Chapter 3
"The Fall's Farewell Dinner Party: Part 1"
As the sun fell down over the kingdom of Dunwyn, while everyone was preparing for a good night's sleep, I was in my room getting my dress and accessories ready for the Fall's Farewell party over at Gummi Glen. Being that the Gummi Bears still had to be kept a secret, I had to wait until late at night to start getting ready. I had chosen to wear the blue and white gown from my first grand ball because it was not only one of my new favorite dresses for formal events, but it was a dress for formal yet, simple occasion such as this.
Once I had gathered everything I had needed, I made my way down the secret tunnel towards the quick cars where Sunni had arrived just in time to pick me up.
"Hi, Calla," she said as the quick car pulled up. "You ready for tonight?"
"I am Sunni," I replied as I climbed. "I can't wait to see what you and the Gummies had done with Gummi Glen."
"Boy, you are going to love it," remarked Sunni as we made our way back to the Glen.
Following a short, yet fast ride through the quick tunnels, we made our way up to Sunni's room and we took turns getting ourselves into our formal clothes. Being the guest, Sunni waited outside while I went first and changed into my blue and white gown. As I finished putting it on, I slid on my white high heels and placed my gold tiara over my head. As for my hair, Father would never allow me to wear my hair in a braid for special occasion, but this was different.
"Sunni, I'm done!" I called to her and she opened the door to her room to see me in my gown. As she looked at me, Sunni could not believe how stunning I looked. Aside from the time I wore this dress while defending Ightorn and his ogres while everyone was asleep, Sunni had never seen me like this.
"Wow!" Sunni gasped as she admired me. "That's some dress!"
"You've probably never seen me in it," I said happily, swirling it around for Sunni to see. "Except when it was ruined and covered in mud."
We had to both share a small giggle upon me saying those words and Sunni went back into her room to change into her formal clothes. After a few moments, Sunni emerged wearing a long dark green gown with puffy shoulders containing long aqua green stripes, long aqua green sleeves and a white high collar like mine. On her feet, she wore matching dark green slippers and delicate aqua green lace edged her frock.
"What a beautiful dress, Sunni," I said as she swung it around for me. "I've never seen anything like it."
"I save it for special occasions like this," she replied. "Shall we go?"
So, I followed Sunni and the other Gummies out into the main dining hall. All the other Gummies wore formal clothes much like Sunni and me although I didn't have any particular favorites. We then walked into the main dining hall and I looked around to see all of the decorations that they put up and that the table was set up very nicely in a way that I had never seen it before. Although Sunni and the Gummies did work hard to making Gummi Glen nice for me, I wondered to myself whether or not Sunni was indeed going too far to impress me. But, for her sake as well as the other Gummies, I kept a happy face on for them as I was led into the dining hall.
"I have never seen anything so beautiful," I gasped as I admired the main hall. "Thank you so much for inviting me."
"We all have Sunni to thank dear," said Grammi who was already sitting down with Tummi, Zummi and Cubbi. "And that's why we've made her the hostess of the feast."
Upon being bestowed as hostess, Sunni had to blush slightly as I silently giggled to myself. Just then, Gruffi, who had escorted me in along with Sunni, dashed to the table and rang a small silver bell as Sunni and I both went to our seats at the table.
"It is now time for our hostess to give the traditional Gummi toast," said Gruffi, forcing a smile onto his face as Sunni looked on in confusion.
"The what?" she gasped, not knowing what the De Facto leader of the Gummi Bears was talking about. "I don't know any…"
But, Gruffi still stayed in his forced character as he continued his opening remarks. Little did Sunni and I know that he and the other Gummies were teaching her a lesson in a sense for making them go out of their comfort zone.
"Oh, dear," he chuckled to himself. "It must have slipped her mind. So, I'll do it for her."
He gave a small wink to Sunni and this calmed Sunni down a little as she thought that she was off the hook. Of course, it was only a ruse to an extent.
"Here's to the good old Gummi Bear, who sprouts his fur instead of hair," said Gruffi rising to his feet, raising the glass he was holding as the other Gummies followed suit. Sunni and I looked out for a moment and soon rose to our feet raising our glasses as well. "What goes up must come down."
Just then, the others suddenly sat down and Sunni and I looked at each other for a moment before we joined the others in sitting down. Of course, Gruffi caught us both off guard with what he and the other Gummies did next.
"Let us dump this stuff all over the ground," he announced out of the blue and the other Gummies threw their glasses onto the floor and cheered as they did so. Sunni and I didn't follow suit and even though I was smiling at the entertainment that was going on around me, I thought to myself that Father would never allow us to do any of the things that the Gummies were doing.
"Father would not approve of this," I thought to myself. But, Sunni could see that she was starting to get slightly embarrassed by all this tomfoolery that was happening around her.
"But, you're making a mess," Sunni protested as we looked at each other. While I was enjoying the entertainment that was happening around me, Sunni was starting to get embarrassed by all of this and chuckled nervously at me. Gruffi then turned his attention towards a domed dish as he climbed onto the table placing his hand on the dome.
"Time now for the traditional Gummi appetizer," Gruffi announced as he stepped onto the table. "Especially prepared for this occasion by Grammi: Pineapple Flam-Bear!"
The other Gummies gasped in delight and wonder as Gruffi removed the dome to reveal a Jell-O'ed Gummi Bear holding out a pair of firecracking sticks. But of course, it didn't last long and as quickly as the Gummi mold quickly collapsed and I found this to be quite amusing as I burst out laughing while Sunni's mouth dropped open in shame and disgust.
Little did I know that this night was going to be more strange and fun at the same time, while Sunni was about to learn a lesson from the other Gummies that she would never forget…
