Life of Hershey

Day One
I am in a dark place. I hear muffled speaking outside. I do not know where I am. I was taken from the bag last night. I think I am alone. No, I am not. A sock or glove tells me to move over. “Keeping people warm is much more important than fattening them up. They get enough chocolate outside the stocking at Christmas, anyways.” Oh. I must be chocolate. No wonder I have a strange urge to lick myself. I must be in a stocking, whatever that is. It must be Christmas. Suddenly, I hear a voice louder than the others, “Nicolas”, it says, “open your stocking. Your sisters and cousins already have.” A babyish voice answers, “Okay, mommy. Santa come?”, and then things are quiet again. Until a warm hand reaches in and grabs first the bricks (“YEGOS!!!”), then the little dog (“TOY HUPPY!!!”),and finally the cloth thing (“Gwoves? I no want gwoves! I want mow yegos!”). I wait to be grabbed, and for the little boy to say “CHOCWAIT!!!”, but he doesn’t come. I wait.

Day Two through Day Eight
A box labeled “orange slinky” dropped on top of me during the night. The hand reaches in, grabs the box, and says “SYINKY!!!” The next day a top. After that more bricks. Things like that. I wait to be picked up. I never do. I wait.

Day Nine
The little boy is long gone. This morning I heard “Goodbye, we will miss you!”, and “see you this summer!”, and things like that. The boy said “Bye bye Fuffy an Nonny an Poppy an Keach an Powosie an tickens. Bye bye.”, and then a door closed. Today somebody took my stocking down and put me in a darker place, where instead of being too warm, it is too cold. I wait.

Day Fourteen through Day 94
It is very cold. Where is the source of heat I used to hang next to? Where are all the voices? Each morning I hear footsteps coming closer, then just as I think I am being rescued, they recede. It gets just a tiny bit warmer each day. I wait.

Day 95 through Day 152
It heats up even more now. Everyday, I wonder how long I have before I melt, like I almost did the night after the boy left. I wait.

Day 153 through Day 189
It is way too hot. Like the cookie that was dropped on me during the night when the boy was still here. It was burning hot. It looked like a little man. When he cooled down, he said, “I hate ovens. I hope I don’t get eaten!!!” It scared me. I wonder what being eaten is like. Surely people don’t eat chocolate! I wait.

Day 190
Today I heard the boy’s voice again! He said, “What’s in da sed?”, and an older girl who seemed by the sound of her voice to be further away said, “Tools, and other stuff we don’t need right now.” They don’t need me? I wonder if it is possible for chocolate to commit suicide... Maybe if I lick myself... Too bad I don’t have any teeth, but maybe I might melt... I do start to melt, but then I solidify again. Still, I wait.

Day 191 through Day 360
It gets cold again. I pass the days trying to remember everything in my short, yet tragic life. Before the stocking, I was cooling, from out of a shaper thing. I was with others. Huge hands, larger than the boy’s, put me in a bag with other chocolate chips, and then we were jostled around. Many of them were crying. Some screamed about the world ending and how we had to escape.. We were jostled more, and then we got put on a shelf with other bags in front of us. I was in the middle of the bag. A hand took us away. Chocolate chips started disappearing. Sometimes just one, other times many at once. I became their war leader. We had so many plans, but before Operation Break Out (we were going to get out, and run to a refuge, were we would start Operation Run to an Exit) was started, I was taken during the night. Even with my guards on all sides, I still woke up to hear them screaming, “General Hershey!” before it went black… I woke up in the stocking, alone and afraid…

Day 361
I am being jostled around, and then my stocking is hanging up again. Will the boy be back soon? I hope so.

Day 362
“Hi Nonny and Poppy and Fluffy and Chiech and Polosy!”, a familiar voice shouts, as I realize that the boy is back! He learned to talk better, too! Will he still want me? What if he doesn’t? What is going to happen?!?!?

Day 363
The boy hasn’t found me yet. I found a dead, crusty cracker in the very bottom of the stocking today. Is that my fate? I hope the boy finds me soon. I wonder what crackers taste like... EW!!!!!

Day 364 (11:45 PM)
The big party outside is over. I suddenly feel things dropping on me. Another ‘yego’ set, socks, ‘gwoves’ and... oh no. I’ve been replaced. The last thing dropped is... A CHOCOLATE CHIP!!! The boy will definitely choose the new one over me .

Day 365
The boy reaches in and grabs the yegos. “LEGOS!!!”, he says. I thought that they were like the yegos from last year. Then he grabs the socks and gloves. He doesn’t get mad like last year. Then, he grabs the new chocolate. “Yummy!” is all he says. He reaches in and grabs both the cracker and me. He drops the cracker and a huge version of the toy dog from last year comes and Snaps it up into its mouth. He looks at me with pure delight and then brings me towards his mouth. Oh no. I thought ‘Yummy’ meant he was happy with his gift! The screaming chocolate chips were right!!! As he was about to bite down, Just before my life flashes before my eyes, I wondered, Is this my divine purpose? Then it was all over.