Girl Scout Cookies

Ever since I was a little kid, I grew up having the famous Girl Scout brand cookies in my life. My parents loved buying them, getting addicted to them from the first time they ever tried them. Their favorites were always Thin Mints and Samoas. I tried a kind of each one once, never really having a favorite and instead preferring to stay away from the cookies in general.

When I was about fifteen, my parents finally stopped buying the cookies. Mostly, it was because we never had enough for them anymore because of the economy becoming a chaotic mess, and it was also because they just outgrew eating them. I didn’t mind much.

I’ve been living on my own for about two years now, and during that time, every few months, Girl Scouts would come to my house and ask if I wanted to buy any cookies. They always gave me the same sad eyed look, trying to guilt me into buying a box or two.

Usually I’d be able to ignore their sad faces and not buy any, but this time, it was different. I don’t know what came over me, but a strong urge to actually buy a few boxes got the best of me and I gave a small nod to the girl in front of me.

“Sure,” I said as I once again looked through the cookie brochure before folding it back up. “I’ll have a box of Samoas and Thin Mints.” Old habits die hard, right?

“Alright!” The girl nodded quickly, her pigtails bobbing along. A large grin was spread across her face and it warmed my heart to see that.

When she had finished writing down my order, she took my payment and happily skipped on her way to the next house.

I knew that it took about two weeks for the delivery to actually be made, and when the boxes actually arrived, I was pleased. I signed for the boxes and went and sat down in the living room, opening the Samoas first.

The familiar scent of coconut and chocolate filled my nose and I took one gingerly out of the container, slipping it into my mouth. It was one of the best cookies I’d ever eaten and I realized they tasted so much better than when I’d been a kid. Odd how your taste buds do that to you, isn’t it?

I continued to eat the cookies and within a few minutes, the whole box was gone. I hadn’t been expecting that to happen. I brushed the crumbs off my lap and stood up, grabbing the now empty box and container and throwing it away.

As I made my way back to the couch, I couldn’t help but get an intense craving to eat the other box. This had never happened before, but I just went with it and soon enough, that box was gone, too. I frowned in dismay as I realized this, but once again got up to throw away my trash.

The next few days that passed by were unusually hard. I was getting intense cravings for the Girl Scout cookies and I couldn’t find an exact reason why. They were just cookies, after all, and I knew all the ingredients by heart. After all these years, the ingredients had never changed, so why this now?

I couldn’t take it anymore. I ended up digging one of the boxes out of the trash and got the number from it, quickly typing the digits into my phone. There was a kindly woman’s voice on the other end. She helped me order, amazingly, a month’s worth of cookies. A lot of money, but worth it, I reassured myself.

The next few months, the cravings continued to grow worse. I continuously ordered more and more Girl Scout cookies, spending more and more money. After almost a year, I finally ran out money to afford to pay for not only the next shipment of cookies, but for the rent of my house as well.

I was kicked out after a week of being unable to make up the money I owed. I had become a completely different person. I was overly obsessed over the cookies and I had to have more. Nothing was going to stop me, even if I had to break into the place where they were made myself.

I decided that that was exactly what I was going to do. After getting directions from several people, I was finally able to make my way there. The place was more of a darker looking factory then I expected.

The sky was dark and filled with smog, the air smelling like something burning and of death. I held my shirt over my mouth and nose to try and ignore the smell, but as I grew closer, the smell grew worse and I felt bile rise in my throat, burning.

I bit it back and managed to scale the wire fence that surrounded the factory with ease. I landed easily on my feet and, after avoiding several puddles of what looked like muddish water and scattered droplets of something dark staining the ground, I finally found the entrance.

Surprisingly, the doors weren’t locked. No padlock, no chains, nothing. I was confused as to why this was, but didn’t question it, my stomach growling loudly, begging for me to find the delicious treats I’d wanted so badly.

It was pitch black inside. I took only a few steps before I heard something clatter several feet away. I froze, swallowing hard. There was giggling in my ear and it made me jump.

“We knew you would come!” Said a cheerful and familiar voice.

“What?” I managed to croak out as several lights were suddenly turned on. I blinked several times as my eyes grew adjusted and my heart almost jumped out of my chest at what I saw.

All around me where, not only large vats for the cookie dough, but also discarded pieces of human bodies. There was a small arm, it looked like a five year old’s arm, near my foot and I felt my knees grow weak as I realized where the smell of death was coming from, why all these bodies were here.

The “special ingredient” that the Girl Scouts had always tried so desperately to hide, to keep under wraps, was human body parts. I felt sick to my stomach then, but even knowing that, I still craved the cookies.

“We've been waiting for you, we really have! You’re one of our best customers.” A young girl stepped out of the shadows and I realized it was the same Girl Scout who had sold me the cookies, who had gotten me into this predicament. But when I thought about it, it was my fault for even buying that first box.

I shook my head and took a step back, only to realize that the exit had been barred. I felt my heart sink to my stomach as I realized my fate. The group of girls surrounded me, drawing closer every moment.

I knew there was no escape. I never should have even come here, never should have bought that box of cookies. I fell to my knees, finally accepting that I couldn’t avoid this.

--

I’m nervous as I walk up to the front door, reciting the words over constantly in my head. Sure, I could do this, it would be easy. I’d practiced so many times before, I could make the words flow. I rang the doorbell, and once it was opened, I asked, “Hello, would you like to buy some Girl Scout Cookies?”