As Sweet As Chocolate

Grandpa Joe's Stories

It was a cold, snowy evening, as usual, as I was sitting at the table with Charlie, helping him with some homework from school after I got done with my shift early, while mother was making cabbage soup.

Moments later, father entered the house. "Evening, Buckets." He greeted. "Evening." My grandparents greeted back at him. "Hi, dad." Charlie and I said at the same time, as we both waved at him. Then, he walked over to mother and greeted her with a smile and a kiss. "Soup's almost ready, darling." Mother said. "Don't suppose there's anything extra to put in, love?" She asked. Father shook his head. "Oh, well. Nothing goes better with cabbage than cabbage." Mother said, and, then, she chopped up more cabbage.

Father came over to the table where Charlie and I were sitting, while he was digging through his coat pocket. "Charlie, I found something I think you'll like." He said, as he set a few misshaped toothpaste tube caps that he usually takes from work and gives them to Charlie.

As Charlie was looking through the pile, he found one that he liked. "It's exactly what I need." He said, cheerfully, as he got up and went to go get his model of Wonka's chocolate factory that I helped him built mostly from other toothpaste caps from the closet. "What is it, Charlie?" Grandpa Joe asked.

Charlie got his model and he set it on the table. Then, he placed the cap on the spot where he wanted it to be. "Dad, I found it. Just the piece that I needed." Charlie said. "What piece was it?" Grandpa Joe asked. "A head for Willy Wonka." Charlie answered, while looking at Grandpa Joe. "It's wonderful." Grandma Josephine commented.

"It's quite a likeness." Grandpa Joe said. "You really think so?" Charlie asked. Grandpa Joe nodded and said, "Think so? I know so. I saw Willy Wonka with my own two eyes. I used to work for him, you know."

Charlie looked surprised. "You did?" He said. I smiled and looked up at Charlie. "He did, Charlie. Grandpa Joe has told me a lot of stories about Willy Wonka when I was about your age." I said. "He did." Grandma Josephine said. "He did." Grandpa George said as well. "I love grapes." Grandma Georgina said, happily. I chuckled a bit after Grandma Georgina said that.

"Of course, I was a much younger man in those days." Grandpa George began to tell his story. Charlie grabbed a chair and sat next to Grandpa Joe as he seemed intrigued to hear the story. I smiled at his excitement.

"Willy Wonka began with a single store on Cherry Street. But the whole world wanted his candy. The man was a genius. Did you know, he invented a new way of making chocolate ice cream, so that it stays cool for hours without a freezer? You can even leave it lying in the sun on a hot day and it won't go runny." Grandpa Joe explained. "But that's impossible." Charlie said.

"But Willy Wonka did it." Grandpa Joe said, while smiling. "Before long, he decided to build a proper chocolate factory. The largest chocolate factory in history. Fifty times as big as any other." He explained.

"Grandpa, don't make it gross." Charlie said, smiling. I giggled at his comment after Grandpa Joe added that he and Grandma Josephine shared a kiss together at the historical event. Trust me, I said the same thing too when Grandpa Joe shared his story to me when I was younger.

Afterwards, Grandma Josephine said, "Tell him about the Indian Prince. He'd like to hear about that." "You mean Prince Pondicherry?" Grandpa Joe corrected. At the same time, mother placed a tray that had four bowls of cabbage soup on it on the bed for the grandparents.

Then, Grandpa Joe continued, "Well, Prince Pondicherry wrote a letter to Mr. Wonka and asked him to come all the way out to India and build him a colossal palace entirely out of chocolate." "It's really unbelievable how they were able to build that. But it's still amazing." I said. "Indeed, it was, Emma." Grandpa Joe winked at me. Then, mother handed me and Charlie bowls of cabbage soup.