Brittany reached into her bag and pulled out another chocolate as she and her sister walked toward the factory. This was going to be a good day; she’d talked her little sister Paige into coming to the Choconu plant for a tour, and there would almost certainly be free samples at the end. Paige might not even want hers – or so Brittany hoped.

The two of them looked mostly alike, with blonde hair and green eyes, but everyone told Paige she had an exceptional smile. It helped that Paige smiled so much to begin with – it seemed like she was always happy about something. Brittany on the other hand was a little chunky thanks to her sweet tooth, and spent a little more time trying to deflect verbal assaults, while Paige shrugged any off with ease.

“Thanks for coming, sis,” Brittany said as they walked toward the entrance. “It wouldn’t have been any fun by myself.”

“I wasn’t too busy,” Paige smiled. “What time do the tours start again?”

“The guy on the phone said every half hour, and it’s now…” she glanced at her watch, “2:53.”

Brittany had called the company the day before because of a bag of candy she bought. She’d never tried this kind before, and it turned out to not be very good. Reading the “Satisfaction Guaranteed” print on the label, she thought of calling them to find out what exactly it meant. About fifteen minutes into the call, the representative started to sound frustrated and finally told her to just come in for a special tour, the company’s treat. Brittany was ecstatic.

They walked in the front doors and found a sign pointing toward the tours. A few other people had already shown up for the tour and were waiting around for a guide to show up. Brittany said hi, and talked a little bit about favorites with one of them before the conversation trailed off and she stood around again, bored as any of them.

“Hey, what’s that over there?” Paige asked. Brittany followed her finger and saw a small side door that read “VIP entrance.”

“Hey, that’s it! That’s where the guy on the phone said to go.”

“He did?”

“Yeah,” Brittany replied. “He said we would get a ‘special tour.’ Come on, that almost *has* to be it.

Paige nervously followed Brittany away from the group and over to the dingy-looking door. Brittany turned the handle and pulled, but the door seemed stuck.

“Hrm… help me out here, would you?” she said. Paige looked around nervously, then wrapped her hands around the handle and started pulling. The two of them finally pulled it open with a distinct ripping sound, like the door had been glued shut. They peered inside. The room was small and well-lit, and an overwhelming smell of sugar came from within.

“Did anyone see us come over here?” Paige wondered.

“Who cares,” Brittany murmured back. “I’m sure this is where we’re meant to go. Ah, can you smell that? I bet we get to see the candy made right up close!”

Paige shut the door and looked at her watch. 2:59. “Shouldn’t there be a guide around here by now?”

“I’m sure he’ll be along,” Brittany said. She started examining the room in more detail. Another door led deeper into the factory, but it seemed to be locked. There wasn’t much else to the room. “I wonder what these things up on the ceiling are,” she thought aloud.

“They look like sprinklers.”

“Yeah, well they’re some weird-looking sprinklers. Gotta wonder what comes out of ‘em…”

The sound of machinery warming up emanated from somewhere. “Finally,” Brittany said, just as her question about the sprinklers was answered.

Water started to spray all throughout the room. Or at least, it looked like water at first.

“Pffthhpht! What – ack! What’s going on?” Brittany shouted. “Eww, what is this stuff?”

Oddly enough, Paige no longer seemed too worried. She even laughed a little. “It’s kinda sticky!” she noticed. “Smell it, Brittany! It’s syrup or something!”

Brittany wiped at her arm, noticing it was getting both her and her clothing tacky and gross. “Gah! This is never going to come out!”

Paige was having fun. She danced in the shower of glutinous goop with excitement, not even noticing as her skin started to turn white as a cloud.

“Paige, stop!” Brittany said, scared. “What’s happening to us?”

Either the syrup was sticking to their skin and hardening, or… well, Brittany couldn’t imagine what else could be happening. It was even starting to get difficult to move as their clothes also turned white under the mist. Paige’s dancing slowed to a crawl. She laughed again.

“Wow… can you feel it, Brit? It feels like my whole body is made of sugar!”

“Don’t say that!” Brittany shouted. “It’s just… really sticky. It’s slowing us down.”

The shower came to a stop as the two of them were completely coated in the sweet, sticky mess. They looked at each other and Paige’s laughter even managed to infect Brittany too. “Look at us!” Paige cried. “We look ridiculous.”

“Well, as soon as I can move again, I’m going to give the guy responsible for this a piece of my mind.”

They heard the door ahead of them unbolt and then swing open. The two girls slowly began to make their way toward it.

“It’s like walking through molasses,” Brittany complained.

“Even my shirt’s in slow motion,” Paige noticed.

They eventually inched through the door, which, to neither of their surprise, closed and locked behind them.

“I have a really bad feeling about this,” Brittany said, looking over at the conveyor belt aside of them, which was currently turned off.

“Oh, don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll take care of this,” Paige said.

Suddenly, they heard another machine fire up. “Now what?” Brittany moaned.

Not wasting any time, a large, cup-shaped tool on the end of a metal pole lowered from the ceiling. There were two things about it that made Brittany uneasy. The first was the ring of serrated teeth all around the edges of the cup, and the second was that it was directly above her.

“Hey, look out!” Brittany shouted. She tried to get out of the way, but she could barely even move an inch before it came down on her head. “ACK!” she shouted as she felt it pulling her husky body up again, lifting her from the ground. She could see the same device coming down on Paige, who giggled as she felt her feet leave the ground. Brittany could barely feel what happened next, but she saw it happen to Paige with perfect clarity. A second of the serrated, cup-shaped devices emerged from the ground and came up below their feet. Once they were both captured, the devices began to squeeze together, and to Brittany’s horror, their bodies were quite easily compressed.

“Hee hee!” Paige laughed.

“Paige! What’s happening?!”

“I told you, Brittany. I think we *are* sugar now.”

The claws pressed them together fiercely, until Brittany felt she would explode. Then they quickly spread apart again, and to her horror, pressed together even further than before.

“This feels so good!” Paige exclaimed.

In some far-off corner of her mind, Brittany felt herself agree with her sister. Somehow, this did feel good, like a wicked massage or an excellent backrub. But more than that – far, far more – she was alarmed beyond consolation. “Paige! I don’t know what’s going to happen to us!”

Paige merely sighed in contentment, until the cups finally came together enough that the serrated teeth locked together. They paused a moment, leaving the girls in total dark silence, until finally pulling apart. Another tool emerged and shoved the two balls of sugar – the first one slightly larger – onto the conveyor belt, which fired up and carried them off into the next room.

“Paige, I’m so scared,” Brittany said as they entered darkness.

“Why?” Paige replied in a voice that let Brittany imagine her trademarked smile. “This is the most fun I’ve ever had. Thanks for bringing me along!”

To their surprise, the conveyor belts entered a room with large overhead windows. A tour group – the same tour group they had almost been a part of – looked down at them with interest.

“Hey!” Brittany shouted with sudden hope. “Hey, up there! Help! Help us!”

The tour group seemed not to hear them through the glass, but watched with interest as a PA became audible.

“…which makes up the majority of Choconu products. Now that you’ve seen how ordinary marshmallows are made, let’s take a look at some of our specialty ones!”

“What??” Brittany shouted, just as a thick, metal device was shoved straight into her, silencing her instantly. Air poured out from it on all sides and Brittany felt her body blowing up in all directions. A jet-puffed marshmallow, she thought. They’re turning us into jet-puffed marshmallows.

The air continued filling them as they waited helplessly. Brittany could feel her sides start to hang out over the edge of the conveyor belt as she pictured herself as a giant, powder-white blob. Finally the nozzles receded and the conveyor belt started to move again. Someone in the tour group took a picture.

“Marshmallows can make a great treat by themselves,” the PA went on as the belt carried the two gigantic marshmallows into the next room, where the tour group followed them. “But with the right preparation, they can create some of the best desserts in the world. Who likes s’mores?”

Some of the kids in the audience got excited, and to Brittany’s dismay, so did Paige. She was horrified, however, when a thick metal pole emerged from the wall, bent, and speared the two of them.

“Auigh!” Brittany shrieked, even though it hadn’t hurt. The pole lifted the two of them from the belt together and moved them over an open fire pit.

“Help, help! Oh god,” she cried, but Paige only let out a “Whee!” of excitement as it turned them over and over again. At first, Brittany’s dizziness blocked out the sensations, but soon she realized she was swelling up even more. Her exterior was beginning to turn golden and she felt herself growing soft and heavy, hanging off the quickly rotating spit tenaciously.

This can’t be happening, she thought to herself. She looked at Paige, who seemed to be much more well done, and also enjoying herself exceedingly.

“Who knows how to make a s’more?” the recorded PA asked. A giant graham cracker with a tremendous piece of chocolate slid out on the conveyor belt.

“That’s right, graham crackers and half a bar of Choconu chocolate!”

The arm set Paige down on the chocolate and pulled off her. She giggled uncontrollably as another giant cracker was swung out and placed firmly on top of her, pressing down and squeezing her flat. “Oh, I bet I’m delicious!” she cried as she oozed out over the lower layers.

“Paige!” Brittany shrieked as the conveyor belt started to carry the s’more away. “PAIGE!”

“But there are other things we can make with roasted marshmallows,” the PA went on as the fire pit died down. The arm swung the cooked marshmallow into yet another room, where she immediately smelled chocolate. “Who here has ever had a Choconu Chocomellow?”

I have, Brittany thought with dread. Oh no…

Before her was a large vat of chocolate, with a small stream of it pouring in from above. The arm swung her through the stream at first, pouring hot melted chocolate onto her. Despite her fear, she couldn’t help but enjoy the feel of it drizzling onto her soft body, before the arm dunked her altogether. Submerged in chocolate, she was overcome by the wonderful aroma – or was it taste? – of the decadent flavor and she came up momentarily awed by the experience.

“You can purchase ordinary Choconu Chocomellows at any store, but ones this big are only sold on special orders to parties and the like,” the PA went on. Suddenly, Brittany realized it was talking about what would happen to her.

“Wait, what?!” she shouted. “Sold to a party? Where they what, EAT ME?!”

Her cries of protest – if she could even make them at all at this point – were quickly drowned away as the chocolate coated, gooey-in-the-center, roasted and toasted marshmallow was quickly air dried and wrapped in specially marked foil. Brittany felt herself dropped onto a conveyor belt once more and moved until she finally landed on something soft. More giant Chocomellows, she thought. What a way to go.

On the other hand, she supposed, there were probably worse ways. After all, she did love candy…