The Chocolate Puppy

It was Easter. Lauren, who was six, loved Easter. You can guess why can't you? Easter eggs. Sometimes she got a chocolate bunny as well as the eggs. She didn't care though because the important thing for Lauren was this; they were made of chocolate. Lauren adored chocolate and Easter was the one time in the whole year where she was allowed to eat almost as much as she wanted to. I say almost, she was never allowed to eat all the chocolate.

This year Lauren already had three Easter eggs and one chocolate bunny. She had carefully lined them up on a table in her bedroom in the order that she planned to eat them. The bunny was last; he looked cute and besides, he didn't have any other chocolates inside him like the eggs had. One was filled with chocolate buttons, one with toffees and one with mints. She was going to have the one with the buttons first because they were her favourite chocolate. The one with mints would come after the toffee egg; she didn't much like mints. Richard could have those. He was her snotty little brother. Actually she had already opened the chocolate button egg.

Today Mummy was expecting a visit from Aunt Bessie. Lauren didn't much like Aunt Bessie. She had black eyes that looked like beads and skinny hands with long nails and a long thin nose. Lauren couldn't help but stare at her nose when she looked at her. So she tried not to look. Aunt Bessie never smiled and rarely brought Lauren anything. In fact she almost always ignored Lauren which suited Lauren quite nicely thank you. She'd just sit and play in the corner while Mummy and Aunt Bessie talked about boring things. Aunt Bessie had never seen Lauren smile, unlike her other aunties.

Aunt Bessie arrived after lunch. She walked in bringing her unsmiling face with her. Lauren imagined Aunt Bessie leaving a broomstick and a tall pointy hat in the hallway.

“Hello Lauren. “ she said without a glimmer of a smile, either on her mouth and certainly not in her eyes.

Lauren just stood there with her mouth open, the image of Aunt Bessie on a broomstick still vivid in her mind.

“Say 'hello', Lauren” pleaded Mummy in a funny strained voice.

“Hello Aunt Bessie” said Lauren, as politely as she could make it. She didn't smile either.

Aunt Bessie didn't respond, sort of to Lauren's relief. She never really knew what to say to Aunt Bessie who just stared at Lauren and walked into the living room.

Mummy, and then Lauren, followed her in. Aunt Bessie and Mummy sat down and then Lauren went over to the far corner of the living room and sat on the floor behind a chair out of Aunt Bessie's sight to read a book. She'd stay there and keep quiet until Aunt Bessie left, trying to will herself to disappear. It never worked.

Aunt Bessie never stayed long and Lauren had a strong feeling that Mummy didn't care much for her elder sister either. Aunt Bessie didn't seem to care much for anyone.

“Lauren.” It was Aunt Bessie's voice. How unusual, she never called out for Lauren like that; at least Lauren couldn't remember when she had. Lauren got up and nervously walked over to her but not looking at her as she did so.

“I've got something for you”, said Aunt Bessie.

Lauren looked up in surprise; curiosity getting the better of her nerves. Had she brought an Easter egg? Aunt Bessie was smiling. Lauren had never ever seen her smile and just for a tiny moment wondered if it actually was Aunt Bessie. She looked so different. Lauren smiled back too; not just because Aunt Bessie was smiling but because Lauren found herself looking at the smile and not the nose.

“Here.” said Aunt Bessie. She never used a lot of words. Almost as though she didn't like giving them away. But here she was handing over a box that looked very much like an Easter egg.

Lauren took it and said, “Thank you Aunt Bessie” before Mummy had time to tell her to. Mummy smiled.

Aunt Bessie's smile disappeared and Lauren decided that that meant it was time for her to go back to her little spot in the corner.

“Don't open it.” came Mummy's unwelcome voice.

“Can't I have a look at it?” pleaded Lauren, trying not say it with too much of a whine; but not really succeeding.

“You can look but you can't open; you've already got one opened.”

“Alright”, said Lauren in that slow defeated tone that children use when they have not got what they wanted.

She sat down near her book and looked at the box. It was the same shape as an Easter egg box. But it didn't have any of those see-through plastic windows on the side that you could look in to see the egg. Frustrated, she turned it around and read “Chocolate Puppy” on the box side amongst all the brightly coloured patterns like these boxes always had.

She turned the box over to look at the top.

And there he was. A little face looked back at her. A chocolate face with big eyes, a button nose and a little tongue hanging out of his smiling mouth. He had funny little crooked ears and his head was tilted ever so slightly as though he were trying to get her attention.

She even held him up to her ears to see if she could hear him panting. He wasn't. How silly. Only a baby would do that. She knew better. He was only chocolate.

But he was ever so cute.

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Later, up in her bedroom she placed him next to the bunny so that she could see his face looking out of his box. Lauren thought of the box as a kind of cage and wasn't happy to have puppy stuck in it. So she got him out. Mummy wouldn't be too cross as long as she didn't eat him; and there was no way she was going to do that. He was far too sweet; and not in the way she viewed most chocolate things.

“Come on puppy.” she cooed as she carefully pulled him out and stood him very carefully on her table. For just a moment she forgot he was made of chocolate.

Over the next few days she gradually ate her way through all the eggs. She even gave the mints to snotty Richard. He didn't like them either and just ate his own eggs. Lauren didn't give any of her eggs or other chocolates away. They were hers and besides Richard had his own.

Eventually she finished all the eggs and was left with the chocolate bunny and puppy. The bunny was next and, reluctantly, she snapped an ear off to eat. I say reluctantly because he was quite a jaunty little bunny. But he was only chocolate and Lauren was more interested in chocolate than bunnies.

“Lauren” came Mummy's voice one morning, “Why don't you give some of your chocolate bunny to Richard. He didn't get as many eggs as you and has finished his.”

Horrified at such a thought Lauren whined, “Do I have to?” in her most whining voice.

“Yes, I think you should.” said a very stern Mummy.

Lauren decided not to argue; after all Mummy might take the whole bunny away; she'd done that before.

“Alright, I'll give him some.” came Lauren's reluctant reply.

Up in her bedroom she snapped off a piece of ear; a tiny piece and went to give it to Richard when Mummy was busy in the kitchen. Then she ate as much as she could of the bunny.

Richard was only three and ate quite slowly and Lauren would give him a tiny piece to keep him quiet while she scoffed the rest.

Mummy eventually finished in the kitchen and came upstairs.

“Wow, I see you've finished your bunny Lauren.” she said. She was frowning too.

Quick as a flash, Lauren answered, “We shared it”

Mummy looked at Richard and saw his chocolatey mouth and smiled, but still with a frown. Lauren just smiled back as innocently as she knew how, which was very innocent.

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The following morning Lauren woke up and looked at puppy. He was all alone now. The eggs and the bunny had all been eaten and he was the only chocolate thing left. He just stood there and looked at her with his little head tilted and a silly grin on his face.

Lauren didn't eat anything at all of him that day. Every time she went over to snap a piece of him off she looked at him and he seemed to look back and say, “Please don't eat me”.

He didn't really, Lauren knew that. She was six after all. But he looked so sweet, and not in a chocolatey way.

Days went by and still she didn't eat him, not even the tiniest piece. Mummy wondered if there was something wrong with her and even considered taking her to the doctor's. But still she wouldn't eat him. She couldn't. She couldn't bring herself to snap a piece of him off.

And then one day when she was rushing to get ready for school she knocked him over. One of his little bent ears was broken off. Distraught, she asked Mummy if she could repair it and a puzzled Mummy said, “Yes, but it will have to be tomorrow. I'm just too busy today.”

That evening, after school, Lauren looked at puppy, with his broken ear laid at his side. His smile seemed less happy now. She thought he looked unhappy so went over to give him a kiss. Even the smell of his chocolatey face didn't tempt her to eat the broken ear.

She didn't sleep well, tossing and turning and having nightmares about puppy. In the morning she woke up and yawned, tired but at least it was Saturday so there was no rush to get up and out for school.

Lauren eventually got out of bed and wandered over to have a look at poor puppy. What the! Astonished, she saw that his ear was back in place. And even stranger, the broken off ear was still laid at his side. She picked him up, “Are you all better now puppy?” she soothed. He smiled back, his smile as broad as it was before his ear had broken off.

No matter how hard she looked she couldn't see a join. Had Mummy snuck in during the night to fix him? But that didn't explain the ear still lying on the table; the spare ear. Spare chocolate.

So she put it in her mouth and ate it. The first chocolate for absolutely ages and it tasted like heaven. She closed her eyes and yummed it all. I say all, there wasn't much of it. But when you haven't had any chocolate for days it seemed such a wonderful luxury. And puppy was all better now too.

That day was a lovely day. Puppy was better and she had had some chocolate; what could be better? More chocolate.

That night she got undressed to go to bed and looked at puppy. Would he get another ear if it got broken off again? She picked him up and 'accidentally' dropped him. Sure enough an ear broke off and he looked back up at her with what seemed like a hurt look. She felt guilty enough not to eat the broken off ear; just in case it didn't magically get fixed during the night. She took an age to get to sleep that night. It was as bad as Christmas eve.

Lauren needn't have worried. The following morning there puppy was with his ear back in place. And that tempting spare chocolate ear waiting to be enjoyed. So she did.

This routine went on for some weeks. In fact it got to the point that Lauren would just break an ear off rather than 'pretend' to drop puppy. She learnt to live with the hurt looks from him and her guilt at injuring him disappeared. After all, he was only chocolate she told herself. She would eat the ear as soon as she broke it off too, so confident she was that it would reappear the following morning. It always did.

It got to the stage that the only chocolate she ate was puppy's ear. Mummy was very puzzled that Lauren, the chocolate lover, seemed to have lost all taste for it. But since, in all other respects, she was quite well nothing was done and little was said. In fact Mummy was secretly pleased that Lauren had seemed to lose her love of chocolate.

But Lauren had not lost her love of chocolate. She just loved the chocolate from puppy more than any other chocolate she had ever tasted so didn't really want any ordinary chocolate any more. And she wanted more of puppy's chocolate.

One night she decided to break a bit more off puppy. If his ear would grow back surely other parts, bigger parts, would do the same.

So she broke off his back legs that night. She felt awful and puppy didn't just give her a hurt look; he whimpered. She was sure she heard it. Anyway, she leant him against a book so that he could still sort of stand, well, lean really.

She ate his legs and for the first time in her life did not enjoy the chocolate.

Lauren slept badly that night. In fact she didn't feel as though she got any sleep. Tossing and turning she did not dare look over towards puppy. You know why don't you?

When she woke up she walked over to have a look, hoping that his legs had reappeared.

They hadn't. He stood, actually he leant, sadly against the book. His smile had gone and Lauren could not bear to look at him. She thought she saw a tear in his eye but couldn't be sure because she did not dare look at him again.

Lauren wandered around in a state of unhappiness that day. She was glummer than glum, more miserable than miserable. Mummy kept looking at her and asking her what was wrong, “Are you happy at school?” she would ask, to which the reply would be “It isn't school”.

“What is it then Lauren? What is making you so unhappy?” Mummy would ask, her concern and worry of little comfort to Lauren.

“I can't tell you. You wouldn't believe me” she said, truthfully.

And Mummy wouldn't have believed her if she had told her. No-one would.

For three days and three nights Lauren waited to see if puppy's legs would grow back. They didn't and he would look at her every morning with tears in his eyes and she would feel even more sadness for him and guilt for what she had done.

On the fourth morning she could not stand it any more. So she ate the rest of him, including his tears.

She didn't really enjoy him.

She never ate any chocolate ever again.