Nothing Sweeter on Valentine's Day

      “Hey Cocoabeane, did you see this!” Peachie, my Xweetok sister, held a crumpled flyer in front of my face.

      I slid on my glasses and began reading the flyer. “My fellow pets, in honor of Valentine’s Day, I will paint one lucky pet chocolate. If you are interested, please come to the chocolate factory on February 14th at 8am, sharp.”

      My eyes widened as I read the flyer. My mouth started watering at the thought that I could be painted chocolate!

      I visited the chocolate factory every day this week, trying to find clues on how one pet would be painted chocolate. Whenever I asked the shopkeeper about February 14th, the yellow Kiko would ignore my question and offer me one of his chocolate treats.

      I looked over at my clock. 3:30am... I would never be able to fall asleep, for it was Valentine’s Day, February 14th.

      I woke up Peachie and dragged her downstairs to the front door. I took a deep breath, opened the door, and set out to the chocolate factory.

      I could see the smoke from the factory billowing out into the dull blue sky. As I approached the closed iron gates, I saw at least a thousand pets standing outside in the hopes that they would become chocolate. I turned around and started heading in the direction of my neohome.

      “Where do you think YOU are going, Cocoabeane? I did not get dragged out of bed just so that you could get cold paws and hop away.”

      “But Peachie, there is no way that I will be painted chocolate when I’m up against a thousand other pets. It’s hopeless. I just want to be different, special.”

      “Listen to me, you will be painted chocolate because you want it more than anybody else. Things will work out, you just need to suck it up, go in there, and try your best. Plus, I’ll be with you every step of the way!” Peachie grabbed hold of my floppy ear and tugged me back toward the chocolate factory.

      Everyone turned towards the factory gates as the yellow Kiko shopkeeper walked towards the crowd.

      He adjusted his top hat and cleared his throat. “Attention, attention, everyone! Many of you have come here today in the hopes that you will be painted chocolate... however, only ONE pet will receive this fantastic reward. I would like everyone who is interested to line up, and you may bring with you only one friend or family member.”

      I started getting crushed as all of the pets around me squeezed by to try to get to the front of the line. After about ten minutes of chaos, the Kiko urged us all to come inside the factory.

      We all stood in a dark, cramped room, when suddenly the Kiko reappeared and flipped on a light switch. We were standing in a giant room that was crammed with multiple vats of chocolate, conveyer belts, and empty boxes that were waiting to be filled with chocolate goodies.

      The little Kiko got up on top of a shipping crate. “Today you will be going on a scavenger hunt of sorts. You will be split up into teams of two, as you all try to navigate through the factory. I will supply you with your first clue and you must find the rest. The team who finishes first wins, and one lucky member of that team will be painted chocolate. Let the scavenger hunt begin.”

      The Kiko went over to one of the vats of chocolate and tipped it over. Instead of chocolate pouring onto the ground, thousands of pieces of paper scattered all over the floor.

      Peachie ran over and picked up the nearest piece of paper. “Valentine’s Day is here, so that must mean chocolate is near. One thing represents Valentine’s Day best; find this to get to the next part of the test.”

      I looked at Peachie in confusion, until my eyes wandered up to the prissy miss bow that was placed in her hair. “Peachie, it’s a heart! Valentine’s Day is always represented by hearts!”

      “So, where are we supposed to look then, Cocoabeane? I don’t think the chocolate factory has a room that’s specifically filled with hearts.”

      “They might not have a room full of hearts, but they may have a holiday room. Valentine’s Day is a holiday after all, they have to make special treats just for today!”

      I hopped over to the Kiko shopkeeper that was standing off to the side. “May we have a map of the chocolate factory, Sir?”

      “My dear boy, you cannot possibly have a scavenger hunt without a map. Perhaps you should flip over that piece of paper in your paws.” The Kiko looked down at the clue that I was still clutching. I flipped it over and right on the back was an illustrated map of the entire chocolate factory. I quickly scanned the paper over with my eyes and found a room in the back corner that was labeled, ‘seasonal.’

      I hopped back over to Peachie and pointed to the seasonal room. “This has to be it, let’s go find that heart!” We ran through many rooms in the chocolate factory, getting lost a countless number of times, but we finally found the ‘seasonal’ room. We burst through the door and saw nothing but pink hearts all over the place. Various Valentine’s Day treats lined the walls, there were vats of chocolate being mixed, and little chocolates were moving up a conveyer belt and being placed in heart-shaped boxes.

      I thought I’d never find the next clue, until I saw a gold piece of chocolate being placed inside one of the heart-shaped boxes up on the conveyer belt. “Peachie, I think that box up there has our next clue! We have to find a way to get up on that conveyer belt before that box of chocolates disappears!”

      Peachie walked to the door, turned around, and ran straight for the conveyer belt. She leaped right over my head and slammed onto the conveyer belt. The Xweetok limped over to the box with the gold chocolate inside, and grabbed the box.

      “Oh no, Peachie, you’re hurt.” I gingerly took the box of chocolates out of her mouth and examined her leg.

      “I’ll be fine, Cocoabeane. I just need a little rest is all. Go on, read the next clue.” I opened up the box of chocolates and dumped them onto the floor. On the bottom of the box was writing that read, “You will be painted chocolate if you figure out the final clue. The chocolate is the one that picks you.”

      I walked over to the vats of chocolate in the corner that were being stirred by giant electric mixers. I climbed up onto the catwalk that was hanging above the vats of chocolate, and noticed that one of them wasn’t being stirred. As I leaned over to get a closer look, I lost my footing and fell into the giant vat.

      “Cocoabeane!” Peachie ran over to the giant vats to try and see if I surfaced, but she couldn’t see me anywhere.

      Peachie started to weep when the little Kiko shopkeeper walked into the room. “My dear little Xweetok, what has happened?”

      “My brother, Cocoabeane, he fell into that vat of chocolate and I can’t find him. My brother.... he’s gone.”

      “You don’t need to be upset my dear, the chocolate has chosen your brother. See?”

      Peachie dried her tears and looked back at the vat of chocolate, except it wasn’t there anymore; now standing in its place was a chocolate Cybunny.

      “Cocoabeane?” Peachie got up and ran over to me.

      “It’s me, Peachie! My dream has finally come true, I’m chocolate! I’m not a boring green Cybunny anymore, I’m special!”

      Peachie hugged me tightly. “You will always be special to me, Cocoabeane, no matter what colour you are.”

The End

Have a Happy Valentine's Day!