Sweeter Than Summer

11 | candy crush

"What about ..."

I tapped my pencil to the end of my chin, wracking my brains for the name of any ice cream I had created. Inventing flavors was my strong suit – remembering them, it turned out, was not.

Thankfully, Poppy could recall almost everything that had ever happened to her. She could remember the color of the shoes she wore on the first day of first grade with the same ease I could whip together a batch of mocha chip. "Pumpkin pie?" she suggested. "The Thanksgiving special?"

"I completely forgot about that," I said, adding it to the end of my (still short) list. Most of the page was filled with my absentminded doodles instead of actual possibilities.

"Sugar cookie? Pecan caramel crunch? Peanut brittle?"

"I can't write that fast."

"Then write faster."

Now that July had started, and I had survived a couple of driving lessons, it was time to decide what flavor I would be submitting into the contest less than two months away. Which meant putting my not-so-sharp memory to the test, trying to compile my best inventions in one place during the slow part of our shift. Poppy was determined to help me, but Wyatt, after lingering awkwardly behind the counter for barely a few minutes, had disappeared into the freezer without any suggestions.

I finished the last 'e' with a little loop, glancing up at Poppy. "Okay. You can continue now."

"Let me think."

She had plenty of time to think - just then, the door chimed, and I set our list aside so I could call out, "Welcome to Franny's!" to the well-tanned man who walked in. He had a towel wrapped around both shoulders, and he gripped each end in his fists. "What can I getcha?"

Instead of answering, he narrowed his eyes at the chalkboard above my head. "Do you have pineapple?"

"We have a strawberry pineapple sorbet," I offered.

"Nevermind. What about about that – uh – that one I had last time?"

"Could you be more specific? What did it have in it?"

This question stumped him. "It had ... I think it had ..."

"Was it vanilla, or strawberry, or cho –"

"Chocolate, it was definitely chocolate. With cookies in it. My daughter knows, I have a soft spot for macadamia nuts."

"Chocolate triple cookie crumble," I told him, "that was the old Flavor of the Day, so, we don't have that right now."

"So?"

"It's discontinued," Poppy chimed in.

He frowned. "What does that mean?"

"Unavailable until further notice."

Still frowning, he squinted up at the flavors again. "Explain 'candy crush' to me."

"It's a vanilla ice cream, with m & m's, snickers bars, milky ways, heath bars, and kit kats," I said, "The name is a play on the popular game Candy Crush Saga, except it is being used to describe the literal presence of a variety of candies in the ice cream. And the fact that most of them aren't intact."

He looked at me blankly. "Now tell me about that pineapple sorbet again."

I did, then explained chocolate triple cookie crumble again, then explained that we didn't have it, then explained why we didn't have it, before the man decided on three scoops of blueberry swirl. After him, there was a family of five, and then some sunburnt newlyweds, but once they were gone, Poppy and I could get back to our list.