Chocolate

an epilogue

Back in the city, my training partner and I went our separate ways. He had a different flight schedule than I did, and he was more into being clandestine than me. I needed to spend the night in the city before my first flight the next day. After a couple of weeks of unfamiliar and bland, tasteless food, I was in the mood for something that reminded me of home. There weren’t a lot of options nearby, and after getting lost in the city on my arrival I wasn’t feeling adventurous.

I looked out of my fifth-floor hotel room window onto the street below and observed a small shop across the street from the hotel. It looked to be something like what we would call a convenience store in America. “Maybe,” I thought, “they would have something to satisfy my cravings.”

I gathered what I could of their local currency, walked down the stairs, out the door, across the street, and opened the door. Stepping inside I discovered how small this shop was. There was a small space for a customer to stand, and if you turned around in a circle you would see every shelf in the store. A small counter was to my left, and an even smaller, elderly Asian woman stood behind it. She looked up at me as I looked around at the shelves hoping to see something to eat.

After a few minutes of silence (neither of us knew the other’s language), A soft smile came across her wrinkled face, “American?” she asked in forced English.

“Yes,” I replied.

Then with a knowing glance, she nodded her head, smiled again, pointed kindly at me, and said, “Chocolate.”

I laughed. “Yes!”

She came around into the customer landing space, stood on a step stool, reached up to the highest shelf, and pulled down two small boxes, one with a few Snickers bars, and the other with Kit Kats. I was caught up into heaven for a moment.

I went back to my room with my newfound treasure. Thankful for this small grace, a smiling woman’s face, and some chocolate in that place.

small elderly Asian woman smiling