Johnny Choco is a bedtime story I used to tell my kids.

It all started one Easter when Johnny’s dad was away on business and wasn't able to see Johnny that Easter. Instead he sent him a giant chocolate Easter bunny with a note written to Johnny:

“Have a yummy chocolaty Easter.
From,
Daddy Choco.”

From that day on Johnny insisted that his last name was "Choco" and he called himself, Johnny Choco.

Little by little Johnny found himself eating nothing but chocolate.

At night time his mom would tell him to brush his teeth, but Johnny Choco would not brush his teeth with toothpaste.

He would only brush his teeth with chocolate sauce. When he was done brushing he would rinse his mouth out with chocolate milk and then go to bed.

In the morning Johnny Choco would wake up to Choco puff cereal and chocolate milk. His mom would look at him and say,

“Johnny, can’t you eat anything besides chocolate?”

Johnny answered,

“No mom. My name is Johnny Choco and that’s why I have to eat chocolate all the time. Besides if I didn’t eat chocolate I wouldn’t be Johnny Choco.”

His mom said,

“Wait. Don’t forget to eat the lunch I made for you.”

Johnny looked into the paper bag and there were two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and some carrot sticks.

Johnny looked up and said,

“Mom I can’t eat this. There is no Chocolate. At least you should have added some Nutella to the sandwich.”

Johnny’s mom said,

“I’m sorry. There isn’t enough time. You’ve got to catch the bus.”

Johnny said,

“You’re right mom.”

He gave her a hug.
Then secretly stuffed a jar of chocolate sauce in his bag. He wasn’t going to go to school without being prepared.

At lunch Johnny Choco poured chocolate sauce all over his carrots and inside his sandwich. Then he took a look at his sandwich.

It still seemed a little empty, like it was lacking something. That’s when he emptied the bottle of chocolate sauce on the top of the sandwich.

“It’s chocolate fondue.”

He said to his friends.

They laughed, but Johnny did have a problem. He was becoming too much Choco and not enough Johnny. As the afternoon crept by, he craved chocolate more and more.

His teacher called his name.

“Johnny! Are you listening to me? Now answer the question. How far is the earth’s orbit in a year?”

“The earth’s chocolate in a year is about 70,000 tons. But we are running out and that’s a big problem in the Milky Way.”

Johnny didn’t know what he was saying.

The teacher made him stay after school to talk with him.
Everything she talked about he answered with chocolate.

She asked him,

“What’s your name?”

“Choco”

“What’s your dad’s name?”

“Choco”

“What’s your dog’s name?”

“Choco”

“What time did you wake up today?”

He answered,

“Chocolate o’clock.”

“What did you eat for lunch?”

“Chocolate.”

“Where do you live?”

“Chocolate Avenue.”

The teacher couldn’t get very far with Johnny so she called his mother and asked him to pick him up so that she could have a talk with his mother.

Johnny’s mom tried to explain how she always prepared healthy foods for Johnny and encouraged him to eat good things.

“It’s just that his father gave him some chocolate and ever since then Johnny thinks his father is Mr. Choco. He loves to eat chocolate and feels it is a matter of honor to defend the family name. He cannot see himself eating anything but chocolate.”

The teacher strongly encouraged Johnny’s mother to reduce the amount of Chocolate in Johnny’s diet and said goodbye.

In the corridor outside, Johnny Choco had been listening carefully with his ear to the door. As he listened, his ears began to tingle. He wasn’t sure if it was the tingle from the sound of his teacher’s voice or the tingle from his chocolate filled tummy.

Then the tingling in his ears moved to a tingle in his nose and both his ears and his nose had a rather sweet sensation. It’s hard to describe the way he was feeling in any other words but sweet… maybe chocolaty sweet.

When his mom opened the door, she saw Johnny Choco smiling from ear to ear in a trance. The smile was something she was used to, but she was shocked to see the shiny chocolaty ears and the bright chocolaty nose on Johnny’s face. Johnny’s mom couldn’t help but scream.

“CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!”

They brought Johnny to the emergency room immediately. After doing some tests, the doctor came back with a report.

“Your son is chocolate positive. It is a rare form of malignant theobromine tumor. You know how the saying goes? You are what you eat. Ha-huh.”

He chuckled nazzily.

Johnny's mom did not consider this at all funny for the chocolate tumors had spread to most of Johnny’s face except for his eyes and mouth. His face looked like a seven-year-old Mickey Mouse and now the tumors were spreading to his neck.

The doctor had prescribed a milk-based theobromine inhibitor cocktail intravenously.

The doctor told Johnny,

“If you don’t take this treatment you will become the first life sized chocolate Easter Bunny.”

Johnny said,

“Great! I’d love to become a chocolate Easter bunny.”

The doctor explained,

“If you become a life-sized chocolate Easter bunny, you won’t be able to breathe or walk or think. And worst of all you will never be able to eat chocolate again.”

Johnny was scared.

“Doctor, please help me. I promise I will never…”

Just then Johnny felt the prick of a needle and the milk-based theobromine inhibitors were absorbed into his blood. His whole body twitched like he had just touched an electric fence.

He started to spit out some black liquids and felt a little better. His sweat actually consisted of drops of chocolate.

He wanted to lick them up, but his mom warned him,

“As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.”

The treatment went on for the whole night and in the morning the doctor told Johnny he could go home. For a week he was not allowed to eat any chocolate and then after that he was restricted to only one ounce per day.

Johnny and his mom were exhausted. His mom parked the car in the driveway and opened the front door. Right in front of them sitting on the living room sofa was Johnny’s dad.

He was stuffing a Milky Way bar in his mouth. The look of his wife and son at the door made Johnny’s dad jump.

“Mr. Choco! What in heaven’s name are you doing laying on the couch eating chocolate when your son has been in the hospital. You will be next if you don’t watch it.”

Johnny’s mom did not want to see another choco bunny in the house. Both Johnny Choco and his father started eating other foods besides chocolate.

Johnny's mom was glad they never turned into chocolate Easter bunnies. However she was shocked one day when she found Choco’s father sitting on the sofa drinking Kahula coffee.

Now Johnny wants to be called Johnny Coffee.