She looked down at the box on the table. She knew it was a gift of chocolate from an admirer, but not in the usual heart–shaped red box. This small square container, just large enough to hold six candies, was made of polished silver. Her warm fingers caressed the cold design of roses raised in relief from the background of leaves. Using the tassel hanging from it, she slowly opened and removed the cover to reveal the contents of the box.

Almost immediately, the powerful smell of chocolate rose up, causing her to breathe deeply in anticipation. No ordinary chocolates were inside, but only the best that money could buy. Nestled in six white paper cups were milk chocolate and dark chocolate candies waiting for her. Which should she choose first?

Her fingers hovered over a square milk chocolate piece, but moved on. That round dark one in the corner of the box seemed to call out to her, “Eat me!” She picked it up and delicately placed it in her mouth. The richness of the chocolate would have been enough of a treat, but she greedily bit down to reach its centre. Soft raspberry cream trickled out over, its sharp fruit flavour a pleasant surprise.

The freshly picked raspberries from Dad’s berry patch in the back yard tasted just like this, she thought. As she slowly chewed, memories of those hot summer days came flooding back. Soon, though, the candy and the memories were both gone, leaving her wanting more.

Returning to that first piece she had bypassed, she picked up the milk chocolate candy. It felt silky, very soft to the touch. She pushed in slowly with two fingers, daring the filling to show itself. As the candy burst in half, she was delighted to see thick orange liquid oozing out. Licking her fingers to catch the dripping mess, she couldn’t help laughing. She remembered her mother scolding her for doing just this thing. “Use your napkin, child.” Pushing the mangled candy into her mouth, she quickly finished it.

Still not completely satisfied, she looked over the remaining four chocolates. The two empty paper cups looked lonely and out of place. She removed them, crushing the stiff paper into tiny balls and putting them on the table. Ready now for the next candy, she decided to try the one near the centre of the box. It was a round milk chocolate. Across its top were two lines of white chocolate that felt a bit slick to the touch.

Realising this was simply the oil from the chocolate, a sign of very rich cocoa beans, she bit off half of the candy. Her disappointment at discovering the filling was ordinary vanilla cream made her remove the offending piece from her mouth. She returned it to its paper cup beside its other untouched half and put it all down on the table next to the box cover. To her, vanilla cream filling was as bland as a dish of unsweetened oatmeal cereal or plain tap water. Even the taste of the chocolate did not make up for this particular unappealing flavour.

Hoping her next choice would be more appetising, she picked up the fourth chocolate. It was a flat square dark confection. Squeezing it revealed the centre was hard, making her wonder what was inside. She placed it in her mouth and decided, just this once, to let it dissolve. The rich chocolate slowly melted and flowed over. Every now and then, she would swallow it. Finally, the last of the chocolate disappeared down her throat to reveal the hard centre of the candy.

A lighter sweetness replaced the heavy richness of the chocolate. She recognised the honeycomb flavour immediately and wished she could keep that too–soon–melted. As a child, her parents often gave her a special treat, a visit to a neighbour’s farm. There, she received a small chunk of honeycomb plucked from one of his beehives. After eating the honey, she would crunch the waxy remains between her teeth to eke out every drop of the golden nectar.

Much too quickly today, the last of the liquid ambrosia was gone. She sat on the chair beside the table simply staring at the two remaining candies. She doubted that either of them would taste as good as the last one had. Should she save them for later when the taste of the honey was no longer with her? Would one be as delightful as the raspberry filling? Would the other be just another vanilla mouthful?

Unable to resist the temptation any longer, she picked up the square milk chocolate piece, leaving the round darker one for last. She first pressed down on it to determine whether the filling was soft or hard. It was hard this time, although with just a bit of give to it. Curiosity got the better of her, and she popped the morsel into her mouth. Chewing slowly, she recognised the texture of nougat with bits of dried fruit scattered throughout it. It brought back no special memories. Deciding that it was just an ordinary candy but still delicious, she was neither elated nor disappointed by it.

That morsel eaten, she looked over at the last chocolate. Before taking it out of the box, she removed the other paper cups. Where once they contained the richest of chocolate treats, now they were empty. Their emptiness seemed to taunt her about her greediness, but she refused to feel guilt. Balling them up as she had the ones before them, she placed the paper cups on the table beside the discarded vanilla candy.

She placed the confection onto her tongue and waited eagerly to find out what type of filling was inside the chocolate. So far, the exploration of the half dozen candies revealed raspberry cream, fruit–filled nougat, honeycomb ambrosia, and the discarded vanilla cream. What would this last one be?

Ever so slowly, her teeth bit down through the dark rich covering. At first, all she tasted was the almost bittersweet chocolate, but soon another flavour overwhelmed it and took over. She opened her mouth to let in the cold air, but this only intensified the strong stinging heat of the peppermint. Up into her nasal cavity went the pungent aroma of mint, causing her eyes to start watering. She started swallowing as fast as she could, trying to get the peppermint cream away from her rebelling mouth and nose. Never in her life had she tasted anything so intense and overpowering that caused actual pain.

After the last of the candy disappeared down her throat and away from her assaulted senses, she wiped the tears from her eyes then took a long breath of cool air into her lungs. A delicate mixture of flavours along with the gentle smell of mint was all that remained of the half dozen chocolates.

The small silver box, now empty, seemed almost ordinary to her. Sadly, she picked up the cover to the box and placed it on top. With a nearly inaudible click, the two pieces merged to shut in the memory of the original contents, now gone but not forgotten.

For the first time since she had placed the box on the table, she picked it up. As she did this, a small slip of paper that she had previously overlooked fell from underneath it. Perhaps this would give her a clue as to the identity of her admirer, until now unknown. Opening up the folded paper, she read one word, the only one written.

Smiling to herself, she refolded the paper and silently walked out of the room, carrying the empty silver box and note with her.