Sugar Rush

Two

Gloyd woke early, sneaking past Winchell and Duncan up to the castle grounds. He had overheard Taffyta and Crumbelina’s plans, and was determined to get his part done before they knew he was there. He wanted to surprise them. And while they were checking over all his hard work, he would play the ultimate prank: have Rancis and Swizzle sneak out(under false pretense of course) and bring it all down.

Then he would get to rebuild it with Candy.

He took the flowers from Rancis’s garden. It would be a  hilarious bonus to see Rancis’s face when he realized he had destroyed his own precious flowers.

Gloyd worked hard until the sun peeked over the hills in the east. He was proud of what he had done. The little multicolored lanterns ‘floated’, glowing softly. The flowers were clustered in gorgeous patches. Ferns, vines, and trees accented it. Gloyd never knew he was such a good decorator.

Gloyd spotted Candy coming down the path towards the gardens. Perfect. Gloyd let a small, mischievous grin cross his face before running to hide in a bush. However, he crashed straight into Rancis! Rancis’s new pots went crashing to the ground and broke open, spilling the chocolate dirt that was chock-full of nutrients for plants all over the ground.

Gloyd started chuckling and helped Rancis to his feet. “Sorry, buddy. Didn’t see you there.”

“Rancis?”

Crap! Gloyd was supposed to be out of sight when Candy got there! Already things were going wrong.

Candlehead slowly treaded towards them. Gloyd noticed how carefully she avoided the beautiful plants.

“Oh!” she cried softly. “Your pots broke. Here, I’ll help you clean it up.”

“No!” Rancis cried. “No, Candlehead, that’s okay. I can do it myself.”

Gloyd watched Candy’s face fall. His own was devoid of his usual smile.

“Yeah, okay. Nice job on the grounds. Rancis, Vin and Swizzle are waiting for you inside.”

Candlehead ran away.

Gloyd wished he could go after her. His grand prank was ruined, and all because Rancis wasn’t where he was supposed to be.