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Mandy was hoping today would be a good day, one where Chester didn’t cause any trouble. But you can never get what you want, and of course, the universe hated her guts, so her wishes were not answered. Chester was hopping from shelf-to-shelf like an acrobat, claiming he was the ‘best in town’, the bells on his hat jingling annoyingly. And she hadn’t even opened the store yet! This was how her day was going, and she hated it.
And she was fed up with his attitude. It seemed like, when Chester was in this mood (which was almost every day), there was nothing to stop his hijinks. Mandy had tried multiple times to stop him. Taking away his favorite candies, forcing him to clean overnight, threatening to stab his legs and leave him to die in an alleyway, yet nothing would work. He’d continue his chaos, and of course, Mandy would be the one to clean it afterwards. But something she never thought about to quell his chaotic tendencies was distraction. So, Mandy decided to give it a shot.
A few weeks earlier, a friend of hers gave her a gift, saying they had no use for it anymore. When Mandy saw it, she thought it was stupid, but after reconsidering, she decided to put this gift to use.
She went into the storage room and picked up the box that contained the gift. It wasn’t very heavy, it was also in good condition, too. And it was already assembled, which saved her some time. She walked into the main room, surrounded by pastel wallpapers, rainbows and stars hanging from the ceiling, trays and shelves filled with different assortments of candy and sweet treats. The sight of this would probably make a little kid have a heart attack. But of course that sight had to be ruined by Chester, who had knocked over the shelves, spilling the candy on the ground, which was also covered in slippery water.
Mandy made sure to not be seen by Chester as she hid behind a corner, still holding the box. She looked inside the box, double-checking if the gift wasn’t broken, and thankfully it wasn’t. Now Mandy needed to wait for Chester to do something else, so that he wouldn’t spot Mandy running into the room.
“This better work..”
Mandy muttered under her breath as she heard a loud crash in the room and laughter. She assumed Chester had knocked over another shelf, and Mandy decided that this was her chance as she made a break for it. She ran out, weaving past the puddles of water on the floor, as she quickly opened the box, pulled the gift out, placed it on the floor, and turned it on as the gift began making noise.
“Ooh ee ooh ah ah, ding dang wadda wadda bing bang, ooh ee ooh ah ah, ding dang wadda wadda bing bang!”
Mandy took a quick glance at the gift. It was a yellow escalator that was powered with high voltage, decorated with cute duck stickers. At the top of the escalator was a slide, which looped back to the yellow escalator. On the escalator stairs were four ducks, forever destined to continue this never-ending cycle. Huh. Kinda reminded her of Starr Park.
Once she turned the toy on, it started playing loud, high-pitched, obnoxious music as the escalator powered on and the ducks started going up the escalator. Once the ducks reached the top of the escalator, they would slide back down to the bottom of the escalator as the music continued playing. Mandy quickly dashed behind a shelf that was, miraculously, still upright as she watched Chester. She crossed her fingers on her left hand as she prayed to whatever god was watching from the sky that this stupid little toy would work, and that Chester’s reign of terror would be over. Chester’s laughter had ceased as he heard the toy. He turned his head towards the toy, the bells ringing on his hat. He approached the toy, walking cautiously at first as though it were a trap, but eventually that suspicion subsided as he started to speed walk towards the toy. He sat down, eyes glued onto it as he watched the ducks endlessly repeating the cycle of life. Mandy crossed her fingers on her right hand now as she prayed once more.
Please, if ANYBODY is up there, please don’t let him destroy that toy, or else I am SCREWED!
Yet Chester never did. He seemed intrigued by the escalator’s movements, the noises it made, and the inner-workings of it all. She heard him mutter the words of the music, and that's when she knew his rampage was over.
“PHEW..!”
Mandy wiped her forehead which was dripping with sweat as she sighed in relief. She made her way to the door quietly, hoping Chester wouldn’t hear her footsteps. But he was still staring at the toy, still very curious about it.
“Weirdo..”
Mandy muttered under her breath as she slowly closed the door and locked him inside.
Later that day, when the store had opened, Mandy’s favorite customer came. It was Janet’s little sister, Bonnie, looking for some candy to give to her sister as a gift for her birthday (It had been a week since Janet’s birthday, and Bonnie was now getting her a birthday present. Mandy couldn’t relate because her three sisters were all older than her and never even got her birthday gifts to begin with). The store was quiet, the faint hum of the barely functioning air conditioner was in the air, providing a perfect blend of quietness and white noise.
“Miss Mandy, where’s Chester?”
Bonnie had noticed the lack of noise associated with the jester’s mischievous behavior as Mandy quickly made up an excuse for his disappearance.
“He’s.. enjoying a nice break, how about that?”
Perhaps he wasn’t actually having a nice break, and perhaps the toy had turned off and he had finally noticed that he was locked in the adjacent room all alone, banging on the door for someone, anyone, to come save him. But Mandy did not care. If this wasn’t a break for him, then it was a break for her. A break from Chester’s sheer stupidity and a break from the constant messes she’d have to clean. She sighed, a small smirk forming on her face as she enjoyed the quiet, a rare occurrence in Candyland.