Gingerbread House

The utilitarian metal door looks like any other you might find in a warehouse. A yellow placard attached to the door states, "EMPLOYEES ONLY" in bold black letters.

"What employees?" Chris wonders aloud as he inspects the door. The plant creature still circles overhead, keeping a close eye on Chris. It doesn't take him long to make up his mind and push the handle on the door. It opens smoothly on well-oiled hinges. Chris steps through, quickly shutting the door behind him.

Evening light illuminates the room through a row of tall windows on the far wall. The sounds of typing, phones ringing, and fax machines fill the air. Chris finds himself standing in an office building, surrounded by a maze of cubicles. A straight path ahead lead of him leads toward the windows. Even though Chris is standing near an AC vent that is blasting cool air, his dust-caked hair stays plastered to his head. He stares at the office space in utter bewilderment.

"Hey! Someone, please help me!" Chris jumps into action, hoping that he has just been spit out randomly into the real world. He runs to the first cubicle, sticking his head around the corner. An office worker wearing a reddish-brown suit sits at his desk, typing away on a desktop computer. Except for his dark hair, the rest of his head is concealed by the high back of the office chair. Chris rapidly approaches the man, who doesn't seem to notice the teenager right behind him.

"Please sir, I need your help..." Chris places his hand on the man's shoulder, which has an unusually rough texture. "Sir...?"

Finally, the man swivels around in his chair, revealing that he has no face. 

With a sound somewhere between a gasp and a croak, Chris backs away in horror, surprise, and confusion. The man sitting before him is composed entirely of the reddish-brown material, as if he were sculpted from the stuff. A red tie composed of icing is plastered to his chest and his dark brown "hair" is slathered on in the same way. 

Chris stumbles back into the byway. The gingerbread man "watches" him robotically, before swiveling back to his computer and continuing to type away. 

An office courier sporting blue icing hair and an orange tie rushes down the byway, pushing a cart filled with letters and packages. Chris hops out of the way of the hustling courier, who seems to ignore Chris as it passes. In the process he bumps into one of the cubicle walls, which crumbles under the force of the impact. Instead of being the sturdy plastic of a real office cubicle, the wafer cookie disintegrates with little effort.

The office worker within, a gingerbread woman with long white frosting hair, stands up in alarm. Unlike the gingerbread men, this woman has an entire outfit iced onto her body, replicating a green blouse and black pencil skirt. Chris stumbles back into the pathway again, before turning and running back to the door that he came through. The gingerbread woman shakes her fist at him in anger. 

When Chris grabs the handle and turns, the door swings open more easily than he expected. The reason soon becomes obvious as he finds the surprised face of Danielle, who is opening the door from the warehouse side. They lock eyes with each other, Chris' face mirroring Danielle's.