The Kingdom of Sweets

Once upon a time there were three girls. Their dream was to go to the candy kingdom because their parents wouldn't let them eat too many sweets. Then one day when they woke up they saw a fairy, who made a bubble for them to get into and go to the candy kingdom. When they got there they saw a mountain of sweets, lollipops, little candies, and every treat in the world. They ate everything before time ran out. When they got home they were happy for having eaten so many sweets.

The next day, two boys, João Paulo and Matheus, found the three girls giggling softly on the porch. Curious, they asked why the girls smelled of sugar and caramel. The girls told them everything — about the fairy, the bubble, and the kingdom of sweets. But then the fairy appeared again, her face troubled: eating all the candy at once had broken an ancient spell, and now the whole kingdom had begun to melt away. If the sweets vanished, no child would ever be able to dream of them again. "Only five brave hearts can fix this," said the fairy, looking at the five of them.

Then the fairy said they had to climb the candy mountain and grab the five diamonds: the purple one, the red one, the pink one, the green one, and the blue one. But each diamond hid a riddle, and only whoever solved it could pull it free from the mountain.

— The purple diamond asks what is sweet but never eaten — the fairy explained. — The others you'll figure out up there.

The mountain rose in the distance, made of layers of chocolate and cotton candy that were already beginning to drip, soft as wax in the sun. João Paulo swallowed hard. Matheus squeezed the hand of Giovana, the youngest girl. And the five children, hand in hand, took their first step onto the sticky slope.

Each diamond had a hidden clue tucked inside.

"There's a challenge right up ahead," said Matheus, pointing forward.

When they got there, they saw a heap of candy surrounding the path: walls of cookie stacked up to the sky, drops of honey oozing like glue, marshmallow towers too soft to bear the weight of any child. There was no way through underneath or around the sides. They'd have to climb.

Beatriz, the oldest of the three girls, planted her foot on a ledge of a giant cookie and hauled herself up. Up top, half hidden among clouds of cotton candy, something glimmered purple.

"What's sweet, but never eaten?" Beatriz whispered, recalling the fairy's riddle.

Carol, the middle girl, had a hammer for them to climb the candy mountain. She drove the tip into the cookie walls and carved out steps for the others to climb. One by one, they grabbed onto the ledges where Beatriz had passed. They kept slipping on the honey, but they didn't let go of each other's hands.

When they reached the other side, Beatriz was still frowning over the riddle.

"What is sweet, but never eaten?" she repeated.

It was João Paulo whose eyes went wide, as if the answer had escaped all on its own.

"A dream!" he said. "A dream is sweet, but no one bites into a dream."

At that very instant, the cotton candy opened up, and the purple diamond broke free from the mountain, falling round and shining into the palm of Giovana's hand.

But then, higher up, a second light blinked — red, and much farther away.

— It's the red diamond! — said Carol.

— Let's go — said Matheus. — We have a long journey ahead.

After walking a long way, they spotted the second challenge. In the middle of the path, dozens of talking chocolates were pacing back and forth, blocking the way.

— There are a bunch of talking chocolates on the move — said João Paulo.

— We need to get past them — said Carol. — But how?

— Guys, I had an idea — said João Paulo.

— What is it? — asked Beatriz, crossing her arms, suspicious.

— Let's have a snack.

The chocolates all shuddered at once, and one of them, the biggest one, stepped forward.

"Good idea!" said Beatriz, smiling.

"All right, attack!" Matheus shouted to the girls.

And the five children charged at the talking chocolates, taking quick bites, laughing as the pieces struggled and then gave in, sweet and crunchy. One by one, the chocolates disappeared, until the path was clear.

When they finished eating, Giovana looked around and said:

"Come on, guys, let's go!"

"No," said Carol, pointing at the sky. "It's already getting dark. We'd better sleep."

High above, the red diamond kept blinking, too far to reach before nightfall. The children made a bed of cotton candy and lay down, still holding hands.

But in the middle of the night, Beatriz woke up to a strange noise coming from the mountain.

Then, Matheus woke with a start, rubbing his eyes.

"What is it? What happened?" he asked, his voice still thick with sleep.

"I heard a noise," Beatriz whispered, pointing toward the peak. "It came from up there, at the top of the mountain."

Matheus rose slowly, looking up to where the red diamond flickered.

"Then let's climb up there," he said. "We need to see what it is."

Without waking the others, the two of them climbed the sticky slope, clutching at the biscuit ledges. By the time they finished the climb, the air smelled of burnt caramel. And there, coiled atop the chocolate rock, was an entire dragon made of red lollipop, its scales gleaming like glass.

Beatriz stepped back, her heart pounding.

"We need a sword," she said, trembling. "A candy sword, Matheus, quick!"

Matheus gathered pieces of hardened sugar and shaped them into a thin, sharp blade. He handed it to Beatriz. And she, gathering all her strength, plunged the sword into the dragon, which shattered with a sweet crack.

The dragon let out a roar so loud it woke everyone down below. That was when a stone began to sprout from the ground, in the very spot where the dragon had fallen — the red diamond.

A vanilla-scented wind blew suddenly, and the mountain trembled.

From the top of a cookie tower, a figure began to take shape: an entire wizard made of dark chocolate, his pointed hat dripping in thick strands, his eyes two golden circles glowing in the dark. He came floating down, and with every movement warm syrup dripped onto the rocks.

The chocolate wizard raised his melting arms and his voice echoed through the mountain:

"To claim the red diamond, answer this: I'm red and round, I grow on the stalk of sweetness, everyone wants me, but whoever bites me pulls a face of bitterness. What am I?"

The children looked at one another. Giovana scratched her head, Matheus bit his lip, and Carol's mouth watered just thinking about it.

"A candy apple!" Beatriz suddenly shouted. "Sweet and red on the outside, but bite deep and you taste the tartness!"

The wizard smiled, and a puddle of syrup trickled down his face.

"Correct, brave ones."

The red diamond shone brightly and leapt into Carol's hand. But in the distance, among mountains of jelly, a new light appeared — pink and trembling.

— We still have a long way to go — said Carol, after they'd spent a good while hopping up a slope made of gelatin.

— My legs are hurting — complained Matheus.

— Mine too — said João Paulo, twisting his face in pain.

Giovana stopped and pointed at her backpack.

— In my bags there's some stuff to tie ourselves up and climb with, instead of hopping.

She opened the backpack and pulled out five coiled ropes, one for each of them. They tied the ends to the caramel ledges, secured the knots, and started climbing. They climbed and climbed, hands sticky with syrup, never letting go of the ropes.

When they finally reached the top, a light was flashing very brightly in the middle of the gelatin mountains.

— It's pink! It's the diamond! — said Beatriz, smiling.

— Then let's go! — they all said together.

But, as they got closer, the pink light suddenly went out, and a fluffy shadow rose up in their path.

It was a giant cotton candy, the size of Beatriz.

"What are we going to do?" they all said.

"We need to fight," said Matheus. "So let's smash them, crush them, and jump right between them!"

One by one, the cotton candies gave way, soft and sticky under the children's feet. When only the last one remained, the strongest of them all, the five jumped together and squashed it to the ground.

"We can already see the light!" shouted Giovana.

"It's right up ahead!" said Carol.

João Paulo, Matheus, and Beatriz ran after it, not letting go of each other's hands. The pink diamond shone atop a pedestal of gum, but before they could touch it, a syrupy voice came from within.

"To claim me, solve this: I stretch, I snap, and I never run out, the more you chew me, the bigger I get. Don't swallow me, or I'll stick in your throat. What am I?"

The five children looked at one another, chewing the air without meaning to.

— A piece of gum! — shouted João Paulo, clapping his hands. — It stretches, it pops, and it sticks, but it never disappears from your mouth!

The syrupy voice gave a long little chuckle, and the pink diamond leapt straight into Beatriz's hands.

— Only two left! — said Giovana, pressing the diamond to her chest.

Further ahead, the mountain opened into a dark cave. The walls were made of Kit Kat, layer upon layer of wafer stacked up, which crackled on their own now and then, as if the cave were breathing.

— It's dark in there — whispered Carol.

— But the path goes that way — said Matheus. — Let's go together.

Holding hands, they stepped into the sweet gloom. The ground creaked underfoot. That was when, from the back of the cave, two big eyes slowly lit up. An enormous turtle came crawling forward, slow and steady. Its whole shell was made of golden waffle, little square by little square, still warm and smelling of honey.

The turtle stopped before them and stretched out its long neck.

— Green is the diamond I keep here — it said, in a slow, booming voice. — And only those who answer what I'm about to ask may pass.

The tortoise closed its eyes slowly, its neck swaying from side to side. The children waited. And waited. The waffle shell rose and fell in a rhythm so slow it seemed like the breathing of someone dozing off.

"Did she fall asleep?" Giovana whispered.

"I think so," said Carol, on tiptoe.

But the instant Matheus took a step forward, the two big eyes suddenly opened, and the booming voice thundered through the cave:

"I'm icy cold and I melt if you're slow. I come in a scoop, on a stick, in a thousand flavors. The more the sun looks at me, the faster I disappear. What am I?"

The children looked at each other, shivering just from the thought.

"Ice cream!" shouted Beatriz, mouth watering.

The tortoise let out a slow, satisfied sigh. The shell gleamed, and from among the little waffle squares the green diamond rolled out, straight into João Paulo's hands.

"Only the blue one left!" they all said in chorus.

Deep in the back of the cave, one last light began to flicker, blue and cold.

The children walked on into the light, and with every step the air grew sharper, pricking their faces like icy needles.

"It's so cold," Giovana shivered, teeth chattering.

"Wait," said Beatriz. "Grandma Dione packed blankets in each of our backpacks!"

And it was true. Inside each backpack was a warm, soft blanket. The five children wrapped themselves up and kept going.

Soon they came to a narrow bridge, made of popsicle sticks fitted together one by one. Below, a river of lemon frozen slush flowed, greenish and icy, letting off cold little wisps of steam. Holding hands, they crossed slowly, the sticks creaking with every step.

On the other side, a huge hall opened up right in the center of the cave, all lined with shimmering ice.

"We're here," Carol whispered.

But suddenly, a giant scoop of ice cream came tumbling from the ceiling and landed with a crash in front of them. Slowly, it took shape: two cold eyes opened.

"You!" it thundered, its voice crackling like snow. "You're the ones who ate everything and made my whole kingdom start to melt!"

The children huddled deeper into their blankets, not knowing what to say.

João Paulo took a deep breath and stepped forward, letting the blanket slip from his shoulders. He was the oldest, and he knew it was time for someone to speak.

"It was us, yes," he said, his voice steady, taking responsibility for the whole situation. "We ate everything without knowing, and that was wrong. But we didn't run away. We've been here two days, climbing this mountain, facing dragon, wizard, and turtle, never letting go of each other's hands, just to fix what we broke. We already have four diamonds. We only need yours."

The giant scoop of ice cream stared at him for a long while, cold vapor trickling down its flanks.

"Courage," it thundered, quieter now. "Courage to own up to a mistake and to work without rest to make it right. That I respect!"

The cold eyes narrowed, gleaming like two moons of ice.

"Then hear my riddle, the last of them all. I am born from milk boiled slowly, golden and sticky, and the longer I cook, the more caramelized I become. Cut into pieces or spread on bread. What am I?"

The five children looked at one another as if they had all remembered the same thing at once: the countless holidays spent at Uncle Miron's farm, with all that delicious food, especially Aunt Edma's doce de leite.

"Dulce de leche!" shouted the five at once, their voices blending into one.

The giant scoop of ice cream closed its eyes and smiled.

"Correct, brave ones."

And the blue diamond, icy and gleaming, leapt from its middle straight into Matheus's hands.

All five diamonds were with them now: purple, red, pink, green, and blue. The children waited. And waited. But nothing happened. The mountain kept dripping, the kingdom kept melting.

"I don't get it," said Carol. "We got them all. Why hasn't anything changed?"

That was when a soft glow filled the hall, and the fairy appeared among them, floating slowly.

"Fairy!" said Beatriz. "We did everything you asked! Why is the kingdom still melting?"

The fairy only smiled.

"Look closely inside your diamonds," she said, softly. "Very closely."

The children brought the diamonds up to their eyes. And each one, deep within the glimmer, saw clearly a tiny little child.

João Paulo saw his brother Daniel. Matheus saw his cousin Bernardo. Beatriz saw her brother Bento. Carol saw her cousin Davi. And Giovana saw her sister Clarice, smiling from within.

"Take very good care of them," the fairy whispered. "Each and every one."

The children were happy and worried at the same time. They counted on their fingers: Davi, Daniel, Bernardo, Bento, and Clarice. Five. But they were five, and ten in all. So someone was missing from inside the glow, someone who hadn't appeared in any diamond.

The fairy noticed the puzzlement and tilted her head.

"What is it?" she asked, softly.

"Not everyone's here," said Giovana, her voice tiny. "One is missing."

The fairy smiled, and her smile was the smile of someone who had always been nearby.

"I followed your whole journey, from afar," she said. "Every step on the mountain, every riddle, every hand you never let go of. And you still haven't noticed who I am?"

The glow around her flickered, the wings folded slowly back, and the face took on a familiar shape, with an easy laugh and mischievous eyes.

"Lara!" the five of them shouted at once.

It was cousin Lara. They all hugged her at the same time!

The instant the eleven cousins hugged each other, the five diamonds shone together in a light that spread throughout the whole cave. The ice walls stopped dripping. The rivers of frozen refroze, the cookie towers steadied, and the cotton candy grew back, fluffy and whole. The entire mountain trembled, but this time with joy: the candy kingdom was saved.

Lara spun in the air, radiant.

"You did it!" she said. "All together, without letting go of each other's hands."

The eleven cousins laughed and jumped, happy to be reunited again. It was then that a big, shimmering bubble slowly descended from the ceiling, glowing in every color of the diamonds, ready to wrap around them and carry them back home.

One by one, they began to step in. But Beatriz stopped at the edge of the bubble.

"Guys... can't we eat some candy before we go?"

Everyone turned to her at the same time, eyebrows raised. Beatriz laughed sheepishly, shrugged, and ran into the bubble.