Slowly, time lost it's meaning. Reliving the same story over and over again. Everyone dreams of immortality. Gifted with an eternity to live (more like as infinite cycle of living and dying; living and dying). She dreams of dying...  

Even chocolate, something so sweet, delicious and heavenly just tastes like dirt. Maybe once it used to taste warm like the air in Summer but her cursed existence only let one thing give her life. Blood. Dripping crimson from her lips,  a stark contrast against her deathly pale skin. Its syrupy taste a bitter reminder of what she would never again have...  

Find a town, find a job, pretend to be normal, move on when people started questioning and repeat. Watch others overlook the luxuries she could never again enjoy because it was all gone. No happiness left in life; nothing more for her to hold onto. The memories of everything  she used to love remain only as ghostly echoes, taunting her over and over and over again. Never truly seeing but never forgetting. Sometimes she wishes could remember; other times she wishes she could permanently forget, move on... 

Now, she just wants to sleep. Wants to see the sun for a final time. Would she feel warmth for the first time in centuries? She looked forward to the pain, her first true feeling for a long time. Finally, her cycle would end and she could stop watching the endless cycle of life and death. You never realise how insignificant human lives are until you are tortured with seeing them begin and end over and over again but nothing changes! The world moves on! And the world won't even notice that the next time the sun rises, she too will disappear into the wind.  Finally finding relief in saying goodbye to the darkness... 

So there we were, my chocolate friend and I, just sitting in our Easter basket, waiting for the child to come and play with us. The princess was too snooty to speak to us and the jelly beans were of no use, being bagged up as they were. At least the grass felt good under my feet. I shifted, smiled at Elmer nervously, then spotted the child.

Giant hands reached out and took Elmer. The hands gently and lovingly relieved Elmer of his foil apparel. Then it happened!

A giant maw opened and my poor chocolate friend was suddenly and forcefully pulled towards it! I shrieked as my buddy lost an ear and was set back in his place, still partially-dressed. "Mmmmm", the child said, "I love chocolate!"

Then the hand came for me! I tried to scream, but couldn't. Then the maw opened again and I felt something sharp clamp down on one of my marshallowy ears before all went black...

So, my chocolate friend and I were hanging out in our Easter basket, waiting for the girl to come and play with us. The princess couldn't be bothered to talk to us and we coudn't play with the jelly beans, cuz they were bagged up. At least the grass felt good under my feet. I changed position, smiled at Elmer anxiously, then saw the girl headed our way.

She reached out and took Elmer. Her hands carefully and lovingly helped Elmer out of his foil attire. Then, tragedy!

A giant hole opened and my poor chocolate buddy was partially shoved into it! I screamed as my pal lost an ear and was set back into his place, still wearing part of his clothes. "Mmmm," the girl said, "Chocolate is SO good!"

Then the hand came for me! I tried to yell, but couldn't. Then the hole opened again and I felt something sharp chomp down on a marshmallow-filled ear before all went black...

So there was me and my chocolate friend, chillin' in our Easter basket, waitin' for the youngster to come and play wit' us. The princess was too stuck-up to rap with us and the jelly beans were useless, bein' wrapped up. At least the grass felt good under my kicks. I moved a bit, smiled at E-man encouragingly, then peeped - PEEP'ed! get it? - the child comin' at us.

She reached out and nabbed Elmer, then took off his clothes, all gentle-like. Then shit got real!

A big-ass hole opened and my choco homie was partways put into it! I shrieked as my man lost an ear and was put back in place, wit' some of his clothes still on. Then that girl started talkin' 'bout how good chocolate is.

Then the hand came for me! I tried to fight, but couldn't. Then that hole opened again and I felt somethin' sharp cut into one'o my gooey ears before everything went all black...

"All this has happened before, and all this will happen again." -Six

Boomer: What is this?

Six: It's called chocolate. I found it on Caprica right before we destroyed the colonies.

Boomer: What is it for?

Six: The humans eat it. They say it's an aphrodisiac.

Boomer: It is safe for Cylons?

Six: We were made in the image of the humans. Of course it's safe.

Boomer: It's so creamy. Melts on the tongue. Can we make it?

Six: I'm not sure of the recipe.

Boomer: That's too bad.

Hybrid: The vessel in danger ... Incoming attack ... JUMP!

Hybrid: Space is restored ... the image of the lion is clear ...

Boomer: I hate these resurrections. Death is so tedious. What's that you have in your hand?

Six: It's called chocolate. I found it on Caprica right before we destroyed the colonies.

Boomer: What is it for?

Six: The humans eat it. They say it's an aphrodisiac.

Boomer: It is safe for Cylons?

Six: We were made in the image of the humans. Of course it's safe.

Boomer: It's so creamy. Melts on the tongue. Can we make it?

Six: I'm not sure of the recipe.

Boomer: That's too bad.

Hybrid: The vessel in danger ... Incoming attack ... JUMP!

Hybrid: Space is restored ... the image of the lion is clear ...

Boomer: I hate these resurrections. Death is so tedious. What's that you have in your hand?

Six: It's called chocolate. I found it on Caprica right before we destroyed the colonies.

Boomer: What is it for?

Six: The humans eat it. They say it's an aphrodisiac.

Boomer: It is safe for Cylons?

Six: We were made in the image of the humans. Of course it's safe.

Boomer: It's so creamy. Melts on the tongue. Can we make it?

Six: I'm not sure of the recipe.

Boomer: That's too bad. Maybe we shouldn't have destroyed the humans after all.

#timeloop #chocolate #BSG #challenge

It has been centuries since you were born. While time is hard to measure, I am entirely certain in my math when it comes to you. Days flash by, each of them meaningless except to count the time since this all began.

Are you even aware how many times you have lived the same day, each playing out identically? I can do nothing more but watch from the sidelines as you make the same mistakes repeatedly, only to suffer the same fate. Still, at the end of each day I force it to reset, hoping for different results.

I am a Goddess, I refuse to let you go. Today, I choose to break the rules, to join you amongst the mortals. Do you even know how lucky you are to be loved by me, one of the many that created this world? I have been watching you for so long, willing these emotions to leave. Here they stay, however, my own creation looming over my shoulder.

That is why I am here, searching this Earth for you. You live in this city and I know you will jump in front of a small, dark red car in approximately one hour. I am uncertain on the reasoning, but I will not let you suffer such a horrendous fate. I will spare you your life in the only way I can as the death is not under my authority as a Goddess.

As I walk these streets my search for you is far more difficult than it was from the clouds above. My eyes wander crowded streets, my body barely aware of the constant contact from those around me as they try to pass by.

Just as I begin to feel hopeless at 5 minutes to the jump I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn to greet a familiar face, a tiny mortal with a chocolate bar in their hand.

“I have an extra. It’s been a long day, but it looks like yours has been worse than mine. Can I help?” You ask, holding out another chocolate bar. Over your shoulder a small, dark red car passes by.

I did not know chocolate tasted so good.

Sir William Hughes was a fly of noble birth; well at least he had been born into a big house. He lived with his sixteen siblings. He was the oldest, and for that reason he was in charge of distracting the Cook so that his younger siblings could land on what ever it was that was being made at the time. Because of this set up, Sir William Hughes did not often get much food. By the time the Cook realized that there were flies on his food he would swat at them and shoo them away. Sir William Hughes hardly ever got to the food in time... 

It just so happened that today was the Master of the House's birthday, and since it was a special day, the Cook was making a chocolate cake. Sir William Hughes liked chocolate cake, or he thought he did anyways – he was not really sure. However, he was determined that this time he would be the first one on the cake, and he would be the one eating while someone else distracted the Cook. He made up his mind and did not wait for any of his siblings. He flew down to the cake and immediately got stuck in the soft gooey chocolate. He did not mind very much; it tasted so wonderful. Before long, the Cook came by and, not seeing Sir William Hughes stuck in the cake, put the chocolate cake into the oven.

                                                                 ~~~

Sir William Hughes was a fly of noble birth; well at least he had been born into a big house. He lived with his sixteen siblings. He was the oldest, and for that reason he was in charge of distracting the Cook so that his younger siblings could land on what ever it was that was being made at the time. Because of this set up, Sir William Hughes did not often get much food. By the time the Cook realized that there were flies on his food he would swat at them and shoo them away. Sir William Hughes hardly ever got to the food in time...

It just so happened that today was the Master of the House's birthday, and since it was a special day, the Cook was making a chocolate cake. Sir William Hughes liked chocolate cake, or he thought he did anyways – he was not really sure. However, he was determined that this time he would be the first one on the cake, and he would be the one eating while someone else distracted the Cook. He made up his mind and did not wait for any of his siblings. He flew down to the cake and immediately got stuck in the soft gooey chocolate. He did not mind very much; it tasted so wonderful. Before long, the Cook came by and, not seeing Sir William Hughes stuck in the cake, put the chocolate cake into the oven.

                                                                  ~~~

Sir William Hughes was a fly of noble birth...

World qx3714d-3 is within range. Atmosphere polluted, but breathable. Signs of previous inhabitation by intelligent life are all over this world, but no sentient life forms detected.

Landing party prepared. Gloru, Mixia, and Colzom. They land on a small peninsula on the Eastern coast of the smaller of the two northern continents; specifically in a large bricked square inbetween a collection of small buildings, what appear to have been product storage and consumption facilities.

Gloru examines a large circular structure in the center of the square. From analyzing their printed images, It believes it to be a "fountain"- a decoration where water is sprayed for the amusement of the inhabitants.

Mixia heads out from the square, to the coastline.

Colzom examines a product storage building. It contains many shelves and displays. In one cabinet are some brown rectangles. Analysis shows it is a food substance. Colzom consumes one. Colzom consumes another. It is the most fantastic substance Colzom ever imagined, or could ever imagine. Colzom looked for the name of this substance. In large letters above the display was the word "Ghirardelli". Colzom did not want to share these few remaining Ghirardells with the others. Colzom started shoving them in its digestive orifices, both simultaneously, until there were none left.

No more Ghirardells.

Colzom panicked.

Time travel is only allowed in the most extreme of emergencies. Colzom took the time bending device, and went back ten years before they arrived. Colzom was with the Ghirardells once again, and there were even more than when it saw them last. The shelves were full of them. There was a whole factory for mixing them and pouring them into vats.

It was in total bliss.

Back in the present, Gloru went looking for Colzom. He found nothing but an empty shop. Gloru received a signal from Mixia. She found something. She found the skeletal remains of one of their own species, who seems to have died almost a decade ago.

Analysis shows excessive consumption of a previously unknown addictive substance, which is toxic to their kind when consumed in large quantities.

They never found Colzom.

plane of existence, after all. The spirit separated from the body - the soul, if you will - is not bound by the rules of space, of time, of dimension. I can, and do, go where and when I want. I see who and what I want to see. I don't "haunt" people, I have no desire to do that. What I do want, though, is to remember the things that I once did: ride a bicycle, go swimming in the Channel, peel an orange. Or, most of all, after a long self-imposed delay, take a small bite of a chocolate bar and feel it melt on my tongue, savoring the warm spread of sweetness through me. 

That is gone now. There is no chocolate here, no oranges. I don't haunt people, but I suppose I do haunt the atoms and molecules left behind by the things I loved doing, the places I loved being. It's not always possible, I admit; sometimes I get frustrated that I can't just reach out and touch the linen tablecloth, or turn the page of the book when the fool whose shoulder I'm reading over hasn't caught up to me yet. Yes, I've broken a mirror or two; yes, I've knocked over a lantern. There are times when all the things I'm not able to do and feel and sense anymore are too much.

Sometimes, not every time, but sometimes the children see me, where I go. I try not to frighten them, I stay in the background or linger in the reflection on a silver-backed comb. Bright moonlight I hate most of all, it brings me out into sharp focus, something I never would have supposed, had I thought of it while I was alive. On moonless nights, I play dolls with the adventuresome ones. In the mornings, they will tell their nannies, I played with the pale girl last night, Nana.

Everything is cold and grey. This is, I have been told - in this life and the one before - eternity. The never-ending of time. I have to laugh when I hear that; everything has an end. Even something so monolithic as time. Surely, nothing can go on Forever. And as I said, I can go anywhere, anytime. The past is the present is the past. I've gone far, far back but I don't like it. I usually stay close to my own time, when I was. 

When you first realize what you are here, you think perhaps it is the end, or the beginning. You might think, dear me I'd give my life for a bite of chocolate and not think it funny until years later. The first time I saw myself in a mirror, I froze, as though I was still alive and seeing a ghost, instead of being one. I lifted my hand, distended my face, tried to scare myself; but all I saw was a thing of gossamer beauty, a girl of moonlight, only in a different

When I was little, my grandmother was larger than life and full of color. It was a shock to see her in the cubby-like room in the Alzheimer’s ward, looking so small and drab. The only thing in the room that was still the same was the rose-shaped candy bowl on the bedside table, brimming with brightly wrapped chocolates.

“I know you,” she said brightly, and the Gram I remembered glittered in her expression. “You’re little Ariel, all grown up.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, sitting on the end of the bed. “I thought I’d drop by. It’s been a long time.”

“Has it?” She squinted at me, her frail hands fluttering up to her white hair to push it from her face. “How old are you, sweetie?”

“Twenty-nine.”

Gram laughed a creaky laugh and shook her head, amazed. “Well, I bet you still have that sweet tooth.” She gestured to the candy bowl and winked. “You got that from me, you know. Help yourself.”

I grinned back and took three.

She kept asking questions, grilling me on trivia from family trips and current events from when I was little. I kept worrying that she’d ask what I’ve been up to, and I’d either have to tell her or lie about all the fucked up unhealthy choices I’ve made my entire adult life, but there was a definite time cutoff for her questions.

Time started looping for Gram while I was in high school. At first it wasn’t noticeable. Then, sometimes, she’d look at me and cluck and say how amazing it was to know that’s how I’d look when I grew up. She thought I was visiting from the future, and that the real me was still innocent. The tiny little old lady with flickers of youth still in her eyes had no clue how badly I’d wasted mine, and I was happy to keep it that way.

When I finished my chocolates and was toying with the idea of taking more, Gram reached the end of her questions. “I think I can remember all that,” she said. “Thank you for coming to tell me, sweetie. Oh— one more question. When will you grow out of the colic? I love you, but you are one fussy baby!”

I told her, and she flashed me the brilliant smile that was a part of all my happiest memories growing up. Leaning forward she tried to reach my knee but ended up patting the blanket instead. “You’re a good girl,” she told me firmly, as if she could make it true by sheer force of will.“You’re a good girl,”she repeated, “with a good heart. Don’t forget.”

“I’ll try, Gram,” I promised. I kissed her forehead and pulled the blanket up for her when she shivered. “I love you.”

I left through the door because I didn’t want to upset her. Gram’s eyesight wasn’t good enough to see that I walked straight through the solid door instead of opening it. 

The Montgomery family has always been strange. People in town know it, and act accordingly. The other schoolchildren are not allowed to play with Vivian or Henry Montgomery, and the adults remain coolly polite to Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery. 

Everyone knows that something about them just isn't quite right. But they never would have guessed that they are witches and warlocks. 

They own a store in town filled with curious items. Only a few people in town have bought something from them, and most of what they purchased caused strange things to happen. 

Mrs. Thompson, for instance, bought a beautiful hand carved grandfather clock. Ever since, she's been insisting that every day is Friday the twelfth or November. 

Jillian Hanley purchased a box of chocolates tied with a silver bow that was just too pretty to pass up. She's been eating a piece a day for months now, and it's always back in the box by the time she opens it again. 

metallic wrappers and feathers fall from the dense scaffolding in the ceiling outside the kitchen. there's an argument and two black birds leave the broken air ventilator only to return (are they the same that left?), flying fast but not carelessly into the vent.

'they're a nuissance,' a man says from the other side of the glass, unwrapping a Snack bar.

'someone is coming on wednesday for them.'

on the other side of the property a black bird is carrying a large stick into a nest outside my window. it's windy and he hovers patiently in the current. the gust dies down and he flies into a crack in the cement wall.

he (or another one?) pokes his head out and cocks it curiously before flying off. 

they don't care if we're here, we are just in their way as we devour everything.