CHEF CHRIS

I’m a pretty careful guy, but I do occasionally make a mistake. I walked in this morning having to literally climb over boxes that wouldn’t fit into the dry storage room and blocked the door to my office.

“What the …” I crouched down to read the packing label. Marshmallow peeps. Holy shit, right there were twenty cases of marshmallow peeps! Blocking the aisles in the storeroom, floor to ceiling, more marshmallow peeps. I quickly checked my order sheet. No, this time it sure as hell wasn’t me. I only ordered one case of marshmallow peeps, just enough for entertaining the kiddies at the Brunch with the Easter Bunny party Saturday afternoon. This was a frigging disaster.

When I heard Benny, my morning dish dog, griping because he tripped over a few more cases in the china and crystal room I knew I was going to have my hands full. Benny never, ever gripes, much less drops the F-bomb. Pissing off my chief dishwasher first thing in the morning was not my idea of a good day.

I counted every single case, including the ones hidden behind Marla’s counter and opened one, taking out a few small boxes of candies and trotted up to see Kim Barrett. Maybe he knows what happened. And maybe he had a few ideas on what to do with one hundred cases of stupid, yellow marshmallow peeps!

KIM

Damn, but I was glad that it was Friday. Seems like all week I’ve been battling with one bloody annoyance after another, and I was ready to throw up my hands and turn it all over to my higher power of beer nuts and ale. If it wasn’t a dispute with a vendor, it was the battle with the accounting software or issues over the projected increase in employee insurance co-payments with the start of the new fiscal year. Yeah, yeah, I wanted this position, so don’t get me wrong. I’m fully capable of handling anything that heads my way, but when it all comes down in rapid fire action, well, even Clark Kent would feel a bit challenged.

What I needed was coffee and the quiet of my office before all the bloody monsters started coming at me from out of the closet. Seems like I’ve been arriving at work earlier and earlier lately; I’m having problems sleeping and I can’t think or concentrate when I’m at home. Luckily, the office is blissfully quiet until about eight-twenty AM, so glancing at my watch as I went to unlock the door, I knew that I’d have about an hour to myself before Emily or her little shadow, Valerie, came in to break my concentration.

Flipping on the light as I stepped inside, I was greeted by three brightly colored boxes sitting on the corner of my desk that hadn’t been there when we locked up last night. Going over to investigate, I felt my stomach tighten, followed by a tingly sensation at the back of my neck; you know, that feeling when you know that something bad has happened? Three boxes of marshmallow peeps, and a note from Chef Chris:

Kim, please come see me as soon as you come in this morning. – Chris

Taped to the top box was a copy of the order requisition, and I felt my stomach grip even tighter when I saw the quantity that had been delivered; I know that I submitted a request for one case of marshmallow peeps, but the order form showed that one hundred cases had been shipped instead.

Bloody hell! I haven’t even taken off my coat and already I’m faced with something like this. Do you have any idea how many individual boxes of Peeps that we’re talking about? Try 50,000 individual yellow marshmallow confections …

My arse is so fired.

CORY WENDELL WHITE

Today’s the day! Today we’ll be doing some serious taping in the left tower and now that I’ve got proof granddad Bud is up there, I’m actually kinda looking forward to it.

Daisy arrived late last evening and I managed to keep her up even longer. The west to east coast flight is a real bitch, but trust me, she was nowhere near as tired as I had her before she finally dropped off to sleep. Yeah, I’m grinning. I’m happy. I’m hot. It’s always great to be around Daisy, but this is a little different for some reason.

Feels good having her close while I’m here. In fact, it feels weird good, like at least having her near me … she’s okay, you know? Don’t know why I’m feeling that way but, there it was. Just call me overprotective. Just like granddad. Now, if I start getting grumpy too, someone slap me a few times. Me and Bud White may have the same blood, but we ain’t nothing alike. I’m cool, got cool hair and a cool career and a gorgeous woman naked in my bed. I ain’t nothing like Bud White.

I let my woman sleep and showered then sat my ass on the floor to check the equipment. When I opened the metal case to examine the cameras you won’t believe what I found. Holy fuck! There had to be like a hundred of those bright yellow mushy marshmallow peeps cushioned all around the damn equipment. How the hell did that happen? I glanced to the door. Me and Daisy have been busy or sleeping in that room since I brought the case in last night. Who put that candy there? Could it be … is it possible … ghosts?

Ah well, whatever. I picked up a peep and bit of the head. “Mmm, breakfast,” I groaned.

EMILY

When I arrived at work I saw Kim’s truck in the parking lot; dang, I was late again.  He’s gonna rip me a new one – it’s the third time this week that he’s beaten me to the office and you’d think the guy had better things to do than come into work early. I’ve been wondering why he doesn’t have a girlfriend. He’s certainly attractive enough, and if anyone needed a diversion, it would be him. I know he’s been stressed lately; the accounting software is giving us all headaches and he’s been taking a lot of meetings with the contractors working on the Inn’s expansion. As his assistant, I’ve been sitting in on those meetings as well and they can get a little heated sometimes, especially when shipments don’t arrive or craftsmen don’t show.

I darted across the parking lot, but stopped in my tracks when I saw something really funny; someone had taken a whole bunch of yellow marshmallow peeps and lined them up in a procession up along the front steps and walkway, stretching all the way up to the main entrance. How funny was that? Sometimes we get guests at the Inn who, after having a bit too much to drink, get a little bit creative with their selected mayhem, but I’d never seen anything this silly. Oh well, I shrugged my shoulders and smiled, side stepping the little yellow candies as I tiptoed my way towards the office.    

I found Kim sitting at his desk with his head in his hands. When he didn’t look up to berate me for being late, I immediately thought that maybe he was hung over or coming down with something.

“Hey, are you all right?” I sat my backpack down on one of the chairs and that’s when I noticed the boxes of Peeps sitting on his desk. “Ah, so this explains a few things!” I went over to his desk and opened one of the boxes and took out a peep. “I used to love these guys as a kid. If you leave them to the air they get really hard, and man, do they ever sting when flung from a slingshot …”

Kim looked up at me as if he had just become aware of my presence. He did look ill; his face was all white and his eyes were glassy and it really bothered me to see him like that. Without even thinking, I went over and placed my hand on his forehead.

“You don’t have a fever …”

Kim leaned back in his chair and his eyes met mine. “Emily, I am so fired.”

He handed over the shipping order, and I didn’t understand what he was talking about at first, but then when I saw the quantity.

“You mean, you placed this order?”

He nodded.

“Did you purposely order this many?”

“Of course not – I swear to God, I just ordered one case!” He ran his hand through his hair and for that one moment he looked so vulnerable. It concerned me to see him so flustered, and yet made me smile at the same time. Gee, it’s nice to know that the big guy isn’t so invincible after all.

“Then I’ll get the distributor on the phone and tell him that we mistakenly ordered too many.”

“Emily, with this particular distributor, all sales are final.”

“So, okay, we have a gazillion peeps cluttering up the storeroom for a few days – maybe we can think of a creative way to get rid of them; hey, I know! How’s about we give a free complimentary box away to each guest; you know, kind of like a Peeps promotional tour.”

Kim wasn’t listening. “John’s gonna go mental. Riley’s gonna be disappointed. Andy’s never gonna let me forget it. Never mind what Chef Chris is gonna do to me …”

He really was all twisted in knots over this. “Listen, just blame it all on me.”

“Emily, I couldn’t do that.”

“Okay, then what if I call Chris and tell him that I made the error, then I’ll e-mail John and Riley and tell them the same thing and you don’t have to say anything. Trust me, they may be a little annoyed, but I really don’t believe that anyone’s going to get fired over this. I’ll take the heat and we’ll both clean up the mess afterwards.”

He looked at me a little strangely and I thought he was about to agree to the plan when he shook his head.

“No, I can’t let you take the blame for my error. But I’ll tell you what; you can come with me when I go talk to Chris in about fifteen minutes. He likes you and maybe that’ll help put him in a better mood.”

“He likes you too, you know.”

He snorted a chuckle. “Emmy, thanks for trying to spare my feelings, but I know that most folks here really don’t like me very much.”

“Well, I like you.”

Another incredulous snort and he looked at me with disbelief.

“Okay, you can be a royal pain in the butt on the best of days, but I do like working with you. Only, don’t let that knowledge go to your head. You’re still a jerk, but I do like you.” I smiled, hoping that he would pick up on my teasing tone, but truth be told, I do like him. God help me.

He scratched his cheek and smiled. “Thanks, Emmy. I enjoy working with you, too.”

A short silence passed between us then we both got a little uncomfortable. I kept expecting one of us to reach out to hug the other and proclaim, “I love you, man!” But happily, calmer minds prevailed.

“Come on.” He got up from his chair. “Let’s go face the firing squad. Have you had any breakfast yet? Maybe we can pick up a bite to eat while we’re at it.”

Putting on his jacket and straightening his tie as we walked out the door, he took one look out into the hallway and groaned. A long line of yellow peeps were stretched along one side of the hallway, their beady little eyes staring at us blankly.

Kim turned to me. “Hey, do you think someone’s trying to tell us something?”

I laughed. “Like what? That we’re fired?”

JACK

A lovely Friday morning and letting my sweet Natalie sleep, I reached into the crib for Chelsea. No, she was not crying or fussing. I had just begun to find it most pleasant to cuddle her when she wakes; she was suddenly such a pleasant child. But as I brought her up from the crib, I found in her tiny, squeezing fist, a mushy yellow marshmallow. Catherine gave a good morning squeak and I looked to her. She had had three of the candies tucked close around her wriggling little body.

I pried the sweet from Chelsea’s fist and went to my bedroom, intending to ask my wife where the candy had come from. I blinked.

“God’s teeth, what is this about?”

Sound asleep with a tender smile on her contented face, my Natalie lay peacefully in our bed with one of these bright yellow confections in each hand. A small morsel of marshmallow was still in Chelsea’s fingers and she grinned and giggled, licking the sugar ferociously.

“Is that good my little love?” I asked and sucked her fingers clean. Where ever they came from, the yellow marshmallows had obviously become an all new delight for the Aubrey family.

ANTONY

A day like any other for me. I do understand that a special spring ritual holiday is tomorrow but my work is always the same. I left Claudia curled warm in our bed and went to walk my rounds. I particularly enjoy the morning rounds. It is always quiet and peaceful. At seven AM, most of the guests are either sleeping away their last evening’s libations or already preparing to leave for the slopes. They tell me there’s not much more of the ski season left to us and I admit I will be pleased when the Inn has fewer guests, especially as the new construction begins later in the summer.

I was musing on the lovely hues of the sunrise playing pink and gold on the blanket of snow as I walked toward the pond when something strange caught my eye. It appeared something had soiled the snow all along the walkway. Had a hundred animals pissed there? I trudged closer. Lowered to a knee to take a look. It was odd, strange. Small bright yellow poofs were evenly lined not only on the path to the pond, but all the way around the water and along every other pathway. As I neared the gazebo, I saw more of the strange things perched on the railing and on every step. The yellow was melting into puddles in the snow. This was extremely disturbing and I decided to take one of them as evidence and quickly ran to alert John.

“What do you think they are?” I growled and Biebe, his hair sticking to his face on one side and straight up in the air on top yawned wide and scratched his balls through wrinkled sweats.

He took the sample, sniffed it, ran a finger over it and to my horror, licked. Then he just chuckled.

“Peeps. They’re marshmallow peeps. Candy, Antony. There’s no terrorist attack here, just somebody playing a prank. Good thing its winter or we’d be covered in ants.”

I blinked, ran a hand down my chin. “Peeps?”

“Yeah,” another massive yawn. “Peeps. Nothing bad. Thank fucking God, after what’s been going on inside my head this week.” He poured himself a mug of coffee and walked to the window. “But see if you can clean them up; get Music’s grandson to help. They look like hell out there, don’t they?” He laughed. “Hey Riles, you ain’t gonna believe this,” he shouted and I went to my task.

Peeps? What the hell are fucking peeps?

GEMMA

I have never been one for frivolous holiday silliness, never believed in Santa Claus, never had an Easter basket as a child and never gave one to a child. There are far better things to give a child for the Holidays than sweets, I always say. So, you can imagine my surprise when my porcini and pecorino omelet with a side of bacon arrived garnished with two of those horrid yellow marshmallow peeps at the corner of the plate.

I calmly pushed them aside and proceeded to eat, my mind on the afternoon’s taping. I certainly don’t want to be terrified again, I need to be prepared. I sighed and closed my eyes, savored a mouthful of perfect coffee then suddenly felt something soft bounce off the top of my head then tumble down my rather substantial chest and finally plop directly into my orange juice!

My head swung around. Huh. There were no children in the breakfast room. In fact, breakfast was officially over and there was no one in the room but me. Then I heard that ethereal chuckle and groaned.

 “Not funny, Brian. I thought you said you were going to help me.”

One more chuckle and another yellow peep fell right into my lap. So much for ghostly assistance. I truly must reconsider; perhaps Brian isn’t a ghost at all. His childish behavior is far more suited to a poltergeist. It made sense; after all there was that young girl living at the Inn.

“Now, that’s just plain mean, Gemma,” Brian said and I swear I felt him stomp off in a huff.

MAXIMUS

Sophia and I arrived late last night, but I have been unable to sleep for quite a while. Not only am I nervous and thrilled over our surprising news that my once-thought barren wife is now fully and naturally pregnant, but I have had an experience I cannot explain.

Three nights earlier as Sophia drifted off to sleep in our bed, I decided to rise and take a look at the books. The vineyard is doing well and I am sure to have several fine hybrid grapes this fall to aid in the creation of a new wine for the market. I pulled on my comfortable pair of what John calls ‘sweats’ and headed for the door. Then something amazing and frightening occurred.

I was suddenly in the bowels of the Coliseum. I was pacing the walkway to the gate, swinging my sword and shouting. “There was a vision for Rome and this is not it! This is not it!”

I stopped suddenly and swallowed hard. The stench of the space nearly choked me and the roar of the crowd awaiting my performance pummeled my ears. I swung behind, searching for my room, my bed, my wife and faced only Proximo’s scowling face. I did not even hear the words he spoke, the sound of my own panic pounding louder than the mob in the stands over my head. And as suddenly as it began, it ended. I was leaning against the doorjamb, sweat pouring from my face and my body shaking.

I sat in the nearest chair and ran an arm across my soaked brow. Whatever had happened was far too real to ignore and something in my heart demanded that against my original plans, I go to Vermont for this spring holiday and speak with my brothers. I wondered and worried if anyone else had experienced the same kind of thing. Terrified of what this might mean to us all.

Fearful of leaving Sophia behind, I have brought her along. She will rest much; it is early in the pregnancy. But she is oddly aware that I am deeply troubled. I pray to all the gods that I am incorrect; this it was an isolated incident and means nothing short of my need to get more sleep.

I stood at the window and watched the amazing mountain brighten in the early morn. I will wait until Monday to speak with the others, but I will take John aside after the Easter feast, ask that he arrange for as many of us to gather as he can to discuss the possible ramifications.

I bit into one of the sweet confections overflowing the bowl on the coffee table and chewed. The pleasure of eating something fully playful and tantalizing brought a smile to my lips. “This is delicious!” I mumbled through a full mouth.
 
BEN

I been holed up in my room for days and I’m tired of it. I got nothing to hide from, didn’t actually rob the bank and the townsfolk had to have forgotten all about me by now. Right?

So I got in my car and drove to town, went to my favorite coffee shop, the one I went to every day while I staked out the bank. I wasn’t even at the counter when it happened. People everywhere, running into the coffee shop and shouting, all calling my damn name and some … rather pretty young ladies I might add … as well as old codgers and wrinkled old women starter hugging me! What the fuck?

The pregnant woman from the day of the robbery actually kissed me right on the mouth. Now where was her husband? And me without the ‘Hand of God’ to protect myself.

As the people finally cleared a way for me to get to the counter and order a simple cup of coffee, the bank guard ran in, huffing from the exertion and his face red from the cold. He thanked me over and over then suddenly turned redder, realizing he’d left his post at the Stowe First City Savings and Loan. He grinned embarrassment and left quickly.

Finally at the counter I ordered my coffee to go. But as I opened my wallet I found all my cash sticking together with some kinda yellow goo! “Ah …”

“Oh Mr. Wade! Please, your money’s no good here anyway. You’ll never pay for coffee in this town again.”

“Why?”

“Why? Jeeze,” she giggled and batted her eyes at me. “You’re the town hero, Mr. Wade.”

Shit.

RILEY

I slept late this morning and only crawled out of my bed to laugh with John over the silly, harmless peep prank someone had played on us. Ah well. Life goes on and it was great to see John smile again. He’d been really kinda gloomy lately, and we had a big family dinner ahead for Easter.

I got into the shower, my hair mounded with shampoo suds and leaned to rinse then reached for the soap … came up with a slimy, mushy yellow peep. I slithered out of the shower, naked and dripping wet and got a fresh bar of soap. Well, the only one who could’ve put that candy in the soap dish was John. Okay, let him have his laughs.

But then it went a little too far. I pulled on my jeans and slid hands into the pockets to smooth them down and what do you think I found? Peeps. I pushed my feet into my shoes and … more peeps. Okay, not funny anymore.

Where the hell did all this candy come from anyway? I knew that Chef Chris ordered the sweet little yellow things for the Bunny Brunch, but I really should have a talk with him … these damn things were multiplying faster than bunnies.

I didn’t get seriously worried until later when I decided to have a sandwich in the pub and Steve brought a strawberry margarita to my table. The damn glass had a goofy, somewhat mutilated yellow peep smashed onto the rim. “Steve?”

He shrugged. “What the hell am I supposed to do with those things? They keep showing up in the liquor shelves.”

I leaned back in my chair and looked around. Bowls of peeps instead of peanuts on the tables, glasses of gin and tonic, vodka sours and even wine all garnished the same way but hey, the customers weren’t complaining and at least my pink margarita looked kinda pretty with that yellow against it.

NATALIE

I dressed the twins in pretty pink pinafores and tiny white ballet slippers then took us all downstairs. A baby in each arm, I made my way to the big professional kitchen. It was early enough not to be an obstruction to the activities; after breakfast and too early for the lunch rush.

“Hey Monna,” I said, managing the girls who squiggled and wiggled like squirming worms. “I wanted to ask if you managed to order those high chairs for tomorrow.”

“Yup,” she grinned and took Catherine from my arms. I sighed relief. “They’re really wound up this morning, aren’t they?” she laughed.

“Uh, sugar rush. Somehow they got their hands on some marshmallow peeps,” I glanced around at the plethora of cases stacked around every empty corner of the kitchen. “Guess I know here they came from.”

“Don’t ask,” Monna groaned. “And yeah, I ordered several high chairs for tomorrow’s Bunny Brunch. Let’s just hope that order doesn’t come in multiplied by a hundred, huh?”

“Hiya Nat,” called Chef Chris as he poured a thick yellow mixture into a huge bowl of Rice Crispies then dropped another fifty or sixty peeps into the pot.

“Now that’s a good idea,” I said, imagining fluorescent yellow Rice Crispy squares dotted with tiny jelly beans at the Bunny Brunch.

He playfully tossed a few more peeps over his shoulder that miraculously landed right in the melting pot.

“No!” came a screech from behind and little Valerie rushed to the worktable, grabbing an armful of the yellow candies protectively. “Stop!” she shouted at the chef. “You’re killing them,” and she ran out, peeps falling and bouncing in her wake.

“Fuck,” he said. “Hope I haven’t permanently traumatized that poor kid.”

JEFF

“Babe, I so need you to run an errand for me.” Kelly’s eyes were shining as she slipped her arms around my neck, her body smelling of Ivory soap and Estee Lauder perfume, her skin smooth and cool as she slipped her hand up beneath the hem of my sweater.

“What’s in it for me, lady?”

“Mmm, the usual? Neck rub and chocolate ice cream?”

“Nah, I was thinking more along the lines of sexual favors with the boss.” I slipped my arm around her waist and pulled her close.

“That can easily be arranged. The boss lady is a pushover for a particular distinguished looking gentleman who happens to have a delightfully dirty mind.”

Things have been very good between us these past several weeks. With the wedding approaching, it could be stressful, but Kelly seemed to just blossom with all the excitement. We’ve been together every evening since I popped the question, sharing the same bed and living space while we each manage our separate jobs. No matter how hectic it now gets, at six PM the shop closes and we spend our evenings together.

“Who needs what and when does it have to be there?” I wanted to get an idea of the logistics.

“This box right here.” She turned and set her hand down on top of a good sized box sitting on top of the counter directly next to us. “It’s got some of those ceramic eggs that Chef Chris ordered for the Easter morning centerpiece at the Inn; he was going to pick them up himself, but some sort of problem with a big shipment has him all tied up, so he can’t.”

Chris is a great guy, and I really didn’t mind lending him a hand, so twenty minutes later I pulled my SUV into the Inn parking lot, the box of ceramic eggs in tow as I parked and made my way up to the front entrance. I kept noticing these little yellow marshmallow peeps dotted along the walkway here and there, and when I reached the front door, I found that someone had taken several and used them to spell out HAPPY BUNNY right to the side of the main entrance. I wasn’t sure what was up, but it appeared that someone was having a bit of fun.

I waved to Marla as I walked across the lobby, noticing that she had a row of yellow peeps lined up across the front of the admissions desk. She waved back, and then popped one of the unsuspecting peeps into her mouth.

Could Marla have been the one who decorated the walkway?

BRIAN

Being a ghost is sometimes a blast. I can screw around with computer programs and arrange the coolest things! My favorite so far was stuffing that big guy Wigand’s overcoat pockets to overload with the yellow candy. I’m sure he won’t discover them ‘til he gets home. Then I had one more plan. I lined the steps of the left tower all the way to the top with peeps. Now that should get Gemma’s goat. Poltergeist my ass.

But I gotta admit, yeah it’s all foolishness but there’s a damn good reason for my playfulness. This family needs a little levity before the boom gets lowered. Before things get really, really tough. Terry’s on his way back and that’s going make a real impact with his condition the way it is. Maximus is preparing to open a discussion that will surely shake everyone up. And the fact is … I have no real clue how it’s all going to turn out. Truth? I’m even a little worried.