Ice Cream Melts

The sun’s rays still beat down hot as the afternoon slowly faded to evening.  A breeze blew off the water as we stepped outside on the sidewalk, leaving behind the coolness of the air-conditioned store.  The light and heat were startling after the dark cool of the little shop.  Tightly clenched in each of our hands were beige colored cones filled with hard ice cream, the old-fashioned way.  No frozen yogurt for us, no sir!

The sweetness of the chocolate slid coolly down my throat as I licked the delicious frozen treat.  The street was quiet and you could hear the crashing of the waves on the distant shore the other side of the jetty.  All life’s troubles and cares seemed to fade away with each and every lick of ice cream.  I stood simply enjoying the moment a seeming perfect end to a great day at the beach.

I brought the cone to my mouth for another sumptuous taste as the ice cream was quickly beginning to melt under the hot sun.  A small drop splashed on my thumb and I jerked a little.  Tilting my hand to lick it off, the softening mound of velvety chocolate ice cream slowly rolled off the cone splashing onto my wrist before rolling down the inside of my forearm leaving behind a stream of light brown.

I watched in horror as this misshapen ball of ice cream now tittered on the edge.  I froze everything happening in super slow motion as it hung there for a second as if suspended by an invisible string before gravity took hold.  Still in slow motion I watched as it fell through the air until colliding with the unforgiving concrete of the sidewalk and splatting in all directions.

Standing silently still I watched as the ice cream slowly began to melt into an ever-widening chocolate pool.  I continued to stand and stare with wide eyes as my family had begun to walk away down the sidewalk.  I could neither shout nor cry as I was lost in this moment when all that was important in my young life had seemingly and so easily slipped away from me.

It was then that I heard the gulls and their mocking cries.  Laughing at my loss and anticipating their possible good fortune once I had moved on.  I raised my head and finally taking a step to walk away I heard the music coming from inside the ice cream shop.  It stopped me as I heard the lyrics being sung over the sound of the gulls, “Oh yea, they say life goes on’ long after the thrill of living is gone.”  As I walked away I thought to myself ‘I don’t get it.’

The above was written for Free Write Friday from the lyrical prompt  “Oh yea, they say ‘life goes on’ long after the thrill of living is gone”, using what is called stream of consciousness writing, no editing, no proofing just writing! Please check out Kellie Elmore’s official site or click on the Free Write Friday Image for more information. 

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