The lingering scent of chocolate began to drive me crazy. My Mom would not allow me to eat much chocolate since I already had five cavities. Trying to convince her differently had never worked. It was after Valentine's Day and all the chocolate at the grocery store was marked way down. They were practically giving it away.

I approached my Mother and carefully chose my words. "Mom, I love you, and I love chocolate. Can't I have both?"

My Mother, towering over me since she was about three inches taller than I, broke into a smile and replied, "You can always have my love, but today I'm giving you both."

Great Scott! I had hit the jack pot. I picked out the biggest bag of dark chocolate.

Once in the car, my mother looked at me, and said, "It's a good thing you like to share."

That was the lesson. She always had a lesson for me to learn.

Teresa Allen, [Albuquerque, NM] loves to write and challenge herself. Allen had a novel published in April 2008. This is an adult novel, but her true passion is writing for children and from her heart. Her newly published novel is Marti Brown and the House of Face. You may visit her website at: www.teresarallen.com. Allen's blog is called, "MY Books."

© 2009 Teresa Allen. Original for CCF (Allen grants CCF  first electronic rights for one month; CCF may archive the material indefinitely and include it in an eBook anthology).