Hot Chocolates

Hot Chocolates


Hot Chocolates

I am divorced, and especially with Valentine’s Day coming up, I was feeling lonely. So I joined a support group and met a friend, Dinah. She asked me to join her and a few other women for “a special Valentine’s Day celebration in the woods.” When I asked her to tell me about it, she said, “Trust me.”

I figured okay, I’m up for a surprise adventure. Besides trusting her, the only thing she said was, “Wear what will make you feel like a goddess.” I thought that was odd, but complied. I chose a bohemian-style dress that hugged all the right places, braided my hair, and put a single white rose in my braid like I had at my wedding.

When I arrived at the woods, I found myself in an open area with three women, including Dinah. She welcomed me with a warm smile. Next to her, on the ground, sat a black plastic bag. After chatting while waiting for the other women to arrive, Dinah took the bag and walked us into the woods; deep into the woods.

There, she asked us to find some dry wood of all sizes. She asked us to put the small wood in a pile on the ground, to use as kindling, and the thicker pieces placed on top. She lit it, and voila, we had a fire. She had us dance around it, telling us to “Sway and hold hands.” Then she said, “And now for our Valentine’s Day ceremony.”

She reached into the black bag, removed a heart-shaped box of chocolates, and tossed it into the fire. Melting chocolate smells good but it seemed a waste of a nice box of chocolate. Next, she took a bouquet of roses and tossed it into the fire.  Then she took a Ken doll and chucked it into the fire. This is all starting to seem very odd to me, but it was somewhat cathartic, even if I was still anguishing over the wasted chocolates. 

Finally, she took out a Barbie doll but didn’t throw it into the fire. She slowly lifted it toward the sky, which was lit by a huge full moon. She asked us to dance around the fire again.  I came away wondering whether all this would lead to a better world; however, I also wondered what I had just attended because it seemed like witchcraft. 

That ceremony was exactly 13 days before Valentine's Day. I messaged Dinah asking if she had plans. She told me yes and to be patient because I would, too. No men have so much looked in my direction, let alone asked me out, since my divorce six months ago. There was not a chance in hell that a man would show up on my doorstep and ask me out.

I laughed as I put in a microwave dinner and started looking for something to watch on Netflix. We must have had a power surge because everything flickered. Then, as my microwave chimed, so did my doorbell. When I opened my door, my jaw and remote fell to the floor. Before me stood a handsome middle-aged man in a fine suit. He held out a box of gourmet chocolates with a single white rose on the box. He smiled, “All you have to do is believe. Now believe that you will always have the Valentine's Day you deserve, my goddess.”

Oh, my God! It was all real!

“We all have magic inside of us and love is that magic.”

Happy Valentine's Day!