Needing Ice Cream Solo

August 17-- 5:21pm

Ice cream. Katrina's mind had been begging for the sugary sweet ice cold treat all day. Every time her mind had begged for it, Katrina had pushed it aside since she really didn't have enough wizard money for ice cream and food. However, it was now afternoon and she hadn't eaten anything all day so the ice cream only sounded more appetizing. Eventually, she gave into the urge and walked down the street toward the parlor. Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor read the sign by the door. But all Katrina's mind read was ice cream.

Katrina pushed open the door and was overwhelmed by the chill of inside and the scent of heaven. Inside the parlor, it was like summer had never hit, everything was pleasantly cold and Katrina wanted to lay on the ground and soak up the perfect temperature. But the scent of raspberry and praline and bubblegum and peppermint and strawberry and everything else drew her forward. She could taste the cold treat and feel the texture of something she hadn't had in... years. Had it really been years? Well, years no more, she was going to have ice cream.

Katrina walked up to the counter, reading the prices and the flavors and blushing as her stomach loudly gurgled. She could feel the pang in her mouth as her taste buds anticipated that first lick. What to get? What to get? She sort of wanted sour, but also sweet. Would raspberry do the trick? But part of her also wanted the sticky sweet of praline. Katrina stood so rigidly for so long that the person behind the counter gave her a weird look.

Katrina bashfully smiled and ordered the raspberry flavored soft ice cream. The girl handed over the five sickles and waited inpatiently for the ice cream. When the sugary sweet ice cold treat was in her hands, Katrina looked at it with wild eyes. Ice cream. She took a seat at a table near the window and took her first lick. Heaven. That was the perfect word to describe the taste and the expression on Katrina's face.

The soft pink piped ice cream was not only pleasing to the eye, but to every other sense as well. The scent alone was enough to force Katrina's eyes shut and pull her into a sugary dreamland. Then the taste, the perfect blend of sugar and sweet and tart and enticing. And the sound... well, there was no sound. But if there was, it would be just as amazing. She could feel the cold of the cone seep into the palm of her hand. It was so pleasant and just what she needed.

Oh, how long Katrina had yearned for ice cream. The hot insufferable days were nothing you do cools you down. Those days where you have cried all day and just needed a cold treat to give the day some good thing to remember by. Those days where you need a reminder of the good things that still exist and a reminder that heaven can be on earth sometimes. Those were the days when Katrina had pleaded the very earth to bestow upon her ice cream, but it never had.

There was an odd part of Katrina that was glad it hadn't. Because it made this moment even more impactful and glorious and delicious and like a million other describing words. The quiet voice in her head that told her lies and brought up past mistakes was silenced by the treat. Her worries and anxieties were pacified, if momentarily, by the sugar. All of the good things that happened began being brought forth in her mind.

Cold treats on a hot day. A hug she had forgotten. That little blush when she looked at him. The reminder that rainy days bring rainbows. The color teal. Her confidant face when she looked at her dyed hair or felt her little embroidered friend. The wow when her origami dragon flew. The pride when she had done some yardwork or hung up herbs to dry. Her confidence against jeers. Those days were everything seemed funny. Boomerang's soft fur. Pumpkin juice. Popcorn parties and pillow forts. When the rain cleared and the sun shone down. That moment when her friend sat down beside her. That moment when her friend stood up when she couldn't. Finding the magical mirror and finding that friends really do care. When he told her that he cared about her. When a stranger offered earmuffs. Italy. Climbing trees. Drawing. Reading. Learning. There was so much good in her life that she simply needed ice cream to remind her of.

Katrina's heart swelled. Her life had always been a rollercoaster of ups and downs, but this was one of those moments where she was so high up on the crest where she didn't even remember the rollercoaster ever did go down. She felt like she was flying. The oddest part was that she was also remembering the bad times, but in a good way.

When she had gotten the fateful letter and had been sobbing in the bathroom, but then two random Slytherin's had cared enough to pause what they were doing and ask her what was wrong. That time when she was crying and Alyssa had came to her side and done her best to help. When Hackasplat had gotten on her nerves, but then she had been able to startle him. The times when the world seemed so dark, but then Boomerang came up and snuggled her. When she had seen her hearts desire in the mirror, but then Bridget had snapped her out of it and showed her that she cared. The times when people had agreed to take her in and give her a home when she had been so sure that she would have nowhere to go. When she had been hexed and trapped by Mrs. Snob was a deep low, but then Bridget came and helped her.

Katrina was turning dark times into bright spots of light. It truly was real that you have to live through the dark times in order to see the light. And sometimes, you just need ice cream to help that along.