There's a theory that researchers call "The Happy Ending Effect". It's when humans tend to make decisions based on experiences that previously ended with a happy ending.
But what do humans do when they've never been in a certain experience. Nothing to base decisions on. Nothing to look to for advice. Well, they form connections.
Connect to other people. Because that gives them something to rely on. Someone else to help make decisions.
But sometimes that doesn't lead to a happy ending. Because as the theory states, humans tend to look to the past. But when the past doesn't help. There's nothing you can do.
"So, what do we do?" Henry asked, his hands rubbing is temples.
Bridget pats him on the back and flashes him a weak smile.
Henry returns the smile, leaning into Bridget's hand.
"I think our best bet is to keep going. I...I know it's horrible, but what choice do we have? We can space out the challenges so they aren't so difficult, but we have to do this. To get out." Harrison says.
"I agree," Keegan whispers.
Henry nods.
The group is solemn. Quiet and grieving. They don't know what to do. Why anybody would ever run this kind of experiment. But they can't ask. Nor will they ever find out why. All they can do is push on.
"So, who's next?" Lexi asks.
The group looks around before Sandra sighs.
"I'll do it," she states, raising her hand into the air.
"Are you sure?" Weimin double checks.
Sandra nods.
"You got this," Harrison says, running a hand on Sandra shoulder.
"Thank you," she smiles.
The girl walks over to the glass case, her blonde hair swaying behind her.
She takes a deep breath before scanning over her options.
She decided on a yellow heart. Like one of those ones you get for Valentine's Day.
She picks it up and places it onto her tongue.
Her breathing begins to sharpen and her eyes glaze over. The group worries for her.
"Th-there's a green arrow on the floor...so I follow it?" She asks.
The group doesn't know. They've never experienced this before.
"I guess so. Just- be careful, Sandra," Lexi worries.
Sandra nods and begins to walk forward.
The arrow takes her up and out of the back room, leading her over to the cash register desk.
On the desk, Sandra sees a candy jar.
One full to the brim with yellow gummy bears.
The girl looks into the air, words etching themselves once again into her vision.
She squints her eyes.
"Finish the whole jar of gummy bears within three minutes." She reads.
She looks back to the group before reaching out to the jar.
"What jar is she talking about?" Keegan says, the group agreeing.
The girl sees the jar very clear. She can even interact with it. The catch? Nobody else can see it.
"You-you guys can't see this?" She asks, picking up the jar and holding it out to them.
Henry shakes his head.
The answer was no. They cannot. They only saw the girl miming a jar in her hands. But to her, she had it for real
She sighs in defeat.
She opens the jar up and picks up a gummy bear, bringing it up to her lips.
"Here goes nothing," she says.
She places it into her mouth, the bear sitting on her tongue.
Though all of a sudden, it begins to burn.
Red hot fire begins to seep itself into Sandra's mouth. Excruciating pain on her tongue.
She gasps and spits out the bear.
"Ow! Ow ow ow!" She screams.
"What's wrong?! What happened?!" Harrison yells, running over to the girl.
Sobs come from her chest.
She opens her mouth and sticks out her tongue.
"Oh my..." Bridget starts.
The girl's tongue was red and blistered. Third degree burns attacked the girl's tongue as she burned in agony.
Blood dripped from the tip of her tongue down the front of her shirt.
"I- I can't finish these! They're burning my tongue!" She cries out, shaking her hands as blood drenched her chin.
Harrison rushes to cup her face in his hands.
"It's okay! It's okay! Sandra, it's okay!" He tries to reassure her.
Blood seeps onto his hands as the girl looks into his eyes. She nods.
The boy lowers his hands as the girl places another gummy bear in her mouth.
She screams in agony. Blood gushing from the holes in her tongue.
She isn't able to keep it down, the yellow bear jumping from out of her mouth.
"I'm sorry! I can't! I-" Sandra starts.
Though all of a sudden, she looks up. The timer strikes 10 seconds. Too much time had passed.
She was done.
9.
10.
The timer rang through Sandra's ears.
She tried to cover them, but soon brought her hands to her mouth as she began to cough up blood.
"No! Sandra no!" Harrison yelled.
He ran over to the girl as she fell into his arms.
Blood spurted from her tongue, landing over Harrison's hoodie.
She tried to speak. But blood gurgled instead.
She was choking on her own blood.
Harrison frantically trying to help by holding her head up, but it was no use.
Then, she was still.
Harrison held the girl, tears falling from his cheeks as her body began to vanish, shrink, and turn into a yellow candy heart.
After the girl was gone, that was all that was left.
A singular yellow heart and blood covering Harrison and the ground.
Harrison's eyes widened, tears fell, but no noise came from his voice box.
The group was silent.
Harrison was still sat on the ground, blood in his hands.
Bridget had her hands covering her mouth in shock, while Henry's hands were on his head.
Lexi was crying into Weimin shirt as he hugged her.
And for Sandra.
She was gone.
There would be no happy ending for her.
Or her sister for that matter. Because whatever evil person started this experiment ensured that.
That things don't always go as you expect. That happy ending are rare and one of a kind. Not something everybody gets.
Just as not everybody gets that heart for Valentine's Day.
And for Harrison, his heart broke just as if that situation had happened to him.
YOU ARE READING
•Sweet Like Lead Acetate•
FantasiaWhen one boy decides to smash a picture frame holding a mystical candy in the local Candy Shop in Lapel, Indiana; he traps six teens with him. Now, these teens are faced with challenges like no other. In a candy store during lockdown, this group mus...
