A Fantasy short story by I.M. Gerhi
This surreal and darkly whimsical short story follows Claretta Muldoon, a determined and enigmatic woman who embarks on a dangerous dance under an unnaturally low, razor-sharp moon. Her goal: to ascend the mystical chocolate hills and touch the moon itself, a feat that has claimed many before her. Guarding the hills are the Wadders—strange, responsive creatures that mirror emotions and act as both protectors and obstacles to those attempting the climb. Claretta must dance them out of sync to slip past their watchful presence.
However, one Wadder, Eng, disrupts her attempt, knocking her down and ultimately sparing her from a fatal fate. He then follows her into town, revealing that an old nemesis, Rush Fugly, has returned—this time, monstrously large and intent on world domination. Claretta, reluctant to take up the role of hero, seeks the help of her old ally, Gorilla, only to find him in the clutches of the sinister Baker Boy, who force-feeds him chocolate in a bizarre act of revenge.
As chaos erupts, Claretta is faced with the absurd yet inescapable task of stopping Rush Fugly using an unexpected and deeply uncomfortable method. Eng hints at a greater purpose behind it all, but Claretta struggles with the lack of clear answers, torn between fate and free will.
A surreal blend of myth, dark fantasy, and offbeat humor, Tearing Up Chocolate is a story of dangerous dances, reluctant heroism, and the strange rules governing a world where chocolate, monsters, and existential dilemmas collide.
At the moment Tearing Up Chocolate is only available as part of the short story collection Night Light Tales.
Read a sample:
There was a moon. It hung low over the hills. The moon had no right to be that low. It was dangerous.
The full moon had a flame sharp edge which could cut smoke and night and dreams into slivers.
Tonight, Claretta Muldoon came to dance amongst the chocolate hills. Tonight, because the moon was low.
She would start her dance in the flat gullies between the hills, but the aim was to get on top.
Claretta pulled the ribbons from her hair and tied them around the gatepost. She left her shoes at the foot of the post and draped her coat over the gate.
Wearing a white cheesecloth slip, she walked over the crisp grass. The blades tickled her bare feet, and she felt a chuckle creeping up from the pit of her stomach.
Wrapping her hands around her breasts, she took deep breaths. This was not a time for chuckling. Not if she was going to dance to her death.
The stars twinkled a punctuated tune. Softly, just audible enough so that when Claretta moved quietly, she could hear it. The starlight twinkle was the first part of the dance.
To this rhythm, her feet moved in a complicated step pattern. Slow at first. Then picking up speed, ever so slightly, with every turn.
The dance took her around the hills. Running the gullies between as a green floor, she did not look at the hills. She could not show that she meant to mount one.
Not until she and the hill and the moon were aligned to meet.
Claretta wasn’t alone.
The Wadders lived amongst the hills. And on moonlit nights they were also the local guard. But if she danced well, the Wadders would be caught up in the moment and would not notice her going.
The big trick was to keep enough of her own mind about her so that she would still know where she was going herself.
The twinkling of the stars was intoxicating. Once the sound got past your ears and into your soul, your senses went out of control. Or so Claretta had been told. Nobody who had danced under moonlight could ever tell again.
When the moon cut, there wasn’t anything else left to tell. Most times only the clothes at the gate were buried. Nothing of the body remained.
The Wadders sat low in the grass, in clumps at the foot of the hills.
…end of sample
Tearing Up Chocolate © I.M. Gerhi