Not So Sweet Candyland

XXIII: Forest of Berries

"Welcome to the Berry Forest, and no, it's not named after me. I wish, though."

Chase and Berry walked into the Berry Forest, a collection of many berries from all around the world and even some Candyland only fruits as well.

Berry seemed somewhat excited to be there.

"There are trees, bushes, flowers, and more that these berries grow on. Bananas, lingonberries, strawberries, and many more. This is probably the healthiest section of Candyland even though fruits can have sugar in them. Not like the Candyland fruits. Ugh. That's the definition of gross."

"You mean whatever this fruit is?" Chase picked a large Berry from a bush.

"That is...." Berry walked over to the fruit.

"Oh, the TruvBerry. It's probably a safe Candyland Berry to try. At least according to my mother, it's good for your skin and when you have goosebumps. She studied bits of it from under a microscope."

"What about this one?" Chase showed a tiny branch that had about 7 berries on it, that looked like grapes but were square shaped and lighter colored instead.

"Oh, cubeberries, those are literally just sugar. It's funny because you see that berry and all that you can taste is pure sugar. No fruit juice, just sugar. It's not the sweetest fruit somehow. But, there are many more."

"And what about this?"

"That's a dragonfruit." Berry sighed.

"Woah, so this is a dragonfruit! I didn't know that they were pink like this! What is the things on them? Thorns or something?"

"I don't know. Eat it or something. If you are hungry, eat it. You never know what you would like if you didn't try."

"Sweet." Chase took a bite out of the dragonfruit.

"You know, Berry. I never had dragonfruit before or much fruit at all. I think that along with blackberries, this is my favorite."

"Nice."

"What about you? What's your favorite fruit?"

Berry was looking in a bush for some berries when she picked from a bush and dangled them high for Chase to see.

"Blueberries."

"You're a blueberry type of girl, that's cool."

"I don't know, the only sweet things that I like are fruits. They seem to be full of nutrients and vitamins. Sometimes, when I have the time, I sneak out here from my house and hang out here for a while and snack on some berries and take, you know, one or two of everything."

"Wait wait wait wait? Do you eat them all at random times? Or, in one sitting?"

Berry laughed.

"I try to eat them whenever I can, but, I end up having a fruit feast whenever I'm up late at night. You have all that food there and as you're staring at it, you just can't resist. And, with that energy, I train myself. I study harder, I give my roommates a hard time, and I won't let them win."

"Considering the fact that you were not a Licorice City Native, and that you trained yourself. You always had a sharp mind and a reflex."

"Most of the Licorice City folks had to learn how to fend for themselves. And a lot of them were on the verge of execution because they did not have the perfect body. You've seen them. They don't have all of their body parts. That's what my dad hated. He wanted everybody to have 2 arms, 2 legs, hair, 2 eyes, a bearing heart, and a bird or bee."

"A what?"

"Ever heard of the birds and the bees?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I do not know what the tick it means because I know you human people use it there to describe something with your body parts."

Chase bursted out laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"It's cute that you don't know what it means. It means that when a male and a female prepare to make a baby..."

"Stop! Your making me disgusted!"

Berry ran to a a tree and started to climb the tree. She was as swift as a fox and within a minute or two, she was at the top.

"Catch me if you can, Chase!"

"I'll get you!"

Chase attempted to climb the tree, but he lost his balance about halfway up and started to fall.

That's when the tree developed hands out of nowhere and put Chase on the top, right by Berry. Berry was extra surprised at the tree.

"I never knew these trees were magic." Berry was eating a banana.

"That felt so weird. Now I'm going to have weird sensations with magical trees."

"You get freebies because you're good looking and clumsy. That's the kind of guys that girls like. They like the clueless, but the lucky ones. Especially with money. Money is a sin and Candyland would be a wreck with money. We have homeless people already. What? Are more people going to become homeless?"

"If there is no money, then why are there homeless people?"

"People can have whatever they want here. However, my father does not want to see houses made in areas that are "essential" to Candyland. There was once this cabin right by Peanut Butter Town actually, and there was a mother, a father, and their son. They had a comfortable life for a few years. They made their business by baking breads, normal and Candy breads. However, one night, my father sent a few guards to burn their house down because it was built illegally. The mother and father perished but nobody knows about their son. It's assumed that the son is a traveler now. And that man had the audacity to say that their house was destroyed because of a baking incident. They were actually very amazing bakers, and that's how my mother introduced me to Pumpernickel Bread."

"You always looked the the type of person who likes pumpernickel bread." Chase grabbed a banana from the tree.

"And you look like a white bread guy."

"Are you calling me basic?"

"I am, and truthfully, I thought that I would have to put out in your place. But, you know, you're actually not that bad.... yet."