You open the refrigerator only to find that your Cadbury-Schweppes are nowhere to be found. You search and search, frantic, craving, knowing you can only be satisfied with a bite of that bar. When you start to give up, eyes brimming with tears, you suddenly notice a piece of brown and white plastic sticking out from under the leftover chicken parmesan. Frenetic from the wild search early on, you reach out and grab the plastic, only to find there’s only one piece left. Shocked, now, you know there’s only one thing to do. And that’s to eat that piece, including the crumbs, if any.


You unwrap the last piece and bring it to your mouth, now close enough to smell the sweet scent of the Cadbury. Its vivid scent brings a melodious chorus to your ears only; the angels sing in harmony. Beneath your eyes, the piece looks enchanting, as if strewn with golden and exquisite charm. The piece is nearer and you open your mouth, breathing in all you can take from that piece of soft heaven. Closer, now, but it needs to be closer still. Then your teeth clamp down with a slight crunch. You chew slowly, eyes closed, savoring the taste of paradise, as you can only describe it.


Then the next bit is in your mouth and it can only be better than the first. A slight “um…” escapes your lips, as the piece seems to burst into glorious light. Your mouth is filled with the goodness of it all. Then down your throat it goes and you open your eyes once more, only to see that the piece is done. There is no more. On your fingers, there is the slight taste of it left and you lick the forefinger and thumb of your right hand, knowing the delight won’t last much longer. Then the taste is no more. Disappointed, you sit on a stool, with your hands under your chin. You only have the passing memory of that piece now; so sickly rich, so pleasantly mellow…


A doorbell wakes you from your thoughts and you wonder, who could that be at two in the morning? But there’s only one way to find out. With a slight skip, you go to the door and turn the handle. Outside, a man is standing with a brown package in his hands. “Free delivery?” He says. You nod and sign a piece of crumpled paper. “All the way from Europe,” He tells you. You tilt your head to one side but say nothing. After taking the box inside, you rip it open to the scent of that soft heaven. Recognition makes you rip faster and faster, until you find a whole bar of Cadbury in your hands. Shaking your head with disbelief, you open the brown and white plastic, astonished at your luck. When you take that first bite, the only thing that goes through your head is how gratifying this is to you.


There’s nothing better than a bar of chocolate when you can’t sleep.