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“Faster, faster!” exclaimed an excited yellow Kiko. “If
we don’t go any faster, we’ll never make it in time for Chocolate Day!
The yellow Kiko continued to look around
him, surveying all that he saw.
***
It was a warm summer day at the Neopian Pound. This was the season of lazy
days and summer magic. A soft breeze was blowing by, keeping all those enjoying
the day, cooler. If one were to take a moment to enjoy the view, you could see
around the pound for miles in any direction. However, the most intent of activities
was happening on the playground. Several pets were involved in an exciting game
of tag. You could hear the squeals of delight as young pets ran away from the
one who was it.
Over by the shade tree sat a small brown
Moehog and a blue Kyrii. Their attention was focused on putting a puzzle together.
What a pair these two made. Scarcely would you see one without the other.
“Ohhhhhh, can you feel it in the air?”
said the brown Moehog, placing a piece in the puzzle. “It’s that time!”
“What time, Chason?” responded Taddy,
a blue Kyrii while trying to figure out where his puzzle piece went.
With excitement, Chason, the little brown
Moehog, looked towards Neopia and said, “It’s chocolate making time!”
Taddy stared at Chason for a moment. He
could not believe how much his friend loved chocolate. Never had Taddy encountered
anyone who was so dedicated to their favorite thing. So it was no great surprise
when Chason’s Christmas present was to be painted brown. That was a day that
neither Chason nor Taddy would ever forget. They both went to the rainbow pool
and Chason went for a swim. When Chason came out, he was the color of chocolate.
He was also the color of dung. Taddy liked to tease him about that sometimes.
But it was all in fun and Chason knew that. Still, Taddy supposed that every
pet probably had something they really liked. For instance, Taddy loved everything
about stars. So he was hoping that this Christmas, he would get to take a dip
in the rainbow pool. However, Christmas was still a long way off yet.
“Taddy?” Chason asked with concern.
Taddy shook his head a bit as he focused
his attention on his friend. Chason was a one of a kind, that’s for sure. Taddy
smiled.
***
“Oh, where did I leave that? Where? Where? Where?” mumbled the yellow Kiko
searching a small room.
“A purple Shoyru entered the room at that
moment and said, “It’s time.”
Looking up, the yellow Kiko responded distractedly,
“Yes, yes. Time to go.”
***
*DING* went the chimes signaling lunch.
Chason looked up from his puzzle. If there
was one thing he loved almost as much as chocolate, it was meal times! He never
ate as well as he did after he came to live at the pound. Before he came to
the pound, he usually went hungry, sometimes even starving. It was hard for
Chason to think back to the days before he was abandoned. Most of the time,
he was left alone, to fend for himself. He never had any siblings or friends
or even toys to play with. Chason knew that he was much better off at the pound.
In fact, he considered himself lucky because he had a couple of toys that were
his to play with and he had his friend, Taddy. On a grand day, he would have
some chocolate, too!
With the speed of hungry pets, Chason and Taddy
took off running towards the pound. Ms. Snowflake took notice of these boys
coming towards her and moved out of the way. She knew better than to be in the
path of hungry pets. Smiling to herself, she waited until all of the pets had
come in and then turned towards the dining hall.
***
“Riding we will go, to the place where no one knows…” sang the yellow Kiko.
***
In the dining hall, Chason and Taddy were busy eating as many purplum sandwiches
as they could before they were going back outside to work on their puzzle. Chason’s
attention was caught by a conversation between some girls sitting at the table.
“Did you hear that this Chocolate Day, the Chocolate
Factory is opening up to give tours?” asked a blue Grundo.
“Really?” responded a striped JubJub with excitement.
“The Chocolate Factory never gives tours!
“Do you think we’ll get to go on the tour?”
asked a split Eyrie.
“I don’t think the tours are for everyone,”
the blue Grundo informed the group. “It’s by invitation only. But I’m not sure
how anyone is invited.”
Chason listened to the rest of the conversation
until the girls left the table. None of the girls had any idea how to be invited
for a tour of the Chocolate Factory. Chason was crushed. He loved chocolate
and everything about chocolate. He wished he could live in a chocolate world!
He wished he could have that Chocolate Factory tour.
Rising from the table, Chason started for the
door. He told Taddy that he had some things to do and would meet him later on.
What he was really going to do was go behind the pound, to the wooded area and
sit by the stream. It was a quiet and peaceful place to be, especially when
he wanted to be alone.
Once Chason arrived at the stream, he took a
seat on a soft patch of grass and stared at the stream flowing by. Chason felt
a few tears escape his eyes. Oh how he wanted to go on that tour! It was true
that some laughed at him and teased him because he loved chocolate so much.
But no one understood that he thought chocolate was the most wonderful thing
in the world!
“Why is it never me?” Chason said to himself.
“Never you what, young pet?” came the reply.
A startled Chason turned to see who else was
there with him. Looking around, he caught sight of a little yellow Kiko. He
had a brown beard and wore a blue top hat with red trim. The yellow Kiko was
also carrying a walking cane made of chocolate. Chason just stared at this strange
looking Kiko.
“Never you what?” the yellow Kiko repeated,
looking intently at Chason.
“I-I... uhhh, “ Chason stuttered his reply.
“Ah... well, yes,” the yellow Kiko smiled, looking
back at the Moehog. “You do not look like a happy little fellow.
Chason looked to the ground, a single tear drop
rolling down his cheek. This did not escape the attention of the yellow Kiko.
His kind eyes looked upon the Moehog with favor. He walked closer to Chason
and sat beside him.
“What a lovely little place you have here. So
full of the best waters of Neopia. Always looking for good water,” the Kiko
began to ramble on.
Chason looked up at the Kiko again. How could
he explain that he had a wish and it would never come true. He can’t even tell
his best friend, Taddy about it. So how could he tell this strange Kiko about
it?
“So what is it that you wish, young pet?” questioned
the Kiko.
Chason looked up in surprise. How could this
yellow Kiko have known? He looked like he was genuinely interested in what Chason
was thinking about.
He didn’t know what else to do, so he poured
his heart out to the stranger. Chason told of his love of chocolate and how
he painted himself brown to look like chocolate. Chason explain about the conversation
he overheard from a group of girls at lunch. He dejectedly told this stranger
of the disappointment he felt because he wanted so much to go on the tour, but
had no way of being invited. This odd yellow Kiko smiled as he listened to this
little Moehog tell his tale of woes.
The odd little Kiko stared at the young pet for
a moment. Chason could not tell what was going through the mind of the Kiko.
“Ahhhh, young pet. So you have a dream do you?”
the yellow Kiko questioned. “We are the dreamers of dreams.”
Chason just looked at the Kiko. Nothing he said
made any sense. Chason decided to change the subject and ask what the Kiko was
doing in the woods behind the pound.
“I am finding what I am looking for,” the Kiko
replied. “But now, I must go because it does no good to remain in a place when
you have already found what you were looking for, now does it?”
How odd this little Kiko is, thought Chason.
Yet somehow, he was feeling a bit better.
“Chason!” called Taddy from the back area of
the pound.
Chason, turned toward the voice. He noticed that
it was getting a bit late and he needed to head back to the pound. Thoughts
of Taddy wondering where he was, swirled in his mind. He wanted to thank the
odd yellow Kiko, but when he turned back, the yellow Kiko was gone. Chason decided
to keep this meeting to himself.
The next day, Ms. Snowflake checked the mail
and saw a small, brown package addressed to Chason. He was outside at the playground
with a group of pets. Ms. Snowflake grabbed the package and delivered it to
Chason.
He was surprised that anyone would send him a
package. Chason was also excited to be getting mail! He quickly opened up the
package and pulled out a carefully wrapped bundle. He opened the bundle to find
a milk chocolate Moehog that looked exactly like him! The other pets gathered
around and looked on excitedly. Chason looked in the package again and found
a little card. He pulled it out and read it.
It said,
“You are cordially invited to take a tour of the chocolate factory. Please
come bright and early on Chocolate Day!
Fondly,
Mr. Kandy Kiko”
EPILOGUE
Chason did get his chance to tour the chocolate factory and he had the time
of his young life! What is even better was that Mr. Kandy Kiko and Chason had
become special friends because both are the ‘dreamer of dreams’.
The End
Author’s Note: I am a huge fan of chocolate and of the most famous of chocolate
factories. My inspiration for this story comes from both chocolate and one of
my favorite childhood stories. I hope you enjoyed my story. Please feel free
to offer comments.
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