A Huckleberry Valentine

Chapter 9: Ice Cream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream

As they left the beach, they followed a path that led them past lots of big mounds of colorful ice cream, lots of sundae toppings and gigantic ice cream cones that sat upside down in the ground. Huck's stomach growled as he gazed around at all the delicious-looking things that surrounded him.

"Man, I thought I could only see a place like this in my dreams!" he said. "I swear I've gone to ice cream heaven!"

"Look guys!" Hokey called. "Here's a brochure for this place!" He picked up a small pamphlet from a wooden stand nearby and held it up. "Let your troubles melt away. Visit the Creamy Carnival amusement park, where the fun never stops and the sundae refills are free! Get the scoop on this family fun exclusively on Ice Cream Island."

"Oooooh, I love amusement parks!" Huck beamed. "We should go there first!"

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to take a look," Cinnamon said. "Alright, Huck. We'll go check it out."

So everyone raced down the path until they heard a voice.

"Step right up, step right up! Come and visit the Creamy Carnival amusement park, where the fun never stops and the sundae refills are free! You heard right! All the ice cream you can eat, and all the fun you can have!"

"Who said that?" Huck wondered.

"I did!" the voice repeated.

The gang turned to see a pair of carnival barkers standing beside them. One of them was a man wearing a straw hat, and a white, brown, and pink pinstripe suit (representing vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream), while the other was a girl who wore a big white bow in her hair and a green, brown, and white dress with rainbow sprinkles all over it (representing peppermint, rocky road, and birthday cake), and she had little gold earrings that looked like caramel candies.

"Well, look at what we've got here, sis! Visitors who came to visit our happy land!" the man said.

"Well, we better show them around!" the girl replied.

The gang looked at the two carnival barkers who then grabbed Huck and Minty by the hands.

"Welcome!" the man greeted.

"Come on in!" the girl added.

"Ooooooh!" everyone cried out.

"And, uh, who are you?" Huck asked.

"I'm Chip!"

"And I'm his sister, Carmella!"

Huck tipped his hat. "It's real nice to meet the both of ya'! I'm Huckleberry Hound, an' these here are my friends!"

"Oh, we already know Cinnamon, Coco, Minty, Joy, Poppy, and Princess Bubbles," Chip smiled. "But who are these two? They don't look like candy people to us."

Huck laughed. "They're not candy people! Snagglepuss is a mountain lion, and Hokey's a wolf!"

"So, you're not a candy person either?" Carmella asked.

Huck laughed again. "Not literally! I love candy, but I'm not literally a candy person! I'm a hound dog!"

"Ohhhh, that makes sense!" Chip said with a chuckle. "Well then, what brings you to Ice Cream Island?"

"As a matter of fact, what brings you to the Land of Sugary Sweets all together?" Carmella asked.

"Oh boy," Huck groaned. "I wonder just how many times I'm gonna have to tell this story."

He took a deep breath and started explaining. "Well, it's like this. I was off to my sweetheart's house to give her some gifts for Valentine's Day, but then, a gust of wind caused the gifts to blow away in the wind, and they ended up in a big river, and then they washed away..." he started tearing up yet again as he spoke.