Papa Joe ~ Telling Tales

The Chocolate Man, dedicated to Hope
8 Dec 98 

Once upon a time,
A long long time ago,
and far far away,
there were two brothers.
Those boys were as different
as apples and elephants.
When they grew up
they were more different still.

Now the first one, the older one,
was very good at plannin'.
There's nothin' wrong with plannin',
but this one planned to death.
And every plan he made
had to do with him gettin' lots o' money.
So he made lots o' money,
but he didn't have much fun.

Now the second one, the younga one,
was very good at sharin'.
Some folks said (especially his brother)
he shared more than he had,
but that wasn't true 'cause he only shared what was his.
And while he didn't have lots o' money, he did have lots o' fun.

And his lady said he read aloud to her on lazy Sunday aftanoons,
and in front of a fira on cold winta nights,
He wrapped his arms around her, even in public sometimes,
but he left her alone sometimes, too,
He did it all: listened, spoke, read, wrote, thought, felt, smiled, loved, was.

One day, when the younga one leavin' his lady alone for awhile,
somebody decided to do some sharin' back
and the younga one found himself with about
ten pounds o' chocolate.
As it was a sunny afternoon,
he slipped that big ol' chuck o' chocolate under his hat
and headed for home.

'Course there wouldn't be a story,
if something didn't happen.
And what happened is kinda hard to believe,
but he got a little bit tired walkin' home
and he sat down by the shade of a big ol' boulder
and fell a sleep
with that ten pounds of chocolate unda his hat.

Well the sun moved,
but he didn't
nor did his hat.
The chocolate did,
'cause it melted down his face,
down the back of his neck,
down and down 'til he was covered in chocolate.

Think he woke up then?
Nope!

The sun went down.  The Moon came up
and the warm day turned to a cool night.
The chocolate hardened up solid.
There he sat lookin' like a solid chocolate Santa Clause.

Think he woke up then?
Nope!

When it was really dark,
out from under the big ol' boulder
comes a family o' Goblins
And aren't they excited to find a chocolate man
sittin' outside their front door.

The Goblin kids were jumpin' and screamin' for a bite o' that chocolate man.

Think he woke up then?
Yup!  But he didn't move.
Now he was scared stiff.

The Goblin Mama said, "You gotta wait 'til afta suppa!"
So they carried the chocolate man down into their home
under the boulder
and left him while they went off to find some suppa.

Now thank goodness the Golbin's home was warm.
It softened up the chocolate so the man could get away,
which he did as quick as he could.

Wouldn't you?

And wasn't his lady happy to see him,
Not just 'cause she loved him,
but 'cause she got to eat all that chocolate offa him.
"Yummy"
And best yet! 
She found a bunch o' golden coins
Those musta got stuck in the chocolate
while he was in the Goblin's home.
So now he did have some money.

Well the first brother, the older brother,
found out about the Chocolate, the Goblins, and the Gold.
And he starts at once to make a plan
for gettin' some of that Goblin gold for himself.
He was very good at plannin',
And this had to do with him gettin' lots o' money,
So he didn't waste any time in tryin' it out.

He went to town,
brought a ten pound chunk o' chocolate,
slipped it under his hat,
and headed for that big ol' boulder.

The sits down unda that big ol' boulder.
while the sun melted the ten pounds of chocolate.
It melted down his face,
down the back of his neck,
down and down 'til he was covered in chocolate.

Think he moved?
Nope!
He was thinkin' about all the Goblin gold.

The sun went down.  The moon came up
and the warm day turned into a cool night.
The chocolate hardened up solid.
There he sat lookin' like a solid chocolate Santa Clause.

Think he moved?
Nope!
He was thinkin' about all the Goblin gold.

When it was really dark,
out from under the big ol' boulder
came that family o' Goblins
And aren't they excited to find another chocolate man
sittin' outside their front door.

The Goblin kids were jumpin' and screamin' for a bite o' that chocolate man.

Think he moved?
Nope!

The Goblin Mama said, "We ain't lettin' him get away like the last one."

They didn't carry the chocolate man down into their home under the boulder.
They didn't leave him while they went off to find some suppa.
They started eatin' him right then and there.

Think he moved?
Nope!

The chocolate was so hard, he couldn't move.
And he couldn't even call out,
'Cause you know,
the first thing they did
was bite his head off.

The second brother, the younger brother lived happily ever afta.

And his lady said he read aloud to her on lazy Sunday afternoons,
and in front of a fire on cold winter nights,
He wrapped his arms around her, even in public sometimes,
but he left her alone sometimes, too,
He did it all: listened, spoke, read, wrote, thought, felt, smiled, loved, was.

And he often brought her home some chocolate.

The End.

Papa Joe ~ Telling Tales