“Ice Cream”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Prompt: “Why would you do that?”

“Why would you do that?” Percy whines, his cheeks bright red. “You made me look like a kid in front of…” He pauses for a moment. His eyes dart around for a moment to make sure that we’re alone before he whispers, “Ellie.”

I chuckle and ruffle his hair. “You are a kid, Perce,” I remind him.

“No I’m not!” he says, crossing his arms and stomping his foot.

As he pouts, I shake my head. Honestly, he’s such a typical child.

“Hey,” I say, nudging him, “how about we go get some ice cream.”

Immediately, his pout is gone. His eyes light up and he practically begins jumping up and down.

“Yes, yes, yes!” he squeals.

“Reggie’s?” I ask.

“Yeah! Let’s go to Reggie’s!” he yells, dancing around. “We’re going to get ice cream!”

I chuckle and drag him out of the mall. “Come on then, you don’t have to make such a big scene.”

He continues singing about ice cream as we walk to the entrance of the mall.

The doors slide open. Immediately, a putrid smell invades my nostrils.

“Ew,” Percy snorts, wrinkling up his nose. “What’s that?”

I stare out at the world in front of me. I can’t decide if my heart’s beating too fast for me to tell or if it’s just stopped entirely.

“Oh,” Percy whispers, coming to stand beside me.

We stare out at the burnt landscape together. I can’t wrap my mind around what could’ve possibly happened.

Percy slowly tucks his hand into mine. “I guess we’re not going to get ice cream, are we?”

I shake my head and suck in a deep breath. “No, I don’t think so, Perce. At least, not for a while.”

Final Comments: Oh come on, you didn’t really think that it’d just be a nice little story about going to get ice cream, did you?

Overall Rating: 😈