KILLER JELLY BEANS FROM OUTER SPACE
James Matthew Byers
A spacecraft, something like a jar,
Collided in a bank.
Beside its broken pieces stood
An empty, shallow tank.
Within its hull, the Tinies moved-
A color branded race.
No arms or legs, no, none at all-
They simply had a face.
They rolled about the wrecked debris,
Collecting all around.
Escaping from their enemies
Had forced them to the ground.
Inside the mind, they spoke in waves,
And as they made a line,
The Pink one made for higher ground.
The sun began to shine.
She called upon the Red and White,
The Black and Purple, too .
The Orange and the Green as well-
They had a job to do.
Collectively, they moved as one
Until they all agreed
A matter loomed above them all-
The Tinies had to feed!
The wreckage left them stranded there,
And where they did not know.
Beyond the hill and woodland flush,
The Pink one urged them, “Go.”
A supermarket up ahead
With humans in and out
Compelling them to hesitate
Bombarded them with doubt.
A poster on the outer wall-
A smiling jelly bean-
Invited them to warble forth,
Embracing what was seen.
Perhaps they would find answers there-
Perhaps some of their kin.
The Tinies measured every move,
Deciding to go in .
The leader rolled, bereft of fear,
Sensations riding high.
Unnoticed by the moving crowd,
The Pink one glided by.
Her summons to the others heard
Inside their jelly minds
Propelled them to move such as she
And hopped beneath the blinds.
The window had been opened up,
And stealthily they moved.
As one by one, the Tinies dropped,
A single unit grooved.
Upon the second aisle, they roamed
Until they saw a bag
With multicolored jelly beans-
It made the Pink one gag.
The others followed suit with her,
Deciding that this place
Was home to some much worse than those
Who once had stuffed their face
With Tinies as a midday munch,
Or sometimes just a snack.
The Pink one popped up in the ai r
And landed by a sack.
Nobody moved inside the bag,
Nobody writhed or stirred.
When suddenly, a light bulb beamed-
A thought form had occurred.
The Pink one called the others round
To join her in her plan.
They hid behind an Easter sign
To scout this thing called man.
On her first glance, she thought it odd
So many of her kind
Had fallen prey, and bagged this way
Had died there in a bind.
Extensions from her pink gel shot
A tiny open slit
And searched for life inside the bag,
But suddenly, she quit.
Into the minds of those around,
She sent a message then:
“They are not Tinies! Not at all!
Just candy!” With a grin
Upon her face, the others joined ,
As smiles, though rather brief,
Revealed a deeper rooted side-
Exposing razor teeth!
Now Tinies were a tiny lot,
And eaten, sure 'tis true.
But what the Earth had yet to learn
Is they eat me and you!
An Easter not forgotten when
A threat appeared in place-
Beware the Killer Jelly Beans
That hailed from outer space…
The smell of fresh blood pumping swift
In veins of every arm
Up reaching for that tasty treat
Became in way of harm.
The Pink one led her comrades in
The bag before them all.
A camouflage like none before,
They blended wall to wall.
A little boy snatched up their lot,
And in the buggy went
The Tinies with the jelly beans -
A poor three dollars spent!
They moved to where their eyes could see
Beyond their plastic cage-
Unbalanced in their wheeled domain,
The Tinies curbed their rage.
A smaller human female and
A teenager appeared.
Unlike the first encountered, these
Had unique skin they steered.
The tall one wore the color, black,
The smaller, something blue.
The Pink one noted with the rest
And planned what next to do.
The Tinies stayed extremely still
As over scanners slipped
The bag containing all of them.
Into the sack they dipped.
A rattle and a battled bump,
A dumping thud and then
The jelly beans and passengers
Embraced the tires' full spin.
The oldest girl boomed music ou t
As she drove them around.
The bags of groceries sat in back.
The Tinies, never found,
Removed themselves from in the pack
Of jelly beans to see
The who and what and where they were
Amid the car’s debris.
The children had a tiny Pug
Who loved to ride along.
Upon the Tinies exodus,
They met his nosey song.
A bark and then a fitted growl,
Until the children fumed.
“Hey, Lance, just put a sock in it!”
But their dog was consumed.
He harped and howled and ran amuck
The whole way to their house-
And when the Pink one bit his nose,
He cowered like a mouse.
The smallest girl took notice then-
As drops of blood fell clean.
But now the stowaways eclipsed
And none of them were seen .
Into a room, the children strode
With paper sacks in tow.
And Lance ran past them to the back.
He didn't even slow.
The Tinies followed after him,
A hunger fit to roam.
When everything had settled down,
They sneaked around the home.
The mom and dad were both at work;
The oldest was in charge.
And with the milk and eggs put up,
The “Tinies” loomed at large.
As jelly beans went on a shelf,
A screeching sound was heard.
The boy and youngest girl ran in,
But offered not a word.
Beneath the chair, a matted fuzz
Encased in bloody ruts
Remained of what had been the dog.
Intestines, bone, and guts-
It seemed as if Lance had been food
To what they did not know .
The oldest grabbed a frying pan
Insisting they should go.
Around the corner came a thud,
And then a squishy splat.
The children, huddled up in fear,
Beheld their eaten cat.
Upon the dresser, open wide,
The bird cage emptied out.
And then the Tinies showed themselves
While feathers flung about.
“Those jelly beans! They- they're alive!”
The boy exclaimed in doubt.
His teenage sister swung her pan
And countered with a shout:
“Go with your sister! Go, go, go!
I'll hold them here, let's run!”
The little girl burst into tears.
This wasn't any fun.
The Pink one trilled an eerie sound
And Red and Purple jumped.
They bounced before the children’s path-
The other Tinies slumped -
Removed from off the dresser’s space
To nibble on the knees
Of all the kids now in a bind,
And begging, “Please! No, please!”
The multicolored terrors pressed
Upon the fearful lot.
A bunch of teeth and chomping gums
Careened and preened with rot-
As tattered flesh hung from each tooth
And blood from things they ate,
The children hugged and closed their eyes,
Prepared to meet their fate.
But something happened to avert
Catastrophe that day-
At once the roof blew off the house,
Removed and gone away.
The Tinies screamed and tried to flee,
But met their end in heaps.
The boy cried out triumphantly-
“We’re saved by monster Peeps!”
The Pink and blue and purple beasts
Resembled chicks, indeed .
They pecked and prodded with each beak
And made the Tinies bleed.
In speed they gobbled up the crew,
And when at last were done,
Not even jelly beans remained-
No, they left not a one.
Now Tinies were a tiny lot
And ate their share of skin,
But greater things came after them
To wreak a deadly sin.
Though jelly beans might bite and munch,
There's something worse that creeps-
Beware marshmallows Easter Day-
Beware the killer Peeps!
The End