Reckless Indulgence

The plastic bag crinkles like white noise as I unfold the clear polymer bag. 8 small chocolate nuggets sit inert, each more curious than the last, for I know that I will be days before I experience the one that remains after all others have been consumed. My gaze fixes on those nearest to me, and I carefully contemplate my selection. None so obviously bears its character, so my decision is but arbitrary. I suspect that jasmine tea sits closest to me, so I with great care and purpose bypass it searching for serendipity, an arbitrary surprising pleasure that will take great care to discern. I also see what I perhaps erroneously infer to be olive and I dig a bit deeper into the bag, noisily complaining, as I search for an unfamiliar morsel. And my choice is made. As I carefully ingest its smell, I can detect only cocoa. An awaiting surprise indeed. The crystalline formations on its crown I recall being salt, but all is an enigma. The first bite. Wow. The salt a perfect compliment to the bitterness of the dark chocolate. A creamy filling resides inside and, honestly, I make neither heads nor tails of what I taste. With disappointment in my ability to identify the overwhelming flavor, I describe it as neither here nor there. It is so subtle as to evade analysis, despite my efforts to cleanse my palate and ready myself for this encounter. Desperate to lift the fog of disorientation, I lift the chocolate to my mouth and take the remainder in hopes that full sensorial inundation will remedy my sorry state. Again, the salt pleasantly resounds on my tongue, but I still cannot make out what I am tasting. Frantically I rub my tongue over the roof of my mouth before the flavor fades, and as it flees existence I'm left unenlightened. My pleasure is empty. Moments of bliss, ephemeral and base. Awash in regret, I contemplate indulging once again.