Beyond The Glowing Whirlpool

Chapter 58: THE ICY TREAT

After their visit to the memorial park, they took a long walk down the beach with Stacie telling Ivar all her most favorite memories of time spent there with her family. Ivar listened to her with great intrigue, if only for a reason it made him feel like a part of her world. He gently held her hand as they walked, while she gazed into the vastness of the ocean, reminiscing on the happy times of her childhood. She seemed extremely happy at this moment, holding on to the man she loved on one side, and her mother on the other, who was pushing a stroller with her adopted little baby inside it. They spent practically an entire day, giving Ivar a tour through their city and he was enjoying every bit of it. In fact, he was just extremely happy in general because he had the pleasure of basking in the affectionate glim of Stacie's eyes. Which seemed unrealistically blue in the backdrop of this grayish, cold day. They walked down the street alongside the coast which had all sorts of shops and landmarks lined up against it. Despite the chilly weather, the city was bustling with life, and people, especially women, stopped to gape at Ivar when they passed by just like Janice predicted. This annoyed Ivar a bit since he hated any attention, but Stacie managed to keep him distracted with her chatter. Suddenly, she gasped, startling him a bit, and pulled him up to one particular kiosk.

-Oh, no way! This place is still here?! - She exclaimed with a kid-like excitement.

-It would seem so... - Replied her mother, sounding just as surprised, making Ivar wonder what's so special about that particular shop.

-Oh, man! It's been ages since I last visited it! Talk about a taste of nostalgia! We've got the get some! Ivar, you're in for a treat! This is the best ice cream I've ever tried! As a matter of fact, I haven't had any ice cream in a while, so this is double the treat!

Ivar looked at her at a loss and just followed her. He had no idea what "ice cream" was so it was difficult for him to imagine what kind of "treat" would it be. Besides, he was still a bit untrusting of any other earthling consumables, besides Stacie's cooking. But for Stacie's sake, he was willing to give anything she wishes, a try. If only to prove to her how much she means to him.

-What do you want mom? - She glanced at her mother. - My treat.

-Actually I will have a strawberry banana milkshake instead of ice cream. It would be hard for me to eat it while pushing a stroller.

-Alright, as you wish. Then I'll get myself a large bowl of raspberry peach with chocolate fudge to share with Ivar.

Stacie got into a short line that consisted of three people ahead of her, dragging Ivar along, while her mother waited on the with the stroller, sitting down on the nearby bench. The people before her were served pretty quickly and it was their turn. There were two clerks at the stand. Stacie placed her order, and they began to work on it very nimbly. A sweet, fruity yet cool fragrance reached Ivar's nose accompanied by something very creamy and aromatic that was foreign to him. One of the clerks pulled up a tall clear cup and began to blend the fruits along with some liquids while the other one did something entirely strange. Onto a flat, round surface that resembled a large cooktop, she poured some white mixture and began to quickly mix it. To Ivar's surprise, the mixture, instead of sizzling, began to freeze. Then she added some chopped up fruit to the mixture, mixed it again and spread it into a thin layer all over the strange surface. Using a flat spatula, she began scraping it, creating neat rolls. She placed the rolls inside a certain dish that looked like a paper bowl, decorated it with some more fruits, and drizzled some dark brown liquid over the whole thing. Both clerks worked so skillfully, that in a very short while Stacie was holding both her orders.

-Here you go. - She handed a tall cup also decorated with fruit on top and a straw sticking out of the opening in a dome-shaped clear cap to her mother. - And here you go. - She gave Ivar a small, white spoon. - So so pretty! - She admired her 'treat' for a good moment. - No matter how many times I see the process of Thai-style ice cream being made, it just never gets old. I mean, just look at those perfect rolls! Hey, Ivar, can you hold it for a moment? I gotta take a picture of it. Ooh, Alice is gonna be so jelly when I show it to her...