Candyland is the birth of innovation blended by an assortment of creative, enriching sweets. Amongst the Black Forest exists jello dunes with bouncing gummy bears, and the harbors alongside the melted icecream lay Swedish fish working relentlessly to construct furniture with recycled fish nets. 

But in the heart of it all lay a small town of peppermints and cotton candy skies where the sun never dies– Delutopia. The savoring environment of Delutopia makes life suitable to many Peeps, who have traveled nine thousand gumdrops away from salty, cruel licorice; who once dictated their lives. 

In a small gingerbread house lived a small family of Peeps, the youngest named Loopy. Loopy doesn’t look like a Peep, she does not have beautiful feathers, nor a pointed beak. She has orange pointed ears, a rounded nose, and a constant messy hair day. Luckily, she manages to hide her messy hair-do with a blue hat and stars, but she can not cover the features that stand out most. 

Everyday, Loopy sat in silence at the cafeteria at school because not only was she afraid to talk, but because she could not hear through her ears. Her entire world was silenced and nobody spoke her language– sign language. Sour Peeps and Hot Tempered Peeps are constantly picking a fight on someone, Wild Peeps are always chaotic, and Party Peeps are always preoccupied. Loopy just wanted to escape; to escape to a land where everyone accepted her for who she was. Maybe the variety-fun-mix she thought.

Until one day, a mysterious pink creature waddled up to Loopy with a smile on his face with huge sparkling eyes. He was no peep, instead he was a blob of pink with bright red shoes, blue eyes, and red cheeks. He took out his hand, suggesting a hand shake. Loopy gives her hand, confused, when all of a sudden, the mysterious pink creature removes his hand– revealing a bag of M&M’s. Loopy looked at the bag timidly, scared of what was going to happen. He pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen, writing, “What’s your name?”

“Loopy, you?”

“Kirby”

“Would you like to be friends with me?” wrote Kirby in big bold letters. 

Loopy nodded, and from then on they sat together at the lunch table using notebooks and scratch paper. It wasn’t an ethical way to write thought Bea for a while. It was awkward having to talk to someone for the first time, yet along with paper and a pen. Amidst the awkwardness, Kirby mustered up the courage to learn sign language for the first time. Loopy chuckles at his attempts but does not belittle him, but rather, corrects and teaches. 

Loopy for the first time had someone to talk to, and for the first time let out a generous smile. It’s the small actions of kindness that make a difference. Loopy did not worry about her orange pointed ears nor her rounded rose whenever she talked with Kirby. Loopy did not feel like she had to wear a hat anymore just to fit into the standard of a clean head. Both are unique in their own ways, regardless of what others think.

“Let’s embrace our differences together,” said Kirby, holding out a box of hearing aids.