Rambles, Musings, and Other Attempts of Writing

The Tragic Fro-Yo War of 2012-2017

Gather around, dear children and valued friends, as Emerald tells the tale of the Great and Tragic (but mostly tragic) Fro-Yo War that lasted five years and ended with multiple casualties.

*opens storybook*

It all began when a brand new frozen yogurt shop opened its doors for the first time down the street from the biggest school in town. It was a quainty cute place, cozy and very aesthetically pleasing with a limited but yummy selection of flavors. The kids in town went crazy over it, happy to finally have a fro-yo place so close to the school. Business boomed for the shop, sometimes making it hard for people to get in because of the huge crowds congesting inside the small business.

And then a competitor emerged.

This new frozen yogurt place was even closer to the school than the first one was, making it so where students could easily walk there within three minutes without even having to cross a street. Unlike the first shop, which resided within a strip chain, this fro-yo shop had its own small building and a drive-thru. Not only did it have frozen yogurt, but it also offered regular ice cream. It also had more seating for customers, a front and back patio, and long wall full of flavors.

Tensions between the two fro-yo vendors were raised, but both places continued to do pretty good business...

Until another appeared.

Residing on the opposite side of the school than the other two, this frozen yogurt store also took up business in a strip chain, but the size of their shop took up the equivalent of two average stores. Their flavors were constantly being switched out, and even though their blaring loud aesthetic wasn't as calming as the first shop or as cute as the second, it still held its ground with multiple rooms for eating and many different televisions for their customers to watch.

Three fro-yo shops, all within a mile of each other on the same street. Everyone knew that there could only be one. Sides were taken as the stakes for each store were raised. Managers were persuaded to join their original employer's enemies. Emerald's cousin started to seriously consider rounding up her cheerleader and dance friends to come rally to the her and Emerald's favorite store support.

And then one shop was slain.

The first frozen yogurt shop, the cozy and peaceful one that had been Emerald's favorite, closed its doors. Their competitors celebrators as other mourned. Their business had been declining for a while, and they had been struggling to compete with what the other two places had to offer until they were forced to give up. A flower shop now stands where they had fallen.

It had all come down to the store with the drive-thru and the one with the TVs. Customer and business-wise, they remained neck-and-neck for a long time. It was started to be believed that both of them would stay open forever.

Until to the shock of everyone, including their rival, the second shop locked its doors out of nowhere.

No one knows what happened, even to this day. The fro-yo shop just closed without a warning. Their sign still hangs above the door; no one else had taken up shop where they used to be. Their colorful truck that they had to advertise still sits by the street. It remains a mystery what happened to them.

Finally, a clear victor had emerged. The third frozen yogurt shop took in their former enemies' customers, and business boomed every day non-stop.

And then, just like the one before it, they closed without warning.

Their sign was tore down, their bright furniture was hauled out, the blinding walls painted a dull grey. Despite their popularity that never declined, the last fro-yo store shut down, and the poor students were left without their afternoon frozen yogurt.

... well, there were some other fro-yo places in town, but none so close to the school as the original three were. But that's not the point. The point is that the three main frozen yogurt stores tragically closed their doors to the public forever, resulting in not only their own casualties, but the deaths of children's souls. Including Emerald's.

And no one lived happily ever after until a bakery was opened next door to the school, the end.

*closes storybook*