The door clicked behind her, leaving only the dim light through the transom. She put the chocolate in her mouth and shut her eyes.

A faint, cardboardy sound made her open them. The lids were gently lifting on the boxes of stars.

They spilled out and whirled up into the shadows of the cupboard, brilliant against the darkness, a galaxy in miniature, gently spinning.

Susan watched them for a while, and then said, “All right, you have my full attention, whoever you are.”

At least, that was what she meant to say. The peculiar stickiness of the nougat caused it to come out as: “Allite, you ot my fo' a'nen'on, oover ooah.” Damn!

The stars spiralled around her head, and the cupboard's interior darkened into interstellar black.

“If iss is oo, Def o' Raffs—” she began.

“It's me,” said Lobsang.

Tick

Even with nougat, you can have a perfect moment.

The End