I think I was having fun with alliteration and descriptive language, and probably craving some ice cream. Thanks for checking out this less than 6 minute story on my Flash Fiction marathon that I call Flash August Fiction. I’m sorry, not sorry, if I made you hungry.
Marly is having a nice day in the park. She has a spot on a bench, the temperature is comfortable, and she has her knitting bag. First, she’s going to enjoy some ice cream. Her ice cream is from the little store across the street. It’s made right there.
She reaches into her knitting bag and pulls out the long sundae spoon she brought for the occasion. Long sundae spoons are a great way to eat ice cream, even if you’re not having a sundae. When holding the spoon close to the end of the handle, it’s really hard to make a mess of one’s hand and the container. All that space between the handle and the ice cream creates a smear buffer. A mess free zone.
That’s really smart, she’s a smart lady. Now, she opens the container of ice cream, with the branding, These Three Things™. Their natural base product consists of cream, milk, and sugar, then whatever flavor they make, she sees a nice layer of pecans and with sparsely placed butter-maple sauce. Just ridiculous, she pries one of the pecans up and samples it. The rest of them, she begins pushing down into the ice cream to properly mix it in.
She’s delighted as she uses her spoon to scrape the lid of the container. That’s the soft, sweet stuff with some sauce and melted cream stuck to it. She then gently pulls some little frozen rolls of plain ice cream onto her spoon. It’s not teeth shatteringly sweet, and the vanilla is not over applied. It’s quite pleasing.
As she dives in deeper, she pulls one of the maple butter sauce laden pecans and an equal amount of ice cream. She smiles like she’s emerging from a cool lake on a hot day, and sees one of her neighbors, across the street, passing by the ice cream shop with his dog. She waves gleefully with her long sundae spoon.
Marly is having a hard time taking her time, but she does it. She controls her urges, and she tries to construct and experience each spoonful differently. She applies ice cream to the back of the ladle, with a pecan inside it, she covers the ladle in ice cream and then presses a pecan, affixing it. She can try as many ways as she wants. The long sundae spoon handle protects her from any stickiness or insect attraction. As long as she keeps the handle of the spoon at a higher elevation than the ladle, she’ll be fine. That’s what she does.
She’s finally at the bottom of the container, saving a particular pecan for the end. She scrapes down the sides of the container, and pushes all the leftover melted cream and sauce into a pool with the pecan, and in a singular swipe, scoops up, and cherishes the chewiness. She places her container and spoon on the bench next to her. Then, in a side pocket of her knitting bag, there is a moist towelette package. She wipes her hands and the spoon. She places the towelette waste in the ice cream container and covers that, placing it to the side, and places her long sundae spoon back into the knitting bag.
Then, from bag, she pulls her knitting. She is safe to knit with all delicate and woolly yarn as she would like. There will not be a sticky, scratchy, unwieldy mess. There is not a sign of ice cream or sauce on her hands, or wrists, or arms. She brings her long sundae spoon for these occasions, as she is a smart lady.
The End
601 Words
Aren’t you glad she didn’t have sticky hands, and then start with the yarn?
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