Leah T. - Marshmallow Man

Everything in history starts with a story or a myth. We hear about Orion the Hunter, the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper, and all of those constellations in the sky. The question is, do we know how they came about? All of the constellations come with some type of background that can tell the story of how they were formed. For example, Orion the Hunter fell in love with Merope, one of the seven sisters who form the Pleiades, but Merope didn’t want him. He then claimed that he could fight anything in the world, so a scorpion was unleashed upon him and he was killed by it. Since the gods felt bad, they placed him in the sky with his hunting dogs and animals he hunted. Stories are necessary to be able to know what happens in history, and one of the greatest constellations ever discovered is the Marshmallow Man.


To first get the visualization of the Marshmallow Man, he is made up of five stars. These stars are named Choco, Graham, Woody, Flame, and Torcher, seeing as they are involved in how the Marshmallow Man was placed in the sky. Though they were once the Marshmallow family, they were squished into a s’more during an epic battle between Graham Cracker Girl, Chocolate Boy, and them. Looking into the sky on a dark night, there is an easy way to spot the Marshmallow Man. Just like you use it to find the North Star, if you can spot the Big Dipper in the sky, you look the opposite way than you would for the North Star and you’ll be able to see the star, Torcher. Since Torcher is the bottom right corner of this constellation you can look to the left to see Choco, look above to see Woody, look above and to the left to see Flame, and in the middle of those four stars rests Graham, the father of all. Every single one of these people play roles in the story of how the Marshmallow Man came about.


It was a warm, not hot, day in August in 1832 when everything happened. The Marshmallow family was having a feast in the park by their home. Graham and his wife, Choco, were marveling at their children, Woody, Flame, and Torcher, as they had a food fight with each other. They weren’t just any family, though. All of them had super powers – except for poor Graham. Some days, Graham couldn’t do anything but sit back and watch them fight off evil without him. Though he didn’t have any super powers, Graham did have training in martial arts so he could occasionally help his family. All of the Marshmallow family combined was a threat to anything that came their way. Choco could turn invisible, Woody could shape shift, Flame could start things on fire with his mind, and Torcher could control peoples’ minds with his own. They were unstoppable and unbeatable – until they ran into Graham Cracker Girl and Chocolate Boy that beautiful day in the park.


As Woody, Flame, and Torcher had their mini food fight, there was a sudden feeling of tension in the air. Graham and Choco looked at each other, seeing in their eyes that their afternoon of fun was coming to an end. Hearing grass-softened footsteps close by, the whole Marshmallow family stopped what they were doing and looked up to see Graham Cracker Girl and Chocolate Boy – mischievous twins who loved to wreak havoc whenever they found the chance. Pretty as could be, Graham Cracker Girl had fitting sandy blonde hair and glittering chocolate brown eyes, accompanied by a flowing white dress. Standing next to each other, you could see the resemblance between these two troublemakers. With his hands on his hips, Chocolate Boy had chocolate brown hair, hazelnut colored eyes, and jeans and a plain white t-shirt that showed off his toned arms. Graham Cracker Girl looked at the scene in front of her and, focusing her eyes on Graham, said in her smooth voice, “You killed my dad. All of you killed my father.” Looking at Graham Cracker Girl, Graham replied, “I sure might have. Depends on who your father was. If he’s dead, it was probably because he was a bad person.” With that line, Graham Cracker Girl and Chocolate Boy completely blew up.


Unleashing her numerous powers upon the Marshmallow family, Graham Cracker Girl flew up into the air and shot arrows at them. Quickly realizing what was going on, Choco, who could also put up force fields, created a bubble of protection over her family to keep them from getting hit by the arrows. Anger upon their faces, the twins landed next to each other and stared at the Marshmallow family. Turning their backs, they started to speak to each other in quick whispers. Thinking that it would be okay, Choco released her force field and the family separated. The twins swiftly turned around and immediately targeted the youngest one in the family – Torcher. Chocolate Boy, with his power of super speed, ran and caught Torcher’s arm. Before he could take over their minds, Graham Cracker Girl shot him with one of her poison arrows and he quickly died. In a state of shock, Choco dropped to her knees and started crying. Seeing their opportunity, the twins rushed over to Choco, and, before Graham could warn her, killed her too.


Realizing that they were the only ones left, Graham, Woody, and Flame decided that they needed to step up their game. Woody quickly turned into something that had one target spot for being killed – a mighty grizzly bear. As Flame made a ring of fire that came to be ten feet high around Chocolate Boy, the fear in Chocolate Boy’s eyes showed that he knew there was no way out. His clothes started to burn and when he had started to catch on fire, Flame extinguished it and Woody attacked him, biting him in the neck and killing him. Watching her own brother get killed right in front of her, Graham Cracker Girl let out a cry and also decided to step up her own game. She looked over and saw that Flame was standing with his back to her, celebrating his great victory with Woody. Rushing towards him, Woody pointed but it wasn’t soon enough. Jumping on Flame’s back, Graham Cracker Girl took hold of his head and snapped his neck with her immense strength. This battle had become a dangerous game between good and evil.


Graham and Woody looked at each other – they were the only ones left. They knew that they could win and eventually overpower Graham Cracker Girl. It was two against one. With a fire in her eyes, she rushed towards Graham; the only one left without powers. He saw it coming and fought back with all of his might, using every move that he had ever learned through the years. After about ten minutes of fighting, Woody saw it in his father’s face that he was starting to give up. Taking control, Woody turned into a deadly cobra and attacked Graham Cracker Girl. She let out a blood-curdling shriek as the poison started to rush through her veins. Becoming weaker and weaker by the second, she took out her bow and arrow and shot the snake square in the forehead, killing him in an instant. Looking around and seeing his family laying all around him, Graham gathered up enough energy for one final stand. Coming up behind her he kicked her in the back, causing her to fall upon her knees. Her eyelashes fluttered and then shut. Victory, Graham thought to himself. Turning away from the horrid scene in front of him, Graham started to walk away. All too suddenly, he felt a sting in his back and realized that Graham Cracker Girl had used her last glorious poison arrow to get victory for the murder of her beloved father. He fell to the ground as the world faded to nothing.


It was that moment when the Greek gods realized that Graham, the son of Zeus and Hera, had lost a great battle. They arrived on the scene together to see the still bodies of the Marshmallow family, Graham Cracker Girl, and Chocolate Boy lying on the ground. Spotting their son, they walked over to him. Calling to Artemis, Goddess of the Hunters, they asked her to make a constellation in the sky. This constellation was to be named Marshmallow Man because of their last name of Marshmallow and the knowledge that their man of a son had made the final stand. Placing his sons and wife in a square, they then placed Graham in the middle to show that he was the protective father star. They disposed of the bodies of Graham Cracker Girl and Chocolate Boy by turning them into trees in the park. To this very day, when you look into the sky, you can spot the stars of the Marshmallow family and know that they fought for their spot among the other constellations that we all know and love.

WORKS CITED

"2009 October « nuestra vida en princeton." nuestra vida en princeton. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Feb. 2010. .