Discovering Wishes

A Frothy Fable

Once upon a time a charming young lady rode in her gaily decorated carriage to the nearby village to visit the liquid confectionary shop to indulge her desire for a chocolate potion of such deliciousness that it made the harrowing ride quite forgotten.

She arrived at the shop rosy-cheeked and quite eager for the sweet liquidy goodness she was about to enjoy. As always, she ran in the door as the jangly bell announced her presence. She looked for Genevieve, Nana Viv as she liked to call her, to concoct her signature potion in her own special way.

But Nana Viv wasn’t beaming over the counter. In her place was a pleasant looking lad with a cherry-chocolaty smudge on his chin and a misplaced spatula tucked into the pocket of his over-sized apron.

“Good afternoon, young lady.” He was all polite and proper and not Nana Viv. “What’s your pleasure this fine afternoon?”

“Where – What – Why isn’t Genevieve here?” She was quite flustered. This afternoon was not what she was expecting at all.

“Miss Genevieve was called to City for conferral with the Mayor’s council on sweetness. But she left me with all her recipes, if you would be so kind as to tell me which one you want.” He stood with the Giant Red Recipe Book at the ready.

The charming young lady sighed impatiently in a quite uncharming manner. “It’s. Not. In. Your. Book.” She stabbed at his tome superciliously.

“Fine,” he was unperturbed. “Just describe it to me, and I’ll make it just like she did.” His smile remained unaltered.

So she impatiently rattled off the list of ingredients, involving copious amounts of chocolate in every form, spices local and exotic, milk fresh from Nana Viv’s dairy cow, several fresh fruits, and one I dare not mention. This she followed with a staccato recital of the steps involved in the preparation of her concoction.

Pleasant lad bustled about the counter and cabinets, gathering and assembling and mixing and stirring and blending with remarkable efficiency. Shortly he paused, surveyed his work area carefully, and took a deep breath. Taking the gleaming pitcher in hand, he poured with utmost care into the tall, graceful china mug, spooned fresh whipped cream from his bowl, and finally executed his coup-de-maitre, hand-shaving dark chocolate curls on top.

With a big smile, he lifted the mug to present to the young lady, only to see a frown on her face.
“You did use the candied ginger from Nana Viv’s kitchen, yes?”

He gestured to the row of glass jars on the shelf behind him. “I used Genevieve’s own blend of dried ginger. It’s the best in town, I assure you.”

She rolled her eyes at his obvious ignorance of her wishes. “But Nana Viv always uses her personal store of candied ginger in my concoction.” She pouted her well-worn pout. “I guess this will have to do.”

“No.” His smile was pleasant, but his tone was unyielding. “This will not do. Miss Genevieve is quite insistent. I will make exactly what you want, even if you don’t tell me what you want. It’s my pleasure to discover your wishes.”

The well-worn pout melted from her face, and she watched quite entranced at the zeal with which he returned to work. Without another word, pleasant lad repeated all his steps with the same enthusiasm (except for a quick trip into Nana Viv’s kitchen to retrieve her candied ginger) as he recreated the wonderfulness charming young lady was expecting.

This time when he lifted the steaming mug, she was waiting with an eager smile. She took the mug from his hands, lifted it to her lips, and first inhaled deeply.

“Ahhhh, the aroma is enticing.” And then she sipped. Her eyes closed in bliss as the warmth slid down her throat and warmed her from the inside. She sighed, deeply, and sipped again. Pleasant young man watched with quite the bemused expression on his face.

Finally, charming young lady opened her eyes, and lowered the mug briefly. She smiled the biggest, happiest smile he had seen all month. “It…is…sensational. It’s…just…perfect.”

So charming young lady never strayed from her faithfulness to Nana Viv’s confection. And pleasant lad finally understood what Miss Genevieve meant when she said, “It’s my pleasure to discover your wishes.”
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