Chocolate Nirvana

If those old-time explorers had never sailed west we wouldn’t even have chocolate, fat French kings would have had to satisfy themselves with tea, and millions of people the world over would never know the juicy boost that only chocolate can give.Yesterday I came upon some of this wonderful substance, tucked behind the canisters on the kitchen counter. Chocolate morsels they were, maybe a dozen of the tiny peaked things, like wee mountains, or maybe Smurf hats, name your simile.  I scooped them up, quick tossed a few back and got that instant Serotonin high: my nerves applauded, my blood sang, the spongy circuitry in my brain whirred into motion.  The rest I worked into the pocket of my jeans, in too much of a hurry to bag them. “I’ll be getting right to these” I thought as I set out to drive 200 miles in three hours' time. “Soon as I get on the road.”Only of course I forgot about them until I was maybe 30 miles into my trip. I reached down, but jeans are tight and the chocolate-pocket was right at the crease of my hip. I forced my hand further down as I drove, then felt uh-oh  ….something, and saw my fingers come out covered in goo -  Drat! – and so had to drive the whole rest of the relying solely on my sad old mug of decaf coffee.Soon as I got home I peeled the jeans off, lost five hours and when I came back to them at night to throw them in the wash the chocolate had miraculously hardened again to form a delicate solid arc, shaped like the smile of the Cheshire cat. I peeled it away from the lining of the pocket - it left no trace at all - held it in the palm of my hand, considered a minute, then ate the whole thing in one gulp and enjoyed such a fresh burst of energy I was able to  write 30 emails, watch two whole episodes of “Parenthood” on my laptop and clean out that junk drawer in my bureau with the scented soaps, now petrified, and the two dozen pairs of shoulder pads from the 1980s. So all I can say is Viva chocolate! Viva caffeine! (Only I couldn't get to sleep until 3.)