Love: Chocolate
Chocolates like me seem to have some connection to love and relationships. And like dark chocolates, love can also be bitter. I learned this sad truth through the one and only experience in my life.
This experience started when I was bought by a guy in his late twenties. One late night when there was a full moon and he was walking with his girlfriend in the local park..
“Will you marry me?” he said as he got down on one knee in front of her.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she replied with a simple “Yes”.
“We will get married in a month’s time. My gift to you, for now, is this box of chocolate.” He took me out and held me in his hands for her to see. “There are exactly twenty-eight pieces in it. I want you to eat one piece a day. Every day, you will have a little piece of my love and be one day closer to our wedding day. Can you do that for me, my love?”
She nodded her head and hugged him as tight as she could. Both of them were crying and smiling at the same time. I felt a warm feeling in me at that moment. I think it was happiness.
The next two weeks were the happiest two weeks of their lives. They went out together every day just for the company of each other, if for nothing else. Every night, she would come home, open the fridge and eat a piece of me. By the end of the two weeks, only half of me remained. I was happy to sacrifice myself for the love of these two humans. Their individual lives had entwined and it was becoming a living fairytale.
But you see, the problem was that fairytales don’t exist. Exactly two weeks before their wedding, he crashed his Mitsubishi into a streetlight. He was critically injured and the accident rendered him comatose. His family was understandably very distraught and paid for the best doctors to cure him.
All the doctors said the same things. At most, he had a month left and he might never even wake up before that time came. His only hope was through prayer and support from family and friends and a miracle might happen.
However, the strangest thing was that she, his fiancee, didn’t seem the least bit upset. She did visit him daily for the whole of the following week but for never more than 5 minutes. She also stopped eating a piece of me every day. I was pushed further back day by day as she put more things into the fridge.
The visits to the hospital became less frequent. She was living her life as though she never met him and went out shopping with her girlfriends. On the day of the supposed wedding, she went to visit him - because her supposed mother-in-law had begged her to.
During the 5 minutes that she was there, a miracle did happen. He woke up from his deep sleep. He smiled when he saw his family and friends standing around him, some were crying and some were just too stunned. She stood among them emotionless. Nevertheless, she was the first person he talked to.
“Hello, dear. How long have I been asleep?” he tried to joke.
“Two weeks.” A short and direct reply.
Realisation dawned on him. “That makes today our wedding day! We should get married right now in the hospital!” He rambled on, “Mom, Dad, could you please get our pastor here to marry us? I’m very excited to..”
She interrupted him. “I didn’t finish it.”
“Pardon?”
All eyes in the room were on her now. She continued, “I didn’t finish the chocolate you gave me. I think we’re not right for each other. We should start seeing other people.”
He didn’t reply. He couldn’t reply.
“It’s over.” And she walked out of the hospital room and out of his life.
He died in the hospital that night, when the moon was full. It was strange because the doctors had expected a full recovery when he awoke from his coma. She didn’t attend his funeral the next day.
As for me, I will continue living as long as the fridge is supplied with electricity. I don’t think she will ever notice me hidden behind the butter compartment. Sometimes when I feel down, I think of it as a blessing in disguise. Most of my chocolate mates no longer exist, while I remain in this world, without my other half.
Human love does not last forever, it has an expiry date just like the one I have.
Written by Adrien
Life: Street Light
How I love sunsets! Every evening, my eyes open to witness the most beautiful scenery in the world - the sun setting in the distant horizon. The colors are all perfect at that moment. But that moment does not last long, it turns dark quickly and I have to focus my attention on the road.
I cannot see during the day so I may not know that much about life. I lead a relatively uninteresting life. Relative to a human, that is. I stand in the same spot beside the road all alone. My two other street light friends are half a mile away from each side of me and we can only hear each other if we shout.
Sometimes when I am very bored and sleepy, I play a game by myself to keep my eyes open. The game is to try and guess the make of an approaching car. This is a very challenging game because it is very dark at night. The highest score I ever got was 2 out of 9 cars in one single night. Mercedes headlights are easy to identify and 2 of those cars passed me that night.
Oh yes, not many cars pass by me because I am stationed at a very isolated place. I never complain because I know I have an important job at hand. I always tell my friends, “We are the Sun’s substitutes for at least 10 hours. That is quite important, isn’t it?” But they never listen and go on shouting for hours about how boring their life is. I wonder why they are my friends - probably because they look like me. We tend to find friends who resemble us in one way or another, I guess.
Anyway, one night I was playing that same game and I shouted with glee when I looked at an approaching car. Mercedes headlights!! All of a sudden, one car became two. Both cars were travelling at breakneck speed. It took me a moment to realise that it was another car trying to overtake the Merz from the right. That car had green neon lighting coming from underneath. Honda? Mitsubishi?
I was still trying to choose when I heard a deafening honking sound coming from something that passed me. It was a huge semi-truck, its driver blasting his horn repeatedly like nobody’s business. Wow! 3 vehicles in the space of one minute, what are the odds of that?
Then, reality hit me. I had heard of horror stories from word of street lights where speeding cars hit each other. Humans died. My thin metal body shivered as I thought of all the terrible things that I was going to witness. I wanted to cover my eyes, but I couldn’t. I could only wait for what was about to happen.
The Mitsubishi (I guessed Honda. *sulks*) was still in the lane of the oncoming semi. The Merz didn’t slow down to allow it to move into his lane. Humans really are stupid even though they have that brain thingy. It was too late. The semi was already right in front of the Mitsubishi. The human inside is going to die for sure, I thought.
In a moment of desperation, the driver of the Mitsubishi swerved to the right and went off the road. The semi still hit the car, but only the back of it. The car went off-course a little but regained its stability again. I had a quick glimpse of the Merz zooming off in the distance before I heard a loud crash followed by a sharp pain on my body.
Oh God!! Suddenly, I couldn’t see anything and the pain was terrible. I had never had pain before in my life. It hurt so badly that I cried. Tears of glass fell from my eyes and I started to lose consciousness. The last thing I remembered was hearing shouts from my friends, “Hang in there, mate!! The ambulance is on its way!!” Wow.. an ambulance? On its way.. for me?.. I wonder.. I wonder what make the ambulance is…
When I woke up, it must have been daytime because I couldn’t see again. The pain had subsided greatly.
“Where am I? Am I at a.. hospital?” I nervously asked.
There was silence at first, and then a familiar shout, “No, mate. You’re still standing at the same place. I don’t really know how to tell you this, but you know those ambulances? They only repair humans. They don’t repair street lights like us.”
Selfish humans, I thought. “Oh, that’s okay. I’m feeling much better now anyway, except for a little stinging pain in my back. Oh by the way, what time is it?”
The reply was, “Emm.. it’s midnight. You’ve been unconscious for almost 24 hours.”
Midnight?? “But, I can’t..”
“..see. I know. You’re blind, mate. When that Mitsubishi hit you, you lost your eyesight. Also, that back pain you’re talking about, that’s because you’re now bent at an angle towards the front and there is a deep cut in your back. I’m sorry. I really am. I know it’s hard to take it all in at once, but if you ever need us, we’ll always be at your sides. Literally. Take care of yourself, mate.”
And that’s how I ended up being blind and having a rather bad standing posture. Life goes on. I don’t know what happened to the Mitsubishi driver but I have never blamed humans for my fate. After all, I’m still a street light. I just don’t have the light.
May God be with you, for I cannot light your path any longer.
Written by Adrien
It was evening at the train station. Liz looked around for a particular bench. It was wet and it would ruin the white skirt that she was wearing but she sat down anyway.
A couple sat beside her. They were holding each other in their arms and kissing passionately. This annoyed her so she screamed at them. “FUCK OFF! SIT SOMEWHERE ELSE!”
The couple turned to look at Liz, and realized that she was seriously angry, so they got up and moved to another bench. Others had also distanced themselves from her. She liked the space she was getting but not the attention. People were staring curiously at her.
“Bitches.” She muttered under her breath.
Dusk became twilight and the dimly-lit station became quieter and quieter as more commuters boarded their respective trains. Soon, Liz was alone except for the young girl behind the ticket counter.
The station’s PA system announced: Next train arrives in 2 minutes.
2 minutes. That was how long she had left to live. She never thought that she would look forward to death that much. She was more than just eager to depart from this world and leave her miserable life behind. It was a good day to die.
Next train arrives in 1 minute.
Perfect, she thought, there’s nobody around to witness it. She couldn’t possibly do it with people watching. She got up and straightened her stained skirt. She wanted to look her best in whatever place she was about to go, whether it would be Heaven or Hell, she didn’t care.
She could see lights in the distance. The train was approaching. She moved slowly, one step at a time, until she was at the edge of the platform. The train got closer. And closer. And closer.
Those 10 seconds were the longest in her life and they would be her last.
The ticket-seller’s shouts of “Stand back!” and “You’re going to fall in!” fell on Liz’ deaf ears.
She closed her eyes.
She jumped.
Suddenly, her mind began to fill with thoughts of her life. What a joke, Liz thought, life flashing by only happens in movies. She saw her younger self standing in between her arguing parents. They divorced but neither wanted custody of her. She was sent to a wealthy aunt who didn’t appreciate Liz’ intrusion into her family.
She was treated badly for many years, so she ran away from the house after having stolen enough of her aunt’s cash and jewelry during her stay there. She pawned the valuables and had more than enough money to start a new life. She wanted to go somewhere far, far away.
At the train station, Liz encountered some difficulty. She had never gone outstation before and didn’t know where to go. She looked at the maps on the walls of the station for hours but couldn’t make any sense of them. It was during then that she met him for the first time, when he approached her.
“Do you need help?” he asked. Not only was his voice soft and gentle, but he was also extremely handsome and well-built.
“Not at all,” she replied coldly and moved on to another map.
From the corner of her eye, Liz could see that he was still watching her and smiling. She got irritated. “Why are you staring at me? Don’t you have anywhere to go?”
For a brief moment, his smile vanished as he gazed at the sky and said, “I have nowhere to go. I’m always here.” And then he turned his attention to her and grinned. “But more importantly, where do YOU want to go? I am very familiar with the maps.”
“I want to go somewhere far, far away.”
He shot her a quizzical look. “You sound just like one of them.” He glanced over at her overstuffed trolley bag and asked, “You don’t happen to be running away from home, are you?”
Her eyes widened. She opened her mouth but nothing came out.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
She turned away in embarrassment. “How.. how did you know?”
“I told you. I’m always here. I’ve seen a lot of others like you.” He patted her head. “You shouldn’t run away. Your parents will miss you.”
“FUCK MY PARENTS! THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT ME!” she burst out in anger.
“Huh?”
And so she explained to him as they sat on a bench.
“So that’s how it is,” he said when she finished. He folded his arms behind his head. “Well, you shouldn’t have told me that you stole stuff from your aunt. It’s a crime, you know, and I might have to report you to the police.”
Liz stared at him in shock. “You.. wouldn’t do that.. right?”
“Of course not. But from now on, don’t go telling strangers that you steal. It’s not a good idea.”
She nodded her head. “I won’t.”
“Anyway, it’s getting late and I’ve got to go. The furthest place from here is Ilto City. Good luck with your new life!” He got up and left. Liz wanted to follow him, she was strangely attracted to him. But he was gone, nowhere to be found when she chased after him.
Liz decided to hang around that town a little longer. She got herself a room at a local motel. Everyday, she went to the train station, hoping to meet with him again. But he never came, even though he said he was always there.
Three months went by, and she still hadn’t left town. Only a few hours ago, Liz arrived at the motel and found a few police officers questioning the motel owner, providing a description of her. The owner nodded, and proceeded to open her room for the officers to search. The police had found her at last, but she didn’t have any money with her to escape. All of it was in the room. It would only be a matter of time before she was apprehended.
But Liz would rather die than go to jail. She ran all the way to the train station. Yes, she thought, I’ll commit suicide and leave my sorry life behind.
And here she was jumping in front of an oncoming train, ready to die.
Liz thought she saw the light at the end of the tunnel when she felt something pull her. She fell back onto the platform. She opened her eyes and got a shock. It was him.
The train roared past them but slowly came to a halt. The doors opened but nobody came out. It was empty.
“WHY?? WHY DID YOU STOP ME?” she shouted and began to slap him furiously.
He caught hold of both her hands. “It’s not worth it!”
“YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING!” She struggled against his grip but he wouldn’t let go.
“It’s not worth it,” he repeated and he hugged her tightly.
Liz was taken aback but she let him hug her, while she cried freely in his arms. She felt so helpless.
“I’ve been waiting for you at the station for the past three months,” she said in between her sobbing.
He wiped the tears from her face. “And I’ve been here, watching you wait for me.”
“I.. I think I love you.” Liz blushed. “But I don’t even know your name.”
He smiled. “My name is Tom. I’m very happy that you love me. But I cannot stay with you much longer.”
“Why?? Stay with me forever, Tom!”
Tom shook his head. “I cannot stay. I’ve stopped another person from repeating my mistake, so now I can move on. It’s time for me to go.”
She couldn’t control her tears again. “I.. I don’t understand..”
“I’ll always be here,” he said and he placed his hand on her heart.
They closed their eyes and kissed for the first time in the train station. The moon had come out from behind the clouds and it lit the night sky beautifully. The train moved off silently, away from them.
When Liz opened her eyes, he was gone. Where he had stood, now had a couple of dollar notes instead. She looked around the station frantically and only saw a worried-looking ticket-seller.
The girl asked Liz, “Are you okay?”
“Y-yes.”
“Thank God. For a moment, I thought you were going to fall in. Another incident like that would..” the girl stopped herself from saying anything else.
“Another incident?”
The girl hesitated. “Yes, about a year ago, a young man had committed suicide here.” She shuddered before continuing, “It was terrible. He jumped in front of a train. I heard he did it because his parents pressured him too much. Anyway, I’m just glad you’re safe. Don’t stand too close to the edge next time.”
“I.. I understand..” Liz replied. I understand it all now, Tom, she said to herself.
She took the money on the ground and went to lie down on that bench and soon fell asleep.
It was the next morning. “One-way ticket to Ilto City please.” Liz pocketed her ticket and stepped onto the train. This was the beginning of her new life.
As the train moved off, Liz glanced out the window at that bench. She smiled. On the bench, was a small hand-drawn heart with the words “Liz” and “Tom” in it. Thank you, dear Tom, she quietly whispered.
Written by Adrien
Second Chapter Love