Dreams of Cherie

Cherie as previously mentioned was inordinately calm and collected. She was a beautiful child that left people gaping in her wake. Having no parents or elders except an absentee uncle; she was quickly adopted as the collective ward of the village. Everyone loved her and wished to know her business. Well, her business was their business too wasn’t it? Except, what was her business?

What was it that Cherie wished for? What did she like, what did she hate? What was Cherie’s favourite past time? Where was Cherie originally from? No one knew anything about this mysterious child who was god’s own gift to them.

Cherie ultimately did not deserve all the suspicion that came her way although wonderfully disguised. Cherie had no deep, dark hidden secret; the revelation of which would cause a calamity.

Well, maybe one. Even then; a calamity it would cause not. Surely. This humble writer can swear so on her life. All Cherie could do was dream. Her dreams had one peculiarity though. They had a funny way of coming true in real life. Cherie would dream of a pink frog and the next day itself there would be a nice, fat, pink frog croaking away in merriment. Most people did not notice these oddities. A pink frog here, a yellow cloud there. Everyone was so bogged down with all of their seemingly busy lives that Cherie was more often than not left to her devices.

But when a huge castle made of candy appears in the town square and everyone end up seeing varying kinds of sweets in the mirror, you wonder what kind of witchcraft is afoot.

This is the story of Cherie’s dreams coming true.

Dreams are funny things. Some people call them the subconscious revealing itself to the individual. Or one’s deepest desires laid out in moving picture format. What it really is is the honing of one’s imagination. Cherie had this ongoing competition with her ‘powers’ if she could call them that. She started out small. A green rose. A pink frog. An edible door. It soon moved onto slightly bigger things. A book that read itself. A broom that swept itself. A cockroach that could mimic Mrs. Potts accurately. And then it got better. A cloud that rained ginger ale on her. A tree that moved to give her shade if she happened to roll out into the sunlight during her afternoon nap.

Cherie knew it wasn’t long before she could be doing whatever she wanted. All she really needed was a little more practice on which dreams she wanted to come true. She knew that it was horrid of her but sometimes she couldn’t help it. She accidentally wished for Pete Dudley to sneeze till he dropped once. The next day Pete walked about with a red nose sneezing in everyone’s face. It was funny. But no! She shouldn’t think of it that way. A crime was so much worse when one took pleasure in it.

Cherie knew that soon enough, she would be creative enough to pull off the dream of the century. She had to save all her power and dream of a complete world like she wanted, replete with people, laws, food, work and everything. It needed months of preparation. Cherie had drawings and drawings of how she wanted everyone to look. Mrs. Potts became a teacup. Some became silverware. Others were made into horses and carts. Cherie knew that she had no real use for people. It was only all of man’s necessities that needed to be dreamt of. And of course, the king would be her favourite sweet- a marshmallow. And he would live in a candy castle.

After having done all of her homework, Cherie drank two jugs of ginger ale and fell into a long, deep slumber. 18 hours later when she woke, they were no longer in their little town. They were all now officially residents of the Candy Kingdom.

Cherie had created the world of her dreams and in the safety of her little cottage; she sat and watched the world unfold in front of her. Mayhem. There was mayhem everywhere. Flying saucers collided with pitchforks; husband and wife unable to recognise each other.

Maybe it wasn’t such a smart idea to turn Mr. Potts into a horse. He nearly trampled Mrs. Potts. But then again, this would have flaws. It was Cherie’s first attempt at anything of this magnitude ever.

But look at the amazing propensity of man. Whatever form, shape or object they took; it didn’t take them long to fall back into the herd they belonged to. But when everyone turned here and there and attempted to look for guidance and suddenly out rolled a beautiful, shapely golden vial of honey syrup. As he attempted to right himself up; everyone looked around confused, taking in the sight of the enormous castle made entirely of...candy?

“Hear ye, hear ye. Welcome all to the Candy Kingdom. I be the Royal Duke, messenger of the King. I welcome thee to the candy kingdom to let thou know of the rules applying to thee as subjects.”

A whispered murmur seized the air and Tallinn the broom swept about in anger.

“Firstly, thou shall eat what the king decrees each morning. It would be a sweet. Anyone found eating anything of a savoury nature or God forbid with an ounce of healthiness in it; will be sentenced to the most severe punishment imaginable.”

The children tittered in excitement at the prospects of unlimited sweets. Cherie smiled on knowledgeably.

“Secondly, thou will take part in the Royal Games each morning. A roster of participation shall be set up. It is mandatory. Anyone working willingly will not be forgiven. The only trade that the King would allow is the sale of the sweets of the day. Any earnings from this shall be returned to the king who will equally distribute them amidst the subjects.”

The poor looked up hopefully at this. No work and earnings. Hm, how bad could it be to live here even if as a milk bottle?

“Lastly, all fires of any kind are banned in the kingdom. Welcome your King His Royal Fatness John Marshmallow the XVth.”

All looked west to the tower where a deep rumbling sound could be heard in the distance. A huge black shadow passed over the subjects as the King made his way to the viewing tower. An immaculately white and pristine king stepped out of the shadows to look at everyone.

“Welcome. Today you shall eat grapefruit.”

And he turned around and made to leave. Everyone watched the complicated procedure of his departure with rapt attention. First, three scones held onto his robes as he pointed with one pudgy arm to the direction he wanted to go in. Then four other scones pivoted him on the spot and turned him to face the east. At long last, a huge slab of Thornton’s Treacle Special Toffee gave him a shove and the marshmallow King waddled back to his chambers.

Hmm... This would be interesting. How was life to be in the Candy Castle?

Cherie sat back with a satisfied smile. Tomorrow, she would revel in the spoils of her victory. Today, she needed to rest. With a sigh, she walked over to her tiny bed and fell asleep.

Cherie had indeed pulled off a miraculous feat. Why then was she frowning in her sleep? What was coming now?