Rachel's mouth exploded in an ecstatic burst of flavor. This wasn't chocolate, this was nectar of the gods. The candy melted and spread across her mouth, coating her tongue with the heavenly taste. She quickly stuffed as many chocolates as she could into her mouth, chewing rapidly and swallowing in larger clumps than her throat could down comfortably. She didn't care about the pain. That was temporary. The way the creamy chocolate flavor was wreaking havoc with her mind, she was sure this sensation would last until the end of time. It was impossible to think of anything else. The taste was so incredible...
* * *
Her jaw ached. Her jeans were tight. She could hear her stomach gurgling. Rachel slowly opened her eyes to a room lit by the afternoon sun. How long had she been alseep? Why did she even go to sleep?
Her stomach gurgled again. She could feel its contents shifting. It felt like it was ready to burst. She realized that her right hand was already rubbing it contentedly. She groaned, putting her left hand to her forehead. Something was rubbing off on her face. Pulling her hand back, she saw that it was smeared in melted chocolate.
Now she remembered. She turned her head and saw the box lying a short distance away on the bed. It was empty, save for chocolate-stained wrappers strewn in and about the box.
"Did I really eat the whole box?" she asked groggily. She could still taste a hint of the wonderful chocolate. Slowly she sat up. Her stomach began to hurt more, and she could see through her shirt that it was bulging slightly. "Wow, I really lost it," Rachel said. She patted her stomach gently and rose from the bed. The first thing she did was head to the bathroom to wash her hands. Then she threw the chocolate box in the trash. "Nothing but salad for the rest of the week," she thought to herself as she regarded the new restriction her jeans were feeling.
That night her mother cooked dinner. She asked Rachel how her day had been, and Rachel simply dismissed it with a "Fine." She hoped her parents wouldn't notice the slight bulge above her waistline. If she had put on a baggier shirt, like the kind she often slept in, that would be taking even more of a chance, since she rarely wore that kind of thing to the dinner table.
As she scooped up a forkful of peas, she licked her lips. Strangely, the chocolate flavor still persisted. Hoping the incoming dinner would take care of it, she dumped the peas into her mouth. They tasted terrible. The chocolaty taste was being assaulted by the vile, tasteless peas. She winced, not expecting this kind of reaction. Still, she chewed and swallowed. Then she put another load of peas into her mouth and they tasted even worse. Without the dominating chocolate flavor, her mouth was a wasteland of gritty, tasteless filth.
She couldn't understand what was wrong. She had to eat. She was starving. She continued eating, trying to wolf the flavorless food down faster just to get this ordeal over with. Her parents held a conversation about each others' days as she continued to put up with food that felt like dirt in her mouth. They remained oblivious to her personal torture. Her stomach began to twinge with pain, becoming angry at the truckload of the unsavory, so-called "healthy" dinner. It drummed harder and harder, protesting that this wasn't nourishment, it was torture. What was she doing, poisoning her body with food ripped right out of the ground, food grown in gardens and peeled off the bones of animals? There was only one thing in the world she had a taste for, and she knew exactly what it was.
In a last, desperate attempt to regain control of her taste buds, Rachel grabbed her glass of water, but as it poured down her throat it felt like her stomach was drowning. She coughed, attracting her parent's attention. "It's just--" Cough! Cough! "I swallowed wrong. 'Scuse..." She ran from the room, still coughing. Up the stairs, into the bathroom. It was happening. She didn't understand why, but it was happening. She plopped down in front of the toilet bowl and allowed the entire contents of her stomach to pour out. She had changed. Something inside her had changed. She couldn't eat normal food anymore. Water couldn't quench her thirst. Peas and potatoes and chicken couldn't digest and provide her with the energy she needed.
There was only one thing her agonized stomach wanted... Chocolate.