palm trees decorating the whole sidewalk. As she caught sight of them, she leaned over to Olivia and asked, unable to hide her astonishment, “What are these trees? Are they there for decoration?”
“Nah. Most of them are for decoration but a bit of tasting, too. As you can see, they are covered with transparent plastic to protect them from children. If they are not well covered, then there will be no trees in a few seconds, for sure! HAHA!” chuckled Olivia before she added, pointing to a vivid green palm tree. “Do you see this one? If you want, you can taste a bit of one of its leaves. You can’t imagine how it tastes when the mint paste is covered with lemon-flavoured chocolate. A real piece of emerald!”
“Mmmmm! So wonderful!” cheered Lillia as she chewed on the pastry, licking her lips greedily.
As she continued strolling towards the main gate of Lolly Land, the young girl picked out two security guards, shifting from side to side to welcome the visitors.
One of them was a middle-aged light-skinned woman, wearing a caramel-coloured fancy dress. Her name was Caramella, as it was marked on her badge.
She looked gorgeous with her dark hair styled in effortless waves, sweeping off her face while her silky dress was paired with a delicate sapphire blue clutch. She was busy talking to the crowd with a funny, specific Latino accent.
Next to Caramella stood a middle-aged man with curly blonde hair, dressed in a green pistachio costume. Unsurprisingly, his name was Pistachio, just like his costume!
He wore red glasses and was holding security scan material.
“Ooooh. Look who we have, Pistachio! Our dear niña!” cried Caramella joyfully. “Olivia had told me a lot about you. Oh, niña! You look so fabulous!”
“Hey, Lillia, let me present you to my beloved Mum and Dad, the masters of this magical lolly land, Mrs. Caramella and Mr. Pistachio,” declared Olivia, guffawing, raising her hands together as if she were presenting actors in a theatre stage.
“Olivia, atención! I told you a billion times, don’t call me Mummy, here!” yelled Caramella, glaring at her daughter sternly. “Mama is at home, ok? Here I am Señora CARAMELLA, and your dad is Señor Pistachio!”
“Whoops, sorry, Señora Caramella. I forgot,” replied Olivia, still giggling.
“Oh, my naughty hija! You will never grow up, I know! Well, let’s ask our new guest to follow me, and I’ll show you both how amazing this place is,” said Caramella excitedly, grabbing Lillia’s arm and holding it tightly around her back.
“Thank you very much, Mrs. Caramella. I would love to explore this place with you,” replied the young girl kindly.
“You’re welcome, Niña. Well, let’s leave Señor Pistachio for a while and start exploring nearby.”
“Ok, enjoy your time, daughter! Crack a leg!” said Señor Pistachio with a snug smile as he checked the visitors’ tickets.
“Papa, we say break a leg, not crack a leg. So funny, haha!” chortled Olivia as Lillia stood staring with wide eyes at both of them laughing, struggling to hide her great amusement.
As Carmella started showing them around, Lillia saw waves of kids of all ages, striding cheerfully everywhere, holding countless vivid balloons. To her great shock, the balloons were not ordinary balloons but stunning big eggs of chocolate toffee.
Around them, an elongated train lay with his picturesque, colourful wagons. Every one of them was perfectly built with biscuits embellished with white and dark chocolate chips and diverse kinds of sweets.
Swiftly, Caramella dashed into there, still embracing Lillia’s forearm gently. As they passed inside the main wagon, a hilarious clown was overwhelming the kids with his magical gummy wand.
Every time he beat with his wand on his hat, he filled it to the top with gummy worms and chocolate, leaving the kids applauding him strongly, their mouths agape.
Lillia let out a loud whistle as Carmella turned to her who promptly smiled as she whispered to Lillia, “You haven’t seen anything yet, my dear! You’re in the paradise of kids. C’mon, let me show you something else!”
As they strolled along the path, the whole street was covered with flower-shaped marshmallows, and there stood multiple street lamps made with white nougat and garnished with mellow cream on top.
Beside them, endless numbers of trash bins were lined up, full of sweet pastels.
Not far away from there, in the heart of the park, stood an enormous Ferris wheel covered with liquorice that smelt of strawberry.
Everything screamed joy. The loud laughing echoes of children covered the whole area whilst visitors scurried here and there, eagerly examining every inch of the Lolly Land.
“Long life for sweets!” yelled Olivia, chortling as she waved to a group of kids sitting on their chocolate chairs, happily munching on their fruit pies.
A few minutes later, as they approached the end of the main street, Lillia peeped a huge shed etched on it with bold, black words: “DANGER! DO NOT ENTER.”
“What is this place?” she asked curiously, pointing at the enormous black metal door.
“Take care, Niña. This is a dangerous place,” warned Carmella, pressing on the girl’s hand nervously. “No need to go inside. Ah, niña! This place is the heart of Lolly Land! The key to all its secrets.”
“Did you go inside before?” asked Lillia.
“No, never. Only a few members of the technical staff are allowed to enter,” replied Caramella. “Don’t think of going in there! Bueno niña!” She winked as she pulled Lillia away.
“Mama, please stay here with Lillia. I will buy some theatre tickets for the movie in the evening. I’ll be back in a flash!” yelled Olivia, running towards a small cabin in the corner.
As Lillia was steady, staring at the enormous metal door, a range of weird thoughts raced over her head.
Suddenly, she heard Caramella answering her phone, “Ok, ok. I’m coming in one minute, Pistachio.” Then she added, turning to Lillia, “Niña, wait for Olivia here, ok? I’ll see Pistachio and come back. Please don’t move from here!”
As the young woman walked away, Lillia finally found her unique chance to make her dreams a reality. It was her golden opportunity to explore a place no one had ever entered. Without hesitating, she ran towards the huge metal door and forced it to open.
As she dashed inside, she glimpsed another note attached to the side of the door: ‘HIGH DANGER! STAFF ONLY’.
The young girl continued walking deeper into the mouth of the wide cabin when, all of a sudden, a bolt of panic hit her as she heard the loud BANG of the heavy metal door behind her, smashing the eerie silence and leaving her engulfed with terror, alone in utter darkness.
