"I was a young mochi back then", began Mo.

"Barely a day old, and as yet devoid of self-awareness, I was placed along with my brethren for my Softening."

"Your.... Softening?" Asked the chomp.

"Oh yes", replied Mo.

"We are frozen after a scoop of ice-cream is placed inside the baked rice dough. This is when we first form shape. It is an important phase in our life-cycle, for almost everything that can be found aesthetically pleasing in a mochi, like the symmetry or the degree of roundness, is determined then. Once that is complete begins the Softening. This is when the fresh and young mochi is made to melt, or soften a little. We're not heartless, you know."

Except that you are, mused the chomp.

"And I suppose the final stage in your life-cycle is in the guts of a chomp?"

"Nah. It's the morning after, when the chomp needs to answer the call of nature", responded Big-mon.

"Anyway", interrupted Mo testily, piqued that the flow of its story was being broken.

"As I sat there Softening, I was picked up. In fact, that is when my ability to recollect anything begins. I assume that is also when I gained sentience."

"I soon realized that I was not the only dessert being kidnapped. There were others of my kind, ice-cream mochi and various daifuku. There were also the desserts of other nations - baklavas and halvas and puddings and even mini-cupcakes - stuck to the icing covering the top and lining the sides of the massive cake."

"Wait a minute", said the chomp.

"Did you say you were nabbed by a cake?"

"Yeah", replied Mo.

"It was a big one, bout' half your height."

The chomp chuckled.

"I've seen worse", he commented.

"We squeaked and we begged to be let go."