The Story of the Gummy Bear

Last September, after getting to school at the crack of dawn, Kira and her friend Mallory decided to kill a little time by the vending machines before the bell rang.  Mallory got a package of gummy bears (breakfast!) and Kira surreptitiously stole one, bit off the head, licked its whole body and then threw it on the ceiling.  That's what kind of a girl my daughter is, stealing from her friends and defacing public property.  Anyway, that defiled gummy bear was stuck to the ceiling by the vending machines all year long.  The girls enjoyed looking up with astonishment through the months to see that the disgusting little thing was still up there, virtually unchanged.

Mallory

On the last day of school, the girls were yet again killing time by the vending machines, eyes trained on the ceiling, reminiscing about the day Kira stole the gummy bear; amazed at how sticky a headless, wet gummy bear must really get, and applying what they learned that year in health and science classes to try to explain the utter lack of decay.  It looked like it did they day it was thrown up there!

Kira and Mallory in the panto-horse

That's when Mallory decided to make right the wrong committed against her those many months before, "That's it, I'm eating my gummy bear!" she cried!  "Give me a boost!"  The sixth graders gathered around and hoisted her up to the ceiling where she tugged against the asbestos tile to claim what was hers.  She got it down, and to the joy of all who watched, she finally (finally!) ate the gummy bear she was unjustly separated from a mere nine months before.   How was it?  "Crunchy!" she cried!