Soogara agreed to help Polly, suggesting that she walk with her, at least until they came to the crossroads that were very clearly printed on the map.
“I will then leave you to make your own way when we get to the crossroads. But please take note, it is most important that you take the turning to the left, otherwise you will find yourself more lost than ever! Yes, should you forget to take the left turning you will discover that you have just gone around in a circle.”
Polly felt so relieved as well as thankful that she had bumped into Soogara when all seemed lost. She decided that Soogara must be a really lovely and kind person.
“Anyway, bring your friend, Dodo, and come with me.”
Polly turned and moved towards the rock to fetch her bag.
“Come on, Dodo, it’s time to leave. I don’t know why you’re holding back, come on.”
“Go with her, you don’t need me anymore,” he said, acting rather surly and flicking Polly’s pebble back at her. Polly picked up the pebble and placed it in her pocket.
“Come on, Dodo, don’t be such a spoilsport.”
Dodo didn’t answer. He just lowered his head and continued to sulk.
“OK, Dodo, I’m asking you for the final time; please come. I want you to come.”
Polly then picked up her schoolbag, tucked Langdon under her arm, and began walking away from Dodo. She turned around one final time and called out to her friend to join them.
Eventually, although I have to say reluctantly, he decided that he might as well go with them, as he had nothing else that he particularly wanted to do.
As they walked and talked, Soogara’s pet dogs, Grovelock and Grubstick, faithfully padded alongside, their tongues hanging out and their hauntingly beady eyes firmly fixed on Polly. It was not too long before Polly took it upon herself to casually remark that Soogara was the most beautiful queen she had ever met.
“Have you always been this pretty?” Polly innocently asked. “And if so, what sort of face cream do you apply at night to keep your skin so soft?” she asked in her most outspoken manner. “I wish I was pretty like you, instead of being a plain, ugly monster,” she added, giving one of her deep sighs.
“Yes, my dear, I had noticed,” said Soogara, nonchalantly flicking at Polly’s hair in a rather contemptuous manner. “Now tell me, dear, what self-respecting hairdresser would cut your hair in such an awful style? For it really does look quite frightful,” she said, throwing up her hands to express her clear disapproval.
“Oh, I know it does,” replied Polly rather sadly. “My hair used to be long. It was always braided for me, but now…” Polly’s voice trailed off.
“Enough,” said Soogara. “Let me get my scissors and try to shape it around your face, for I do believe you need all the help you can get.”
Polly was delighted when Soogara miraculously produced a pair of pink scissors, though she was very alarmed at their size, for they looked more like gardening shears! But still, she happily allowed Soogara free reign to do as she wished with her hair.
“Oh my goodness, you do have such terribly split ends, my dear,” said Soogara in a most disdainful tone of voice. “Yes, your hair, dear girl, is in atrocious condition. So, you would be well advised to change your shampoo and throw in some conditioner to the final rinse,” she confided as she happily snipped away at Polly’s limp hair, throwing the cut strands rather dramatically over her shoulder in utter disgust.
“There, perfect!” Soogara declared with an air of self-satisfaction. “Now I will extend my services and braid them for you.”
Polly could only beam her deep appreciation, for she was so happy to have some help at last.
“Yes, I do believe there is a great improvement,” said Soogara as she scanned Polly up and down with a wicked glint in her eyes.
“Does it look nice?” Polly excitedly asked Soogara.
“Nice isn’t the word I would use, but it has done much to improve your sad and sorry features,” she murmured, curling her bottom lip as she spoke.
“Thank you so much, Soogara,” said Polly giving her a big smile. “I have always wanted to feel pretty.”
“Oh, my little one, pretty is one thing, but perhaps this is a good time to tell you my little closely guarded secret,” whispered Soogara enticingly into Polly’s readily pricked-up ear.
“Secret! What secret?” Polly eagerly asked.
“Well, my little peach dumpling, you could, if you really wanted to, have looks almost as fine and flawless as mine; but only if you wanted it badly enough,” Soogara cooed.
“What do you mean by that?” Polly inquired.
“Exactly what I just said,” replied Soogara with a half smile. “I have the power to do anything I like, and that includes, should I wish, the ability to make you beautiful.”
“Well, I think beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” interrupted Dodo, who had managed to catch up with them and had caught the end of their secretive little conversation. “And anyway, Polly, I think you are perfectly lovely just the way you are, so you do not need any more help from this so-called trumped-up beauty queen.”
“Excuse me, young man. Are you something of an expert on such matters?” Soogara turned and asked in distinctly icy tones.
“No, but…”
“No buts. You either are, or you’re not; which is it to be?” snapped Soogara.
Dodo remained silent, just wishing he’d never bothered to voice his personal opinion on the matter.
“I see. Just as I suspected. Judging by the large amount of putrefying-looking spots dotted all over your scrawny face, it is perfectly obvious that you know nothing whatsoever about the art of true beauty! Am I correct?” she very snidely snorted.
Dodo stood, staring into her flaming eyes, and went quite red in the face.
“Just as I suspected!” she frostily snapped. “So it would pay you to keep your unwanted opinions to yourself. Do I make myself clear?” she raged.
“Perfectly,” replied Dodo as he shrunk backwards, fearing the possibility of being physically attacked was more than probable if he provoked her any further. He shrugged his shoulders and decided there and then to stay well out of any further conversation between the two of them.
“Let them get on with it, for that woman is right off the wall,” he sulkily muttered under his breath as he moved away, choosing to lag well behind them. For he didn’t like being spoken to in such a harsh and demoralizing manner.
“Now then, where was I?” said Soogara, turning to fix her ice-cold stare on Polly. “Ah, yes, I tell you now with my hand on my heart that I have the power to transform you into a real beauty queen, fit for any pageant.”
“Really!” gasped Polly. “You mean that you really could make me as beautiful as yourself?” she asked with touching innocence.
“I did not say AS beautiful!” Soogara icily snapped. “For it is quite impossible for anyone—and I repeat, anyone—to become as beautiful to behold as myself,” she snarled. “However,” she said, pausing for a moment to take back control of her fiery temper. “I could do much to improve your sad and sorry little features. That is all I’m prepared to say,” she replied, softening her voice once again until it became as sweet as the sweetest honeycomb.
“Oh please, please make me beautiful,” Polly pleaded and begged.
“Not so fast, my little one. Not so fast. Great beauty comes with a price.”
“Oh, now you tell me,” said Polly, slumping her shoulders and instantly feeling downcast.
“Everything comes with a price, I’ll have you know, young lady,” hissed Soogara.
“Well, that’s it then, isn’t it?” replied Polly rather sulkily shrugging her shoulders. “I don’t have any money I can give you, so I’ll just have to carry on looking like Quasimodo.”
“And quite who is this Quasimodo?” Soogara snorted.
“What! You haven’t heard of Quasimodo?”
“No, I don’t believe I have ever heard of this Quasi…So tell me n
ow, who is he?”
“Well,” said Polly, perking up a little. “He once lived in the bell tower of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.”
“And why a bell tower?” Soogara asked.
“Well, because he was an ugly monster that made people so afraid, so he had to be hidden away. That’s why he lived in the bell-tower,” replied Polly most informatively.
“Oh,” said Soogara, distorting her face and momentarily shutting her eyes to show her contempt and disapproval. “Well, in that case, I’m jolly glad to have never met him, for ugly is one thing I cannot abide. Anyway, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, everything, without exception, comes with a price tag.”
“So, what is the price of your help, Soogara?” Polly impatiently asked.
“Well, for one thing, my little one, you would have to abandon all thoughts of going to Piadora and choose to stay with me.”
“And then what?” Polly rather flippantly asked.
“Then, my dear, you will find yourself taking on my characteristics and, ultimately, a slice of my infinite beauty. That is surely not too much to ask, is it?” said Soogara most persuasively as she fanned her long eyelashes seductively in an attempt to encourage Polly to forget about Piadora and stay with her.
Polly thought long and hard, for she was not good at making decisions. She wanted to ask Dodo’s advice, but as she turned to ask him for his opinion, she could clearly see he was deliberately straggling behind, making no effort whatsoever to catch up with them. Perhaps he doesn’t like girl talk, Polly concluded. It was therefore left up to her to make up her own mind and, I might add, without a daisy to help her. So it was only after much thought, as well as plentiful amounts of internal agonizing, that she finally came to a decision.
“I’m really sorry, Soogara,” Polly said softly, faltering as she spoke. “I’d love to stay with you, especially as I am really desperate to become beautiful, but I think I will have to say no to your kind offer. I must follow my heart, and that tells me that I must choose to make it to Piadora. Therefore,” she said rather clumsily as her voice was still faltering, “I think it might be for the best if we said our good-byes here before I change my mind.”
“Don’t go yet!” Soogara spat back. “I would really love your company, at least for a while longer. For I am so lonely, so very lonely,” she said putting on her most sickly sweet voice as she began to shed large crocodile tears in her manipulative attempt to get Polly to stay.
“Please say you’ll stay a while,” Soogara pleaded, “for I have only just met you. And if you were to leave me now I would be all on my own without anyone to talk to,” she simpered, at the same time producing a long chiffon handkerchief to loudly blow into. “Yes, I would be so alone and so afraid, and oh, so cold all by myself,” she sniffed before once again blowing louder still into her hanky.
“Now where have I seen this before?” thought Polly as she cast her mind back to dear Aunt Mildred and her famous hankies before choosing, rather unwisely, to dismiss the connection between Aunt Mildred and Soogara.
“Please, Polly, stay. Even if it’s only for a while, I beg you.”
Polly felt put into a corner, for she did not wish to upset Soogara, but she was also beginning to feel very concerned that her dream of reaching Piadora was beginning to vanish. However, she really empathized with Soogara, as she too knew firsthand what it was like to feel lonely and cry all night. So against her better judgment she felt she must put aside her own desires and stay with Soogara at least until morning.
And so it was, with the greatest reluctance, that she allowed Soogara’s powers of persuasion to do their work and change Polly’s mind, albeit temporarily.
“Soogara, I can’t speak for Dodo, but I will stay with you at least until the morning. But then I will have to head off in search of Piadora. I hope that makes you feel a bit better.”
“Good,” replied Soogara brightly. “As a reward for your great kindness in staying, I am going to treat you to as much cotton candy as your young heart desires. I hope you like strawberry flavor, for I have never met a child who doesn’t,” said Soogara airily.
“I’ve never had it before,” Polly admitted. “So it really would be something of a treat to finally try some.”
“Well then, you are in for a lovely surprise, my little sugar petal,” Soogara happily announced. “For sugar and spice and all things nice…yes, sugar and children go together. They are indeed a perfect match, and I love sweet-toothed children so very much,” she declared, flouncing her gown as her face lit up with great delight. “And Polly dear, I will let you into another little secret. The more cotton candy you eat, well then, the more beautiful you will become. Trust me!” she triumphantly smirked.
“Really?” remarked Polly. “You mean the more I eat, then the more pretty I will get?” she asked, hardly able to contain her delight.
“Absolutely!” said Soogara with a mischievous smile. “So if I were you, I’d be anxious to get started on the cotton candy, especially as you’re leaving me in the morning to continue your journey. Now call Dodo and tell him to stop his brooding and catch up with us, or he will entirely miss out on this special treat.”
With that said, Soogara waved her hand like a wand and began to spin around in circles, getting faster and faster with every second that passed. Polly and Dodo watched on, totally fascinated but feeling quite dizzy as Soogara spun round like the eye of a tornado. Before long, great lengths of pink sugar strands began to wind themselves around Soogara, transforming into large, pink clouds of tantalizingly sweet cotton candy, which floated off into the air around her. Eventually, Soogara weaved her way out of the enormous cloud and suggested that they might like to start eating. Dodo hung back, feeling very unsure as to whether to eat the candy. Polly, on the other hand, needed no further encouragement, for not only was she extremely hungry but it looked so wonderful and inviting. She reminded herself that at the end of the day it was very important for her to finally be given this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become beautiful. She quickly began to pull off large chunks of cotton candy from the fluffy cloud, stuffing extraordinarily large amounts into her open mouth in a most unseemly and very unladylike fashion. No sooner had the cotton candy melted on her tongue than she was happily pulling off more.
“Here, Dodo, have a mouthful of this,” she cried, pulling off another large piece to hand to him.
Dodo cautiously placed a large portion onto his tongue, and in just a matter of seconds he too was hooked on the stuff.
“This cotton candy is really delicious,” Polly cried between mouthfuls. “I’ve never tasted such wonderful, gooey sweet stuff in my life. Soogara, how did you know that I had such a sweet tooth?”
Soogara didn’t answer Polly; she just stood watching and waiting, her smile becoming larger as well as more sinister.
“Carry on eating, Polly,” she urged.
Polly happily obliged, stopping only between mouthfuls to ask if she beginning to look pretty.
“Exquisite, Polly, but you still need to eat more if total perfection is what you’re after.”
Despite feeling quite full, Polly continued to digest more and more of the fluffy pink threads, for she was now feeling very excited and encouraged by the news that she was well on her way to becoming utterly gorgeous. Dodo was by now feeling very bloated but found that he too was unable to stop eating the candy. He continued to cram more of the pink stuff into his mouth. It seemed that no matter how much they tore off and ate, the pink cloud grew larger and larger in size. It was not too long before Polly began to feel she had eaten more than enough and needed to stop.
“Soogara, I must stop now, for I am beginning to feel very full.”
“Don’t stop now, Polly. No, not when you’ve come this far and are on the verge of becoming, oh, what’s the word? I know—eye-catching.” She then turned to give both her dogs a sly wink. “Besides, you may never again have the opportunity of tasting such delicious cotton candy, and for f
ree.”
“Oh, all right then,” said Polly, pulling off yet another large handful, “but please find me a mirror so I can see for myself just how much I have changed. Soogara watched on, a large smirk lighting up her countenance as large puss-filled boils began to sprout up all over Polly’s face. Polly continued to cram in more cotton candy, blissfully unaware of the horrifying transformation that was taking place. Sadly for her, Dodo was equally unaware of Polly’s worsening condition, as he struggled to fill his own mouth with more of the addictively sweet candy.
“Please find me a mirror, Soogara,” Polly once again pleaded.
“Patience, my dear, patience. These things take time. I will give you a mirror later, trust me.” Soogara continued to watch on, a bemused look written all over her face. “Perfect, I now have them both totally in my power, yes, under my personal control,” she muttered.
Pretty soon both Polly and Dodo started to go green in the face, and both began to feel distinctly queasy and nauseated.
“Go on, Polly, you’re almost there. Just a bit more of my candy and you will be blown away by your amazing transformation. You really will be a stunning beauty.”
“I can’t eat any more. I feel sick as a dog,” Polly complained as she collapsed to the ground, curling up in a ball, for she was now suffering from the severest of pains. Seconds later Dodo joined her on the ground, writhing in absolute agony.
“Soogara, please help us!” cried Polly.
Soogara smirked wickedly as she coldly stood over the children, her long arms firmly folded.
“I’m sorry, Polly, but I am quite unable to help,” she said, her smile broadening as she spoke. “You see, both of you did this to yourselves,” she said icily before adding, “sadly, my little sugar lumps, you can always rely on a child to be greedy. Yes, that’s always their downfall.”
Soogara then began to laugh louder than ever. Polly curled up into an even tighter ball, so great were her stomach pains. “Please help me, Soogara, I beg you,” she cried as she clutched her stomach tightly. Dodo joined her in crying and pleading for Soogara to show mercy. “Shut up, both of you,” she snapped as she examined her long, talon nails. “Take your punishment like real men.”
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