The Candy Factory

Henry Mars stood at the top of the stairs looking down at all the customers inside Jubilee’s Candy Factory located in Hobart, Indiana. Children were everywhere filling baggies with jelly beans, gummy bears, and chocolates. If it was a candy, they sold it. Being only a few weeks away from Halloween, parents were there also buying candy to pass out. There was barely any room to move because the place was so packed. Kids were lining up at the bottom of the stairs for the next tour of the factory, where all the gummy bears were made. Henry was the owner of Jubilee’s, and he was one of the richest men in Northwest, Indiana. He never dreamed that his love of candy would make him so wealthy.
He adjusted his big orange tie that clashed with his purple suit and top hat. He loved playing the part of a cartoon style owner of a candy shop. On Saturdays, he would make his weekly appearance to please the shoppers. He even hired a couple of little people from the local actors guild to play the part of the candy makers. For five dollars a ticket, a person could get a tour of the facility with a movie style feel to it. He even had a large chocolate fountain at the front of the store, which was the largest one in the United States. People traveled from around the United States just to take pictures of themselves standing in front of it. He sold his candy online using the slogan: Jubilee’s has the tastiest gummy bears in the world.
Karmen, the tour guide, led the group up the stairs to start the tour. She was wearing a red dress with fuzzy red rabbit ears on her reddish brown hair and she had glitter all over her face. She looked like a human cartoon character.
“Let me introduce to you Henry Mars, the owner of Jubilee’s,” Karmen said with a flirtatious smile.
“Welcome, let’s all prepare to be whisked to the magical land of candy. Be warned, candy is very addicting and at Jubilee’s the candy is the tastiest in the world,” Henry said and opened the double doors that led into the factory.
The group was immediately hit with the smells of the fruity gummy bears. Henry started singing the lyrics of the magical children’s music being played in the background.
“I call this room the Forest of Treats. Please, take some free candy samples.”
After giving twenty tours of the candy factory, Henry walked into his office and took off his purple suit and grabbed his gray suit from his closet. He sat down at his desk and went through his large stack of mail. He noticed on the floor next to his desk was a brown box marked fragile. He smiled knowing that in the box was the large stone mask he recently won on eBay. The mask was supposed to be a relic from an old Egyptian civilization long lost. He thought it would look great hanging on the wall behind his desk – the perfect conversational piece. He grabbed a box cutter from his drawer and slit the box open.
He pulled the mask, covered in bubble wrap, out of the box and sat it on his desk. He stared at the beautiful mask. It was gray with a face carved into its base. He had seen many of these stone masks at the Field Museum in Chicago, but this was the closest he’d ever been to one. The mask was cold to the touch. He picked it up and held it close to his face, his eyes staring straight into its two eye holes. It was light weight for something made out of stone. He turned the mask around and held the back of it up to his face. Hell, I might as well try it on. He put it up to his face and it glowed bright red with steam emanating from its base. He screamed out in pain as the stone burned into his flesh. He tried to rip it from his face with no luck. It continued to burrow into his skin until it connected to his skull and fused with it.
He passed out landing face first onto his desk. When he awoke, what was once Henry Mars was now replaced by a demon that had been trapped inside the mask for centuries. The demon looked around the room. He looked at everything that was on the desk in front of him. He looked at the computer and put his hand on the mouse. Within seconds, he scanned through thousands of pages on the internet learning as much as he could about the current year. He scanned Henry’s brain and learned everything that was stored in it; his knowledge, his life experiences and his business adventures.
“Candy factory. This I have to see for myself,” the demon said and walked out of the office and into the factory part of Jubilee’s. One of the employees waived at him, and he waived back. The demon looked at all the gummy bears passing by on the assembly line. He smiled. He knew the gummy bears would be perfect for his plan. With Halloween approaching, he had the perfect opportunity to take over the world with the help from some unsuspecting servants, the children of Northwest, Indiana.
“Mr. Mars, your limo is here,” Abagail, his secretary said.
“Call me Henry,” the demon said with a smile. “Let the driver know I will be down in a couple of minutes.”
He walked over to the assembly line and watched the gummy bears as they sped by. He grabbed a handful of the gummy bears and ate them. He smiled. They did deserve the title: the tastiest gummy bears in the world. With a little modification of their formula, they would be the most brainwashing gummy bears in the world
After arriving at his two million dollar home in Valparaiso, he sat in front of the television watching the children’s network. After watching several hours of kid’s shows, especially the commercials, he grabbed his cellphone and called the advertising agency that Henry always used.
“Hey Malcolm, this is Henry Mars. I have an idea for a new commercial that I want to advertise on the children’s network promoting my new super flavorful gummy bears. I want to run it twice an hour until Halloween. Money is not an issue. I’ll pay whatever it will cost. Thanks. I’ll see you Monday.”

Miley Donahue, a third grader with blonde hair done up in a ponytail, sat in front of the television watching the children’s network.
“Miley, pick up the clothes you dropped on the hallway floor!” her mom shouted from the back bedroom.
“Not right now. I’m watching Samantha and Katrina,” she said. As Miley was about to get up to pick up the clothes, she turned her attention back to the television where she heard the sounds of a synthesizer playing a strange eerie song. Henry Mars was on the screen surrounded by several dancing gummy bears. He was wearing a green suit with an orange button up shirt and an orange top hat.
“Hello kiddies. Halloween is quickly approaching and it’s time to introduce my new super flavorful gummy bears. You’ve never tasted gummy bears like these before. They now come in new cotton candy and blueberry flavors. Tell your parents to come to Jubilee’s and try our new gummy bears. And on Halloween, stop by our website to watch a brand new gummy bear adventure cartoon featuring me, Henry Mars. I hope to see you at Jubilee’s Candy Factory real soon.”
“Mommy, I want to go to Jubilee’s,” Miley said.
“We’re not going anywhere unless you clean up your mess.”
“Yes, mother,” Miley said and grabbed her clothes off of the floor.

Henry Mars stood above the sales floor of Jubilee’s. The place was packed with customers wanting to try the new gummy bear flavors. He had hired extra employees to dress in gummy bear suits, passing out free samples of his new and improved gummy bears. Customers were buying them by the pound. He smiled as he relished in the thought of how many of the children would fall victim to the gummy bear’s bewitching new formula.
“Children eat away, eat away. The more you eat, the more the effect will have upon you,” Henry said with a quiet giggle.
“Mommy, look! There’s Henry Mars,” Miley said, excitedly pointing upward.
Henry waived at her and she waived back. She then grabbed a handful of the free gummy bears and shoved them into her mouth. Henry smiled and kept waiving at all the kids in the store.
“Henry, all the shipments are ready for delivery,” Franco Givens said.
“Good. All the local grocery store chains are going to display our gummy bear shippers. Where there are parents shopping, there will be gummy bears waiting for them. After that, we go national. Then global. Gummy bears will be the new candy sensation in the world.”
“To keep up with the production, we will need more help,” Franco said.
“Hire as many people as you see fit,” Henry said with a big smile.

That Wednesday, Henry’s new commercial debuted on all the stations in Chicago and Northwest Indiana. He was standing in the middle of fluorescent dancing gummy bears, little people in suits, singing in front of the camera.
The next day, Jubilee’s was the most packed it had been in years. The gummy bears were a big hit and they were being shipped hourly out of the warehouse by the truck full. In three days, the magical spell would take effect and the children would be in his complete control. It stated on all the packages of gummy bears to “share them with all your friends.” Eventually, all the children would become addicted to them.
The night was Halloween, and Miley Donahue and her mom had just returned home from a night of trick-or-treating. They had stopped by at least fifty houses and Miley’s bag of candy was filled completely to the top. As her mom was checking all the candy to make sure it was safe to eat, Miley was on Jubilee’s website ready to watch the new gummy bear adventure cartoon.
The gummy bears were defending their land from evil gummy dragons. With the help from their friend Henry Mars, the gummy bears defeated the gummy dragons returning peace to the gummy land. In the background, music played with lyrics Miley couldn’t understand. The lyrics were actually a demonic spell that was activating the formula from the gummy bears. She was getting very sleepy and was ready to go to bed. Besides, she had a very eventful day; a large school Halloween party followed by a night of intense trick-or-treating.
After her husband had left for work, Miley’s mother lay down for a much needed night of sleep. After midnight, the door to her bedroom opened and Miley walked. She was sleepwalking, and she climbed onto her mom’s bed. Her mom awoke and looked at her funny.
“Miley, have a bad dream?”
Miley just stood there staring at her mom. She was still wearing the clown costume she was wearing when they were trick-or-treating. She lifted her arm and she held a large kitchen knife in her hands.
“Miley, what are you do……” Before she could finished the sentence, the knife came down fast as Miley stabbed her mom in the chest. Her mom screamed out in pain. Miley continued to stab her mom repeatedly in the chest until she was dead. She left the knife in her mom’s chest and walked out of the room returning to bed.
Her mission was complete. Henry Mars would be very pleased with her.