Clyde looked at Alaska, then back to his final candy. He popped it into his mouth and began to eat it. It tasted sharp, the flavour was very strong, but wasn’t too extreme for Clyde’s taste.
“This candy is actually the reason I chose this room. It’s not the tallest room in the place, but sure as heck ain’t short,” Alaska snickered at herself.
Clyde began to feel something.
Suddenly, he felt a hiccup-like sensation, he looked at Alaska. She seemed… shorter.
He did it again, involuntarily. This time he noticed. It wasn’t Alaska getting smaller. He was getting bigger.
He felt the sensation again. He grew nearly double his last height. Somehow, Alaska was now shorter than him. Even in her reduced state, she was tall. So that meant he was huge.
Once more. Doubling his previous size. He was now towering over Alaska. He leaned forward, seeing how large his feet were compared to Alaska.
Once again, doubling. He was so close to the roof now, he was at least an arms length away… that is if you have an arm the size of Clyde. So very far if you’re not a giant.
But then he didn’t grow again. Clyde looked down to Alaska. But he couldn’t see her. She wasn’t by his gigantic feet or even around the room.
“Looking for someone?” She asked. Startled, Clyde looked in front of him to see a very tiny (in comparison to him) Alaska, levitating on a robot similar to Snip. It looked to be almost identical, except this one had a large plate on the top of it that allowed Alaska to sit on top of it comfortably,
“W-whoah!” Clyde said, smiling childishly at the tiny Alaska and tiny robot,
“How’s the weather up here?” Alaska teased, “you can likely guess why I can’t sell these candies,”
“People could grow out of buildings?” Clyde guessed,
“Close,” Alaska said. She stood up, balancing perfectly on Snip, “the problem isn’t the inside. If this ceiling wasn’t here, the candy wouldn’t have stopped you from growing. I’ve never had it happen before, but if a person ate one of these and wasn’t under any roof, they’d potentially grow infinitely,”
“Oh…” Clyde said, astounded,
“It’s all for the safety,” Alaska said, giving a forced smile. Even from Clyde’s expanded size, she seemed a little sadder,
“Is everything okay, Alaska?” He asked her. She looked into his eyes,
“I’m just sad that we have to part ways now,” Alaska admitted. She looked even more upset,
“I don’t have to leave!” Clyde said, being very honest,
“No. You do,” Alaska said. She looked at him again, “your friends will be leaving within the next ten minutes,” she told him. Clyde looked surprised, “and I need to make sure everything is in order,” Alaska said. Snip moved her to be closer to Clyde. She placed a white candy into his mouth. He chewed the tiny candy before beginning to slowly decrease in size.
Alaska returned to the ground as Clyde was back to his orignal size.
“I have to say goodbye, Clyde,” she admitted, slowly stepping off of Snip and approaching Clyde, “you were one of the best people I’ve met on this whole job,” she said. Wrapping her arms around him, embracing him in an incredibly personal and tight hug. Clyde could only hug back as tight as he could. He felt a tear roll down his cheek,
“We’ll meet again, Alaska,” Clyde said, “I have a feeling I’ll come back here,” he said,
“Y-you do?” Alaska said, letting go and wiping the tears from eyes,
“Of course!” Clyde said, lightening the mood, “I’d come back here in a heartbeat, but my friend Juliet probably had a blast while looking around. I bet she spent her entire life savings on your candy,”
“Oh!” Alaska blurted at, startling Clyde once again, “sorry!” She apologised, “I need to make sure your friends get a discount on their items!” She quickly rushed to Snip, “get my a tablet, quickly!” She patten Snip on the top and it quickly flew out of the door.
“Y-you don’t have-” Clyde started,
“Of course I do, your friends are my friends. And since I can’t meet them personally, I don’t want to make them pay for their candy!” Alaska said,
“W-wait… you’re giving it to them for free!?” Clyde asked, clearly filled with joy,
“Of course,” Alaska said, “it’s the least I could do,” then suddenly Snip flew back through the door, a tablet on its top surface. Alaska grabbed it and pressed a few buttons on it, typed something quickly, and then smiled, “all done.” She finished.
She swiped the device and turned it to show Clyde, “there,” she pointed on the screen, “there’s your friends,” Clyde saw them on a security camera feed. They all seemed to be paying for their candy. Juliet had almost four full of candy, while Jane and Kelly had one full bag. Clyde didn’t expect them to have bought as much as they had, “looks to me like a fun journey home,” Alaska smiled at Clyde. He smiled back.
Then, on the screen, Clyde saw a sudden blast of confetti behind the checkout counter. Jane, Kelly, and especially Juliet looked incredibly surprised.
“Well,” Alaska said, taking the tablet back, “I guess that’s your moment to go back,” she said, giving a genuine, yet sad smile.
Clyde wrapped his arms around Alaska. He gave her the most genuine hug he’d ever given, before taking his arms away. Alaska was now tearing up again,
“Just one more thing,” Alaska said. She reached into her cleavage and pulled out a small, ‘Tic-tac box’ shaped box. It was very colourful, “that’s very special.” She explained, “there’s only a few of them around. All the candies in there will do something unique to you and your friends bodies. It can be random, or if you want it to do something then just will it to do so. It’s completely yours,” Alaska said.
Clyde took the box from her, looking at it. It had his name, ‘Clyde Oswald’ engraved onto the side of it. He placed it in his pocket.
“Thank you Alaska,” he said, “not just for this,” he said, “but for everything,” he saw her smile. He began to head for the door, Alaska quickly ran to him. He noticed she had begun to grow again. Back to her original size. She was incredibly tall again. She fell down to her knees as Clyde had his hand on the doorhandle.
Alaska placed her lips onto his. Giving him a gentle kiss. She rose back to her feet and smiled at him.
Clyde was unable to move. He was incredibly shocked by her decision. He just twisted the handle and immediately fell over as it swung open. He quickly picked himself up, brushing himself off. But as he looked back at the door. He saw nothing but a broom closet.
“Excuse me, sir,” an employee said, “you can be in there,”
“O-oh…” Clyde looked back at the closet, then to the employee, “my bad,” he chuckled.
“Clyde!” A voice shouted from behind.