“Chocolates Filled With Music”
A On Valentine’s Day, my wife, Shelley, gave me the gift of love in the shape of a heart. A heart filled with rich, dark chocolates. A Whitman chocolate sampler covered in red, white and gold hearts. A box filled with 6.25 ounces of assorted milk chocolates.
The gift brought a immediate smile to my face. After a kiss, I confessed, “Thanks hon, the perfect gift for an unrepentant chocoholic.””Open the box and taste a chocolate.” She requested.Tearing off the plastic covering, I lifted the cover off the box. To my surprise, music filled my ears. The voices of Sonny and Cher echoed across the room singing “I Got You Babe””They say we’re young and we don’t know We won’t find out until we grow.”I nodded my head in agreement with the wisdom of those words. Then I said. “Thanks hon, I love your gift. Remember Sonny and Cher holding Chastity on their TV program? “Yup, they dedicated that tune to their daughter,” she replied. As Shelley commented on Cher’s long, straight hair and Sonny’s ski accident. I thought. “WOW! Creativity in action. The merger of two traditional holiday themes —music and candy— in one gift. The musical Valentine’s Day card had been out there for years, but not this magical treat. What took them so long? What’s next, music coming right out of a piece of chocolate?” I placed the musical chocolate box on the kitchen’s granite countertop, right next to the coffee maker. Again, I pulled open the box, grabbed a candy, listened and started to sing along. “They say our love won’t pay the rent Before it’s earned, our money’s all been spent I guess that’s so, we don’t have a lot But at least I’m sure of all the things we got” The next morning, our housekeeper, Nina, dusted around the Keurig Coffee Machine. Somehow, she dislodged the water tank. Water spilled all over my heart-shaped gift. Nina felt awful. “Nina, don’t worry. It’s my gift and it still plays music. I lifted the top of the box to reassure her. “Well I don’t know if all that’s true ‘Cause you got me, and baby I got you.” Nina smiled as she heard their voices. Late in the afternoon, Shelley arrived home to see her gift in a state of utter water-soaked despair. When she opened the box to get a piece of chocolate, silence fell upon the room. I received a call. “Hon, sad news, you better sit down,” she joked. “Your Valentine’s Day gift is dead. It’s soaked. It no longer plays music.” “Yeah, I know. Nina somehow dislodged the water tank of the Keurig. She felt terrible.” An hour later, I arrived home. I had decided to ditch the Whitman box. Sonny’s 1965 song, “I Got You Babe” would be placed on respite mode in the trash. The duo sent back to the memory fissures of my mind. I removed the cover of the box for the last time, hoping to hear, “I Got You Babe.” But silence filled my ears. With a chocolate in my mouth, I walked to the kitchen closet, pulled a Baggie out of its box and returned to the countertop. Without looking at them, I grabbed the four remaining chocolates and dropped them into a Baggie. As I walked toward the refrigerator, I froze. The voices of Sonny and Cher emanated from the sealed Baggie.
I got you to hold my hand
I got you to understand
I got you to walk with me
I got you to talk with me
I got you to kiss goodnight
I got you to hold me tight
I got you, I won’t let go
I got you to love me so
“Wow! The scientists had done it. They have buried an edible electronic chip into chocolate candies.
“Pulling a chair from under the table, I sat to examine the chocolates. “Yikes, a red chocolate. That’s not a chocolate. It’s a round-shaped piece of plastic with pinholes in it.”
As Sonny and Cher sang:
I got flowers in the spring, I got you to wear my ring, And when I sad you’re a clown And if I get scared, you’re always aroundI laughed, having solved another one of life’s mysteries.
Then I chimed into the song:Don’t let me say you’re hair’s to long ‘Cause I don’t care, with you I can’t go wrong Then put your little hand in mine There ain’t no hill or mountain we can’t climb Babe I got you babe.
Reviews: Story to be published in Tales2inspire.
I found this story quite amusing. I could easily picture this series of happenings enfolding and love the way the author saw humor in what to many would have seemed more like catastrophe. The author was able to turn a simple event into a well developed story.
This is a sweet, humorous anecdotal story which makes the reader smile. The second line says, ‘rich dark chocolates’ while the next line referring to a gift, says, ‘assorted milk chocolates.’ There is a distinct difference between these two items.
I would like the writer to show if the wife goes to work and the husband stays home to clarify where his/her characters are. The ending is adorable and perfect.
This is an engaging love story worthy of publication. The storyline is wonderful but would benefit from a little professional wordsmithing. A wise editor once said the very best writing is so good the reader becomes unaware of reading it. In this case, the writing occasionally interrupts the flow — something easily corrected.
Otherwise, it was a pleasure to read.
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