Chapter One
Once there was an evil Emperor who ruled over Sundae Island. He was a mean and angry Emperor. The only thing that made him happy was getting his way. Everyone who lived on the island knew not to cross his path because he had a magic weapon that would melt them away if he chose to use it.
Most everyone on the island lived in the southern village. To the east of the village was a magnificent river that flowed with chocolate. The river had a wide mouth that tapered off as it streamed north from the ocean. One day, a small bottlecap floated up Chocolate River well beyond the village. When it made its way to shore, an old, crumbly Cookie happened to be walking along Graham Cracker Crumb Beach. At first, he ignored it, thinking it was just another piece of garbage that drifted to the island from a faraway land, like had happened so many times before. Then, as he walked by, he saw the cap move out of the corner of his eye. He stopped, squinted, and stared at it through his chocolate chip eyes. “What an old Cookie you’ve become, already concocting things in your mind,” he thought, and he let out a cranky, old noise that he was far too young to make. As soon as he turned to continue his walk he saw it shake again. This time, determined to prove he was not losing his mind, he walked straight over to the cap. As he got closer, he was very careful not to make any sudden movements. “Alright… here we go,” he thought, finally close enough to touch it. He reached out his skinny arm. Suddenly, it shook again. By the way he jerked his arm back, you would have thought that something jumped out to bite him, but the cap shook so gently that nothing mean could have possibly been inside. Embarrassed by his reaction, the Cookie reached out and tilted the cap toward him. Low and behold, lying on its back, giggling and playing with its feet, was a little, baby Cherry. The Cookie’s shoulders dropped, his eyes relaxed, and his heart melted in his chest. He picked the baby up and walked home. From that day forward they spent every day together. The Cookie’s name was Mr. Chip and he lived alone in Waffle Cone Forest.
The forest was quite amazing. The trees were centuries old and developed very thick trunks. If you were to cut one in half, you would see hundreds of rings made from tightly wound Waffle Cone bark. Big, broad branches grew from the trunks and smaller branchlets grew freely from the branches. Large, green, luscious mint leaves grew from the branchlets and filled the forest with a lovely fragrance. Over the years there grew so many trees with so many leaves that if you had entered the forest during the day, you might have thought you had passed straight into night. It was as if the leaves had woven together to form a curtain that would forever hide the sun. As it were, this beautiful forest had a wicked reputation. Everyone on the island believed that the forest was haunted. The evil Emperor was to blame for this old wives’ tale, but we will get to that later. None of this bothered Mr. Chip. He was quite content living alone in the forest, spending his days in peace and quiet, oblivious to the happenings in the village.
Being alone with his new-found son allowed him to teach Little Chip, or LC for short, all the important lessons he learned as a boy. As soon as LC could walk, they were out and about searching for Peppermint Canes and telling stories to the shy, timid Pretzel Sticks. Mr. Chip also liked to read LC the fairy stories that his father, Oatmeal Cookie, wrote long ago. As LC grew older, he learned to read and write on his own. So, Mr. Chip began giving him new stories to read. LC had never been outside of the forest, so the stories became the source of his imagination. His eyes lit up as he read about the dangerous adventures, the strength of the workers, and the beauty of an enchanted place called Sundae Island. One day, after he finished yet another book, LC went to his father and said, “Dad, I wish we could go to Sundae Island. It sounds like such a magical place.” Mr. Chip gave a short, half-hearted chuckle accompanied by a weak grin and replied, “Indeed it does, son.” LC noticed a strange, almost sad feeling in his dad’s response. “Not that the forest isn’t great. I mean, with the wonderful trees and all of my Pretzel friends…” he said. Then, his shoulders shrugged and his voiced slowed down, “I just wonder if maybe that place is real. Like, maybe just outside the forest?” His father gave another chuckle and turned back to his work. “Only stories son, only stories,” he said, and the day went on as usual.
At the same time, away in the village, the Emperor was becoming increasingly unsatisfied with all of his new things. Now, more than ever, he was demanding more and harder labor out of the villagers. He wanted more gold covered chocolate bars, more fancy furniture for his palace, and more sugar to indulge his cravings. Satisfying his greed meant more work for the villagers and more use of the island’s precious resources. More gold covered chocolate bars meant draining rivers and canals of their beautiful, flowing chocolate, more furniture meant cutting down more Waffle Cone Trees, and more sugar meant harvesting more of the Peppermint Canes that kept the village smelling fresh. The villagers knew their actions were hurting the island, but they were too afraid of the Emperor’s secret weapon to protest. So, they worked faster and harder than ever before, simply to get the Emperor the things he desired.
