Hannah's Ice Cream

It was Sunday. 

For the employees of Chick-Fil-A, that meant no work. For Novah, that meant ice cream. 

It was a personal tradition for her to ice cream every week. She wanted something to look forward to. She wanted a sweet, cold, delight to soothe any troubles away. 

This week, in the heat of mid-June, she was in the mood for chocolate ice cream. So, she began to head down to her local ice cream shop: Hannah’s. 

Hannah’s Ice Cream had been her favorite since she was 10 years old. That’s when it first opened. It had all of her favorite flavors, from mint chocolate chip to cappuccino. She had actually met the owner of Hannah’s, (Hannah,) when she accompanied her mother to a business meeting. 

Novah’s mother was a VIP. She was the mayor. Everyone respected her, and every business owner had to get her permission before they started a business in her town. She was a good mayor, or so was the opinion of most people. She wasn’t too friendly, but you could tell she governed the people with assiduity and prioritized their prosperity above all else. Some say she was born to be mayor.

The reason that Novah’s mother was an unhappy person is simple: Twenty-one years before, when Novah was just two years old, Novah’s father died. It didn’t have much effect on Novah, as she was so young, but the same could not be said for the mayor. Her husband had died. She was just twenty-two years old, young and carefree.

Because of this, everyone knew who Novah was. She was good with names and faces, and the town was small, so she knew them, too. Her community was a friendly one where even the quidnuncs seldom gossiped negatively. 

As Novah walked to Hannah’s, she saw a shiny, fancy, black car that she had never seen before. She smiled. She wondered who just bought it. She saw a man in a suit next to it. She hung her purse on her shoulder and began strolling over to him. 

“Hi!” she said, grinning. She expected to see Robert, Samuel, or even Stephen. But when the man turned around, she saw a face whose name she could not say. 

She had never seen this man before. 

She didn’t know what it was about him, but something, something set her off. She froze. Her smile fell; her arms dropped; her purse slipped; her eyes widened. It seemed as though someone pulled a plug that drained all the color from her normally vividly tanned face. 

The man didn’t smile. His mouth remained a straight line. His face was perfectly smooth; there were no smile or frown wrinkles. He was devoid of any emotion. The only thing remarkable about him was his deep, vivid blue eyes, contrasted against his colorless porcelain skin. Everything else looked common. He had a plain black suit and tie with a white shirt underneath. He had light hair, typically slick with gel. He had a simple black briefcase. (What it was for, she did not know.) 

Then, he turned around. He looked away. He took no notice of a scared girl with long, curly brown hair as she stared at him. He got in his car. He drove away. 

Still cemented to the spot, she slowly came back to her senses. She looked down. Oh, no! she thought. When her purse fell, her perfume bottle had rolled out and broke open. She groaned. She’d have to walk back home to replace her purse. She couldn’t very well enjoy her ice cream if all she could smell was the vigorous scent of lavender. 

On the way home, she thought about the man. She wondered who he was. What business did he have in this small town on the edge of Tennessee? 

Her thoughts were interrupted by the rumble of an engine. She was home, but the sound was an unfamiliar one. She looked in the direction of it. It was the same black sports car and the same strange man! He was driving away from her house! She very nearly dropped her purse again. 

Thankfully, she found her spine before that happened again. However, she was still startled. She ran inside. 

She hoped to find her mother inside, but it was no use. Novah’s mother was rarely home. She only saw her sister, Aurora. She was one year old when their father died, and didn’t know him well. Like Novah, losing him wasn’t something she could remember. It was a good thing in many ways. If she felt the pain of loss, she might not have been as positive and amazing as she was.

Aurora lived up to her name. She was like the light in Novah’s life. Novah would always tease her, saying that while “aurora” meant the faint glow of daybreak, “nova”, Novah’s namesake, meant a bright star that could be seen from millions of miles away. But the opposite was more appropriate. 

Novah thought of herself as common. It wasn’t a bad thing. It just meant she wasn’t very noticeable, which Novah actually quite enjoyed when out of town. But Aurora was extraordinary. Her brown hair was, unlike Novah’s, shiny and wavy. Her eyes were deep honey brown, as golden as the dawn she was named after. Aurora had always been the beautiful, ladylike one, even though she was a year younger. 

Novah certainly thought about telling her about the man, but thought better of it, as Aurora was likely to grin and tease her for being paranoid. Besides, the man was probably just lost. 

She had a feeling that her sister was going to ask her why she was back. She began walking up the stairs. Wait for it... “What’re you doing back?” There it is.  

“I got startled. My purse dropped and my perfume spilled all over it.” 

She smirked. “Did a squirrel jump out at you again?” Novah shuddered. Squirrels were probably her biggest phobia. She was scared of them, as squirrels are fast, small, and stealthy. “No, but it’s not a big deal. I just... I got spooked by a car.” 

“Oki, doki. Well, if you didn’t already get it, I’m in the mood for some ice cream. Can I come with?” 

Novah shrugs. “Sure; why not?” So, she changed her purse and Novah left for Hannah’s (again) with her arguably little sister. 

The two sisters ate ice cream. Novah changed her mind about chocolate ice cream. She needed something richer, more indulgent. She normally got one scoop. This time, she got two. Novah got a cone, one scoop of dark chocolate and one of mint chip. Aurora was simple and easy to please. She just got vanilla in a bowl. The two walked home, laughing. Novah had spilled the dark, no-longer-ice cream all over her white shirt after she ignored the paper containers, against Aurora’s advice, on a hot day. It smelled gross, like medicine, and she was, honestly, just grateful it didn’t taste like it. The rest of the day went smoothly for the two sisters. In fact, the rest of the week did, but for a sighting of the man looking at her through a window. (I must be imagining things, she thought.) All was well until the next Sunday. 

*

A week had passed. Sunday had come again. Again, it was time for ice cream. Going out for ice cream was pretty much the only time Novah left the house. She was more of an indoor person than outdoor. She preferred drawing to sports. This past week, she hadn’t left the house at all. As she walked to the ice cream store, she realized she was more afraid of this man than she thought. She saw those blue eyes staring at her from an alley. She saw his car parked on the road. She heard his vehicle’s engine roar, echoing off of the buildings around her. Just imagining things; I’m just imagining things... She saw him standing on the other side of the street, watching her, briefcase in hand. Just imagining things. She got three scoops of ice cream. 

The next two days continued the same. She saw him everywhere. Out the window, on the streets, in his awful car. She felt as though she was going crazy. By the first Wednesday of July, she had grown indifferent to him. 

She felt like going for a walk. So, she did. Up ahead, she saw a silhouette next to a pond. When she got there, she saw that the figure was the man was waiting for her. “What do you want? Why do you keep following me everywhere?” For the first time, he spoke. 

She expected his voice to be crisp, clear, and deep. Instead, it was high and strewn with stutters. “I-I didn’t m-mean to frigh-t-ten you. It’s j-just that y-your mother is in danger.” Novah scoffed. “So, you stalk me for two weeks? Why should I believe you? I don’t even know your name.” The man sighed. “It’s Adam, a-and I know b-because I’m a p-police officer and I’ve been assigned to the case of a killer in your area. He’s obsessed w-with politicians.” She scoffed yet again. “So, why didn’t you just go directly to her?” He smiled. “M-my colleagues are w-working with her and guarding her at all t-times. I’m just here for you. Since you’re her daughter, y-you are, too. 

“Your mother told them not to interfere with your schedule,” he finished. Novah rose an eyebrow. “Why are you coming to me now?” He just shrugged. “You l-looked nervous and your m-mother said that w-we could talk to you after a week.” She thought carefully. She decided she trusted him. It was easy for her to believe his story, as her brain was ready to accept anything if it meant she wasn’t crazy.

“Well, then, I want to meet whoever’s protecting my sister. She should know, too.” But Adam didn’t seem to know what she was talking about. “Sister? W-we were never told about a sister,” he said, confused. Novah’s heart jumped out of her chest. Aurora.

Her head was spinning as she ran as fast as she could towards home. Oh, no, no, no… What she was going to do when she got there, she didn’t know. It all made sense! Adam’s colleagues were told about Aurora, but when they sent him the information, it was intercepted by the murderer, who got rid of the files on her!

Novah finally reached her family’s house. She threw the door open and rushed inside. She searched the entire first floor; then the second; then the third. The only floor left was the fourth, the top level, occupied by the bedrooms.

Novah forcefully pulled open the door to Aurora’s room. When she did, there was somebody on the bed: Aurora.

Aurora looked up. “Uhh… Is something wrong?” Panting, Novah explained everything in a string of jumbled words. Aurora looked skeptical. “And you believed him?” She quickly stood up as her expression changed to concern. “Are you okay, Novah?” But Novah didn’t understand. “Why don’t you believe him? Don’t you get it? Can’t you see it?” Suddenly, a cold laugh erupted from behind her. She spun around. There he was. Adam. In the panic, she hadn’t noticed that he was following her.

Aurora saw him, too. But instead of paling, freezing, and becoming speechless as Novah did at first, she suddenly flushed, began shifting from foot to foot, and began stuttering worse than him. “H-hi-i. I-I’m A-Aur-rora.” But he just smirked. “Oh, I know who you are.” Novah turned to him. She cocked her head. “But… I didn’t tell you anything about her excep—” He cut her off. “You didn’t need to.” Novah was naively ignorant. “What?”

Adam’s smirk remained. “Your mother will be coming for you soon.” He laughed. “She’ll give me anything I want in exchange for you two.” He walked over to a desk, pink and scattered with drawings of Aurora. “Gifts from Novah, yes?” Neither sister said anything. Adam placed his briefcase on top of the pictures. He opened it. Inside was a bottle, filled with a gross-looking syrupy liquid.

 The swill was dark. In fact, it was the color of dark chocolate ice cream. He opened it. It reeked of medicine, like Novah’s chocolate stained white shirt.

He spun around to face Novah. Without warning, he shoved it into her mouth. The liquid dripped down her throat. 

When he pulled away the bottle, it was empty. Novah fell to the floor.

Then, he turned to face Aurora, who was mute with shock. He smiled. “The game is afoot. Are you ready?”

*

           Aurora didn’t know what to do. How typical of Novah to get us into this mess. But, then again, it wasn’t her fault. It’s this psycho. He’s the reason she’s knocked out cold on the floor and I’m scared out of my wits. She glanced at Novah. Still not moving.

           Suddenly, Aurora was hit with a chilling thought. Is she… dead? Her heart started pounding. It grew hard to breathe.

She fainted.

           Aurora had secretly hoped that Adam would try to figure out what was wrong with her so that she could break his nose and escape. But, to her dismay, he just laughed. “I was going to knock you out, but it seems you’ve saved me the trouble.”

           Suddenly, there was a slam. It was the mayor throwing open the door with determination, a mother bear coming for her cubs. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY CHILDREN?!” she screamed, furious and desperate. Adam’s mouth curled into a feral smile. “Ah. There she is. The mayor got my message, after all.” He sighed. “This’ll all be over soon,” he said as he exited the room.

           Aurora opened her eyes. She crawled over to her sister. “Novah!” she whispered. “Novah! He left!” There was silence. “Novah, please wake up.” The silence stretched on.

Aurora held her breath as she checked Novah’s pulse. She exhaled with relief. It was weak, but it was still there. She realized that maybe Novah couldn’t wake up without some sort of medicine. Maybe her best chance was stopping Adam on her own. But how? she thought. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head.

*

The mayor stood in the doorway of her house, tree branch in hand, ready to stab, club, or do something unpleasant to whoever thought it was a good idea to kidnap her children. She was shaking with fear. This is all my fault, she thought. I should’ve been here for them. She shook her head. No. There’s no room for guilt. Only getting my kids back. Get it together, Margaret.

Her daughters were her world. Margaret was given such a common, boring name, so she made it her goal to give her children mystical, beautiful names. “Novah” and “Aurora” were her choice, and caught the attention of many other people who heard them. It delighted her to see her daughters getting along, as she did with her sister, Elizabeth.

           Liz was the elder daughter; “Meg” was the younger. Lizzie’s nickname for her made her happy, as did Margaret’s nickname for Liz. She wished Aurora and Novah would nickname each other like she and Lizzie had. Margaret had suggested “Ra” or “Rory” for Aurora, (she was quite proud of that one), and “No” or “Va” for Novah. Much to her surprise, they didn’t like them! The minds of young people confused her.

           But something she wasn't confused about was that she was getting them and their strange minds back.

           She could hear footsteps coming down the stairs. Thump, thump, thump, thump… The footsteps grew louder. THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP… They grew louder still. THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.

           There he was. The man; the kidnapper. The fool. Meg’s grip on the stick tightened. This man was about to get hurt. “What did you do with my children?” He smiled. “They’re fine. Just passed out on the bedroom floor.” Meg’s face grew hot with anger. Her skin was light, so her face turned a vibrant red color. She could imagine her kids’ bronze faces, which they got from their father, unconscious on the floor. She was ready to kill this man, to do whatever was necessary to see her daughters’ eyes open again.

She charged at him.

           It was stupid; she knew it was, but she didn’t care. Adam raised an eyebrow and smirked in amusement. All he had to do was push her aside and she stumbled over the railing, falling six feet down.

She passed out.

           And that’s how the house came to contain three unconscious people—or so Adam thought.

           Upstairs, Aurora frantically prepared what she needed to. She used a phone, shoe, belt. She was ready.

           Adam stood on the staircase. Why did I do that? Ugh. This is stupid. These people lose consciousness too easily. And then he heard it. Sirens. His heart started beating. Oh, no. He needed to escape.

           He couldn’t escape through the front door. He couldn’t escape through the back door. No, they’d predict that. The best course of action was to jump out of the upstairs side window. He began running.

           Aurora stood in the hall, smiling. “Nope.” In her hand was a sharp high heel attached to a belt like a mace. He turned around to jump through a different window in a different room. But he was met with a dead end. Aurora advanced. He had nowhere to go. Police officers came inside and arrested him.

           Novah was brought back into consciousness. Margaret, the mother, the mayor, went to the hospital and turned out to be alright. She also met a cop who turned out to be a good match for her. They made a happy couple. Aurora was a hero.

           The family lived a happy life—free of Adam, who didn’t have such a great one.

He went to jail. The game was over.

THE END

GrapefruitZ, 13