It would be wonderful if there really was such a thing as a chocolate fire guard.
It would just melt!
I know. But that's the point.
Well, I think, if there is anywhere it could be found, it would be in the house on the hill.
The house on the hill? The house of the withered curtains?
Yes.
No! The house of painted layers all peeling?
Yes, the very one.
But how?
The old man who lives there once was a famous chocolatier.
The old man who takes every step as though the earth will subside beneath him? He doesn't look like a chocolatier.
Do you know what a chocolatier looks like?
I suppose... A bit like Santa without the beard.
This old man is a chocolatier. I could ask him to make us a chocolate fireguard.
I'm not sure. Somehow I expect that his chocolate would be like sugar barley sweets from the corner of an old lady's bag, abandoned and sticky and coated in fluff.
Don't be silly. He is an expert. Renowned!
But his house is decrepit and he looks condemned.
Only in the Summer. In Winter time, when the clocks go back, that house comes to life and so does he.
It all sounds very magical.
It is magical. Chocolate is magical. And a chocolate fireguard is the most magical thing in the world.
Okay, let's go to the house on the hill, right now! Are you coming?
It would just melt!
I know. But that's the point.
Well, I think, if there is anywhere it could be found, it would be in the house on the hill.
The house on the hill? The house of the withered curtains?
Yes.
No! The house of painted layers all peeling?
Yes, the very one.
But how?
The old man who lives there once was a famous chocolatier.
The old man who takes every step as though the earth will subside beneath him? He doesn't look like a chocolatier.
Do you know what a chocolatier looks like?
I suppose... A bit like Santa without the beard.
This old man is a chocolatier. I could ask him to make us a chocolate fireguard.
I'm not sure. Somehow I expect that his chocolate would be like sugar barley sweets from the corner of an old lady's bag, abandoned and sticky and coated in fluff.
Don't be silly. He is an expert. Renowned!
But his house is decrepit and he looks condemned.
Only in the Summer. In Winter time, when the clocks go back, that house comes to life and so does he.
It all sounds very magical.
It is magical. Chocolate is magical. And a chocolate fireguard is the most magical thing in the world.
Okay, let's go to the house on the hill, right now! Are you coming?