On the outskirts of a city, there was a small cottage. Inside was a little stove, a fireplace, and a tweed couch sitting next to a portable television on a small wooden table. There were only two rooms, a bathroom and a petite bedroom. Full of dust bunnies, the bedroom had a cracked ceiling, but that was hardly ever noticed. The owner of the cottage was a middle-aged man. Every morning he would go to his stove and take a kettle inside a one-shelf cupboard. He would get his coat and feather hat as his outfit and take a pail to the well to fetch water. He would heat his water and put in a drop of peppermint as he liked. Mixing his mug with a tiny spoon, he sat on his tweed couch and turned on the portable television.
“The villainous mystery man has escaped prison’s hold!” panicked the news reporter.”
“You know what the mystery man news is? One word, two syllables. BORING!” yawned the middle-aged man, and he changed the channel.
“Hiya kids,” said the cartoon horse, “today we’re going to learn…colors!”
“You’re torturing me!!!” yelled the middle-aged man covering his eyes. He changed the channel.
“Maybe commercial,” he thought as he pressed the buttons.
“Do you like chocolate?” asked a weird-looking chocolate bar. He had a human-shaped mouth that looked super creepy.
The middle-aged man didn’t seem to notice. He was too interested in the commercial.
“Yes,” answered the middle-aged man.
“YES, YOU DO!” cried the chocolate bar and then swiftly headed back to business, “Then you should become Love Chocolate’s taste tester! Go to love.chocolate.com to get started, or just go to the address below.”
“I WILL BECOME THEIR TASTER!” declared the middle-aged man. He did not know that many people knew Love Chocolate was a scam. They hired taste testers to eat old chocolate they didn’t want anymore. The food was horrible. It sent taste testers into weeks of tummy trouble.
“Job interviews end at 9:00!” informed the chocolate bar.
“9:00!” yelled the middle-aged man staring at his battered watch, “I need to go now!”
He left the cottage running without even finishing his peppermint water. By the time he reached, his coat was hanging onto his wrists, and the hat sat on his shoulder.
“I…did…it,” he panted. He pulled up his coat and tried to dust it in a way that looked like there were no water stains on it. He straightened out his feathered hat by fiercely shaking it once with the turn of his wrist, and he placed it on his head, positioning it. He dusted his pants once and walked into the Love Chocolate.
The factory was a small place. It smelled like chocolate, but this type smelled a bit different. The middle-aged man peered into the room. A wooden desk sat in the middle of the room with a stack of paperwork. The room had a few lights on the side of the room. Two of them had gone out. A few cobwebs were hanging from the ceiling, and the room walls were a pink shade of violet. It took a long time for the middle-aged man to figure out someone was sitting behind the paperwork.
“Can I help you?” said the lady sitting behind the paperwork.
The middle-aged man jumped but recovered quickly. “Sorry to ask, but where are you?” he asked.
The lady behind the paperwork sighed, “I’m right behind the paperwork,” she answered.
“Oh, I’m trying to become Love Chocolate’s taste tester,” said the middle-aged man.
“You are??” queried the lady. She looked shocked.
“Yes,” said the middle-aged man.
“R, Right this way!” said the lady, jumping to her feet almost instantly.
She took out a rusted key that looked dented and opened the door. This room was brighter.
“Please wait here,” ushered the lady. Then she went into a brisk walk. She knocked on a door and said clearly, “Boss, you have a visitor,” then she opened the door and began to talk to someone.
The middle-aged man caught the words, “Man…..apply for the job….taste tester…..seen commercial…hire him…okay then,”
A slender man, followed by the lady, walked toward the middle-aged man. He had a black linen suit, dress pants, a dark red tie, and laced shoes made of leather.
“As I can see, you want to be Love Chocolate’s new taste tester. Well, guess what? You got the job!” said the man.
“Thank you so much! Mr…..?” said the middle-aged man as he was shaking the man’s hand.
“Mr. Wilkinson,” introduced the man, “she’s Laana,” he pointed to the lady standing next to him. “And you are?”
“I’m Cooper,” said the middle-aged man.
“Okay then, visit us at 8 am sharp tomorrow. We’ll have all the chocolate you can eat.” directed Mr. Wilkinson.
As the middle-aged man walked home, he couldn’t contain his excitement. By the time he reached his cottage, it was already 11:30 am. He looked through his cupboard, found two pieces of wheat bread, and made himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. After eating, he decided to work on his ship in a bottle craft. He ran to his bedroom and pulled out the first drawer. He took out a pack of wood, a ball of thread, and a small, thin piece of paper. He had been working on it for the past few months. After spending a few hours on that, he took a nylon bookbag full of books he had read and went to the library. The walk was short, and he got there quickly. There were several sections of the library, the little kids' section 1mos-5yrs, elementary, middle school, high school, college, adult, and seniors. He went to the desk and returned the books he had. Then he went to the adult section and picked out a few books. He read the summaries of each one and put away books that didn’t interest him. After forking over another couple of books, he sat at a wooden desk and piled the books there. He pulled out a desk divider and read for a while. He didn’t stop reading until a librarian walked over to him. She was a tall lady with auburn hair. She had green eyes and a pleasant smile.
The librarian tapped him on the shoulder, “Hello, Mr. Cooper. The library is closing in 15 minutes,” she whispered sweetly.
The middle-aged man jumped slightly and swiftly said, “Oh, okay. I’ll gather my things. Can I check out these books?” he handed her the books.
“Yes, you may,” she answered. She took each of the books and put stamps on them. “Be very careful with these,”
After the librarian returned the books, he picked up his nylon book bag. He packed his books and slung the book bag over his shoulders. As he walked home, street lights came on. He reached home and changed into his red patterned pajamas. Pulling out the drawer, the middle-aged man saw his old cologne. It was a very long time since he had used it. After brushing his teeth, he set his alarm clock and went to bed.
“RIIIIING!!!!” yelled the alarm clock.
The middle-aged man rolled over and turned the alarm clock off. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. “TODAY’S THE BIG DAY!!!!!” he exclaimed.
He ran over to his wardrobe closet and pulled out his fanciest clothes. After changing, he brushed his teeth and put on some cologne. He took his coat and feathered hat and made breakfast. He opened the door and rushed out to the Love Chocolate building.
“I’m here!!” he said in a sing-song voice as he opened the door.
Laana looked up and said, “Oh, it's you,”
She grabbed a dusty black telephone and blew on it. Then, she dialed 901-223-471 and waited with the phone up to her ear. Covering her mouth and the bottom piece, she spoke in a whisper. Laana placed the telephone down, took out the rusted key, opened the door, and motioned the middle-aged man to follow her. He followed Laana and met Mr. Wilkinson.
“Hello there! Follow me into the kitchens. You will get the best of our chocolate. Let me get you some hot cocoa to work with,” said Mr. Wilkinson.
“Oh, but of course. I’m just happy to be here.” assured the middle-aged man. “I would love a hot cocoa. Thank you for making me feel appreciated.”
He did not know that the hot cocoa was just the chocolate melted. It was also tummy trouble.
“Nonsense, nonsense,” said Mr. Wilkinson. “I will get you the best! Laana, make sure there is extra sugar in there!”
The first day went well, and the next. By the third day, the middle-aged man thought something was wrong with the chocolate. Nevertheless, he kept on tasting them. On the fifth day, he woke up with a painful headache. Yet, he kept eating them. Monday became stomachache day, Tuesday became sleeplessness night, Wednesday became nervousness day, Thursday became weak day, and Friday became extreme headache day. He would mostly spend Saturday and Sunday recovering. One day, the middle-aged man came to the factory with a speech. He wanted a raise and wanted to know what was in the chocolate and explore more of the factory. The middle-aged man walked into the building but didn’t see Laana in her usual spot. He opened the door and noticed she was in the middle of a conversation with Mr. Wilkinson. He quickly jumped back and listened carefully.
“We’re running out of the chocolate we give him! I’m surprised he hasn’t quit yet! Anyways, I think we can finally get rid of him. With all the chocolate he’s been eating, I doubt he would remember his paycheck.” said Mr. Wilkinson confidently.
“FINALLY!” squealed Laana.
The middle-aged man felt cheated. He left the building to go home. On the way, he thought of a plan. He went to a telephone booth and paid his quarter. The middle-aged man said a few things and went back to the factory.
“Uh, hello!” he waved to Mr. Wilkinson.
Mr. WIlkinson jumped, “Oh! It’s you,”
“I have a few things prepared. Can I go on?” the middle-aged man asked.
Amused, Mr. Wilkinson nodded.
The middle-aged man spoke his memorized speech. Before he could continue, Mr. Wilkinson put his hand up. The middle-aged man stopped abruptly and waited. There was a bit of unnatural silence before Mr. Wilkinson spoke.
“Yes, that speech was nice. Yet, your services are no longer required,” Mr. Wilkinson said.
“Ah yes, I waited for this moment. Anyways, you were just giving me the old chocolate you didn’t want anymore. The yucky ones.” replied the middle-aged man.
“Well, yes. That was the whole plot. Wait, WHAT?! How did you know??” asked Mr. Wilkinson.
“I have ways,” the middle-aged man said. “The final paycheck.”
“Psh, like I was going to give it to you,” remarked Mr. Wilkinson coldly.
“Hmm… I’ll let you go if you say the whole plot out loud,” said the middle-aged man.
“Like I was going to do everything for you. Of course not,” snorted Mr. Wilkinson.
The middle-aged man didn’t say much, just three numbers, “911,”
That got Mr. Wilkinson talking.
“Loudest voice,” instructed the middle-aged man.
Mr. Wilkinson took a deep breath and yelled, “I GAVE ALL THE OLD CHOCOLATE TO YOU TO GET RID OF IT! IT WAS BAD CHOCOLATE!”
The middle-aged man snapped his fingers, and a news reporter and her camera crew came out. Mr. Wilkinson realized that someone had recorded him. He started to run.
“LAANA! LAANA! WE NEED TO RUN!” Mr. Wilkinson screamed.
In the end, Mr. Wilkinson had fines to pay and lots of money he owed to the middle-aged man. After six months, the middle-aged man got a job. A real one, and lived a happy life.
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