Ice Cream and Patience/Transcript

It was a lovely day on Harvey Street, although it didn't seem like that to the Harvey Girls. Today it had been announced that the ice cream truck wouldn't be visiting the neighborhood. Although all of the kids were sad to hear the news, the Harvey Girls were the most disappointed of all. Luckily, it wouldn't be long before they discovered there was more than one way to acquire some of the frozen treats they desired... even if it was something they had to wait a couple of hours for.

Audrey, Dot and Lotta sat on the curb, all three of them looking unhappy over their problem.

"I can't believe the ice cream truck isn't coming to Harvey Street today," Lotta lamented.

"Me neither!" replied Audrey. "If those stupid Bloogey Boys hadn't taken all the ice cream and ice pops yesterday, maybe we'd be eating some of those right now!"

"Yes, it's quite unfortunate," Dot said in agreement.

"There's gotta be some way we can enjoy some super yummy ice cream..." Lotta placed both of her hands on her cheeks as she sulked.

Just then, Dot’s eyes lit up, and a smile appeared on her face. She’d gotten an idea. "I've got it! Both of you, follow me to the trailer at once!"

All three of the Harvey Girls headed into their trailer as fast as their legs could carry them. As soon as they'd gotten there, Dot opened one of the cupboards and looked inside. Finally, she found what she was looking for.

"Here it is!" said Dot. She pulled it out, a pink box covered with images, words and a bit of dirt. "The Ultra Delicious Ice Cream Making Machine 5000! In other words, an ice cream maker."

Audrey and Lotta smiled when they saw the box.

"Wow, Dot, that sounds convenient!" said Lotta.

"You said it! But you think it can make ice cream as good as the ice truck can make it?" Audrey wanted to know.

"But of course," Dot replied. She pulled out a small fur duster and began stroking the box with it, brushing the splotches of dust from it. "As long as we follow its directions and add the right ingredients, we too can make frozen treats for us and our friends to enjoy."

Her nose began to tickle from the dust that was rising from the box, but she rubbed it a few times with her hand to relieve the itch, as well as keep herself from needing to sneeze. Thankfully, that worked, so she removed the ice cream maker from the box and set it on the counter. Then she took the plug and placed it into a nearby outlet.

That was when Lotta picked up the instruction booklet and began to read. “First, add ice to bottom of machine.”

Audrey reached behind her for a moment and pulled out a bag of ice cubes, which she poured in the bottom of the machine.

”Add salt to ice to keep it from melting,” Lotta continued, “then place metal bowl into machine, bottom first.”

Audrey picked up a salt shaker and began shaking it up and down, watching as the salt particles came falling onto the ice. Once the shaker had been emptied, she put it aside, then picked up a steel bowl that came with the ice cream maker, and placed it over the ice and salt.

”Now for the ice cream making part,” said Lotta. “We’ll need some milk…”

”Milk!” Audrey picked up a small carton of milk and poured it into the bowl, until the carton had been emptied. She placed it aside.

”Then some cream…”

”Cream.” Dot picked up a carton of cream, one that was the same size as the carton of milk, and poured it into the bowl, until this carton was empty as well.

“And then some white sugar,” said Lotta. “I’ll take care of that, and then we’ll have to stir it.”

She put down the instructions for a moment, then picked up a measuring cup that she filled with sugar. After making sure it was the right amount, she poured it into the bowl, then moved the cup away from the ice cream maker. That was when Audrey picked up a whisk and began to stir the mixture. As she did so, the Harvey Girls conversed to pass the time.

”Oh, man! I can’t wait to taste this ice cream when it’s ready!” said Audrey.

”Neither can I,” Dot agreed.

”Yeah, me neither!” Lotta said in agreement.

”However, there is one aspect we’ve almost forgotten,” Dot then said. “What flavor are we going to make this ice cream?”

”Well, I was thinking we could put in some chocolate chips,” Audrey suggested, “and maybe some crushed up graham crackers and roasted marshmallows. I’d call it s’mores ice cream.”

”That sounds yummy,” Lotta said, “but I was thinking we could put in some strawberries - and maybe some raspberries, too. We could call it straw-raspberry ice cream.”

”That also sounds scrumptious,” Dot said, “and at least more creative than what I had in mind.”

”And what did you have in mind?” Audrey asked.

”Plain vanilla with cinnamon,” said Dot. “Suppose someone made ice cream using much the same ingredients used to make cinnamon rolls.”

”Are you kidding? That sounds pretty tasty, too!” said Lotta. “But I don’t think we can make three different kinds of ice cream with this, can we?”

“Probably not, no,” replied Dot. “But I’d say we have three options for settling this disagreement: we could A, agree on one flavor of ice cream today and each of the other two another day; B, play a tournament of some short friendly games in which the winner will get their desired ice cream flavor selected…”

”Or C,” Audrey said as she finished stirring, “have all three of our flavors mixed into one!”

Dot and Lotta looked at her, eyes wide and pupils shrunken in astonishment now that they’d heard her idea. But then they both gave a big smile that made her smile as well.

“Oh, Audrey! You are a genius!” said Lotta.

”I can’t believe I’m saying this, but that sounds crazy enough to work!” said Dot.

“Well, let’s get to mixing them all in!” Audrey replied.

With that, she poured her mixture into the ice cream maker, and then they put in their desired ingredients; Dot added a teaspoon of vanilla and a teaspoon of cinnamon, Lotta cut up some strawberries and raspberries before placing them into the mixture; and Audrey added some chocolate chips, some graham crackers she’d crumbled up, and some marshmallows that she’d carefully roasted with the stove until they were golden brown. Then Dot read the remaining instructions.

”Now all we have to do is close the lid, set it on high, push start and wait.”

”And how long are we gonna have to wait?” Audrey asked as Dot closed the lid, turned the maker’s dial to high and pushed the start button.

”An estimated two hours.”

Audrey and Lotta winced in disbelief when they heard that.

”WHAT?! You’ve got to be kidding me, Dot!” said Audrey.

”Two hours is a pretty long time!” Lotta pointed out.

”Yes, but it’s not that difficult to wait a hundred and twenty minutes - make that a hundred and nineteen minutes and thirty seconds,” Dot explained. “Not as long as we can find ways to pass the time!”

Audrey and Lotta smiled at her reasoning.

”You’re right, Dot!” said Lotta. “If we come up with as many fun ways to pass the time as we can, those two hours will go by in no time!”

Not long after she’d said that, Audrey got an idea of her own. A smile appeared on her face as she looked over at both of her friends.

”Dot, Lotta, I present to you as well as myself the perfect way to do that,” she started. “Whatever cool or funny things come to our minds, we’ll bring them up and then do them together, and we won’t stop until the time has come!”

”From this moment onward, I declare this the beginning of our first ever, Harvey Girls Do-Whatever-To-Make-Time-Go-By-Faster Extravaganza Party!”

”Yeah!” Dot and Lotta replied in joy.

”Our first activity… Group sneezing!” said Audrey, to the curiosity of both her friends. She turned to look at the box that had been waiting on the counter. “You see that dusty box where we got the ice cream machine?”

”Yeah, why?” Lotta wanted to know.

”And when was the last time we used it?” replied Audrey.

”I don’t believe we’ve ever used it,” said Dot.

”At least, not since we got it from Richie for Christmas and Hanukkah last year,” Lotta added.

“Yes, five months and three weeks ago,” replied Dot.

”Perfect!” said Audrey. “Why don’t you dust off that box? Then we’ll let that five-month-and-three-week-old dust tickle our noses, and we’ll see how many achoo’s we can do!”

”Well, alright,” Dot said. She made her way over to the box, bringing her fur duster back out as she did so, while Audrey and Lotta stood in front of her as well as in front of the same box. “But I should warn you, I’m not a fan of sneezing, so don’t be surprised if our allergies get out of control in the process.”

With that, Dot used her duster to sweep every particle of dust off the book and into the air. The clouds rose to Audrey and Lotta’s noses, which began to twitch as they itched and tickled. They lowered their eyelids as their breaths hitched, feeling sneezes coming on.

"Aaaaah... AAAAHHHH..." Audrey inhaled, moving her neck backward. "HAAAAHHHH..."

"Ahhh, haaaah..." Lotta inhaled, tilting her upper body back a bit. "Aaaaahhhhh..."

"Heehhh..." Dot gasped as well, her eyes falling closed as her neck moved backward. "Ehh... Huuuuh..."

"AHHHHH-TCHOOOOOOO!!!" Audrey was the first to sneeze, bringing her upper body forward as she did so.

"HEEEEHHH-TCHYUUUUUUU!!!" Dot exploded next, doubling over as she covered her mouth with her arm.

"Haaaaaah-chyeeeewww!!" Lotta sneezed as well. Her sneeze lasted quite a bit longer than usual, but it sounded absolutely adorable.

"HaaaAAAAHHHH-CHUUUUUUUUU!!! AAAAAAHHHH-CHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Audrey sneezed twice more, throwing her arm over her mouth.

"Aaaaahhh-CHEEEEWWWWW!!! Huuuuhhhh-CHOOOOOOOOO!!!" Dot gave two more sneezes as well.

"Aaaah-tchooooo!! Haaaahhhh-chuuuuuuuuu!!" And Lotta let out two more sneezes, too, still sounding cute as she did so.

After those sneezes, however, the Harvey Girls' noses had all been satisfied. The three of them rubbed their noses; Dot used her arm, Lotta used her hand, and Audrey used her forefinger.

"Gesundheit, guys..." Dot said with a sniffle.

"Thanks," Audrey replied. She was still rubbing her nose, but the smile on her face told both of her friends that her sneezes had been worth releasing.

"I gotta say, even though dust isn't pepper, it's pretty good at making you sneeze," Lotta stated, giving a sniffle of her own.

“Indeed,” Dot agreed.

"It sure is," Audrey said. "Besides, I knew something sneezy would want to happen when Dot got that ice cream maker out."

Dot blew her nose a bit, then wiped it with a handkerchief she'd been carrying in her pocket. "Well, now that we're all finished sneezing, we may as well do something else while we still have over a hundred minutes until ice cream time."

She picked up her fur duster before placing it aside, then folded up her handkerchief and placed it back in her pocket. She then looked back at her friends.

"Now, what shall we do next?"

Just after she'd asked that, Lotta's eyes lit up as she got an idea. She pulled her hand away from her nose.

"I think I've got it!"

"And what have you got, Lotta?" Audrey wanted to know, removing her finger from her nose.

"How about we tickle each other?" said Lotta. She brought both her hands up for her friends to see.

"Hey, that's a great idea!" Audrey said with a smile.

"Indeed," said Dot. "Of course, the one drawback I see here is that we're both moderately-- ticklish!"

While Dot was talking, Lotta reached over to place both of her hands on her sides, then began wiggling her fingers around. At that moment, Dot started giggling cutely and twitching about.

Audrey couldn't help but chuckle over the amusing sight. "I gotta say, that's pretty cute-dorable," she commented.

After a few seconds of tickling, Lotta pulled her hands away from Dot's sides to give her a break. She then looked over at Audrey, however, having heard her comment.

"You know what's also cute-dorable? Your laugh, hehe!" With that, she placed both of her hands on Audrey's sides - or, rather, the spots between her belly sides and her ribcage - and began tickling away. "Goochie, goochie~!"

As she expected, Audrey laughed. She couldn't help it, her sides and ribcage were so sensitive.

"Ahahahahahaha!! Hey, quit it! It tickles!! Hahahahahahahaha!!"

Lotta kept on tickling her, moving all of her fingers here and there as she did so. Dot looked on, smiling in amusement in adoration.

"You're right, Lotta, Audrey's laughter is quite cute-dorable," she stated.

"I know, right?" Lotta replied. Her still-giggling ticklee blushed in embarrassment when she managed to hear that.

A few seconds went by, and Lotta decided it was time to give Audrey a break. She pulled her hands away from her, and Audrey held her sides as she tried to catch her breath. Then, however, she looked over at Dot, not looking too amused.

"So you think my laugh is cute?" Audrey asked.

"Well, Lotta wasn't wrong when she said it sounded cute," Dot replied.

With that, Audrey brought one hand up for her to see, and then placed it on Dot's side. She began wiggling her fingers around at a fast speed, causing her to laugh.

"Hahahahaha, hahahahahahaha!!" After a few seconds of laughter, Dot raised her own hand for Audrey to see, and then placed it on her belly. As she began to move her fingers here and there, Audrey found herself laughing some more.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" In fact, she couldn't help but remove her hand from Dot's side, giving her a chance to not only catch her breath, but give her some more tickles.

After a few seconds of tickling Audrey's stomach, Dot moved her hand up to underneath her arm. "Tickle-tickle-tickle~!"

"Hahahahahaha!! Ahahahahahaha!!" Audrey laughed, though not quite as hard as she had been before. "Stop it! I'm ticklish! Hahahahahahahaha!!"

"Yes, I can see that," Dot said with a giggle.

After a few seconds, she pulled her hand away from Audrey, but then Audrey placed both of her hands on Dot's sides and began tickling her again. She didn't only tickle her there, however; she also tickled her belly, her ribcage, and sometimes underneath her arms. Dot just couldn't stop laughing, no matter how hard she tried.

"Hahahaha, Audreyhyhyhyhy!! You do know how much this tickles, rihihihight?! Hahahahahaha, hehehehehehe!!"

”Of course I do!” Audrey replied, running the tip of her forefinger up and down one side of Dot’s ribcage. “No wonder you’re all laughing matter, huh?” She turned her head to look at Lotta. “That’s the opposite of no laughing matter, you know.”

Lotta couldn't help but giggle when she told her that. A few seconds later, Audrey decided to stop tickling Dot, pulling her hands away from her body as she did so. Dot stood where she was, panting a few times as she tried to catch her breath.

"That was... quite a tickle you gave me there," Dot admitted.

"Yeah. I could tell." Audrey chuckled to herself in amusement. "Let's do some more tickles sometime, okay?"

"Well, alright. Perhaps then I can have my revenge, anyway."

"By the way, how much longer do you think it'll be before our ice cream's ready?" Lotta wanted to know.

"I'd say about one hour and forty minutes," Dot estimated.

“Then we’ll just have to keep this Extravaganza Party going,” Audrey declared. “Good thing I just came up with how to do that.”

“And how shall we do that?” Dot asked. That was when Audrey placed her forefinger on her shoulder.

“You’re it!” Audrey laughed, then turned and ran to the front door. She pulled it open and called to her friends, “Catch me if you can!”

She then ran outside, leaving the door open as she did so. Dot and Lotta looked at one another with a smile, then ran out the door as well. Dot closed the door behind them, and then they ran to find Audrey.

“That Audrey just loves her games of tag, doesn’t she?” Dot asked.

“She sure does!” Lotta replied. “But they’re fun, too, so who can blame her?”

They kept running for a few seconds, but then slowed to a stop. They stood where they were, panting several times as they tried to catch their breaths. Dot placed her hand on her chest, and Lotta reached one of her hands up to wipe her forehead.

Just as they’d regained their breaths, however, Audrey popped up behind them and placed both of her forefingers to their shoulders - one to Dot’s shoulder, and one to Lotta’s shoulder.

“Tag!” called Audrey. “You’re it!”

“Well, that’s not fair,” Dot stated. “I was already it.”

“Yeah, you can’t tag somebody unless they tagged you first,” Lotta agreed.

“Not unless you’re playing it my way!” Audrey snapped playfully. “Or should I say, our way?” Then she ran away, laughing as she went.

“Oh, it is ON!” Dot replied, a determined expression appearing on her face.

With that, she and Lotta ran after Audrey, who simply kept on laughing as she tried to get away from them. Finally, Lotta caught up to her and placed her forefinger to her shoulder.

“You’re it!”

Audrey quickly slowed to a stop as Lotta ran past her, followed shortly by Dot.

“But not for long!” Audrey began to run again, holding her forefinger out to Lotta. The bigger girl picked up speed, not realizing she wasn’t looking where she was going.

“Yeah, try and catch me, Audrey!”

As she ran, however, she suddenly misstepped and fell onto the ground, rolling a few inches forward before she finally slowed to a stop. Lotta sat where she was, rubbing her head with her hand, before Audrey finally got behind her. She placed her forefinger to the back of her neck, causing Lotta to giggle from the light tickle.

“Lotta, you’re it!” said Audrey.

But Lotta quickly turned around, almost too quick for Audrey to react, and placed her forefinger to her shoulder as well.

“Not if you’re it first!” said Lotta.

Audrey responded by again placing her forefinger to Lotta’s shoulder. “No, you’re it!”

Lotta waited for Audrey to remove her finger, then placed her own finger to her shoulder again. “No, you’re it!”

But as they were tapping one another’s shoulders and declaring each other it, Dot walked over to them, a smile of amusement upon her face.

“Shall I settle this for you?” Dot asked as she raised both of her forefingers for Audrey and Lotta to see. When they least expected it, she placed one finger on Audrey’s shoulder, and the other finger on Lotta’s shoulder. “Both of you are it!”

With that, she turned and ran, giggling to herself as she went. Lotta stood back up, and then she and Audrey resumed running to chase after Dot.

From that point onward, the Harvey Girls’ game of tag lasted a good half-hour - forty minutes, in fact. Each of them declared one another it at least once, although none of them were keeping track; they were more focused on how much fun they were having. Finally, however, they were tired out and almost out of breath, so they all agreed to stop their game.

As they were trying to catch their breaths, however, Lotta’s eyes went wide as she remembered something.

“Hey, girls? How much longer do you think it’ll be before our ice cream is ready?” Lotta wanted to know.

Dot reached behind her back, pulled out her tablet and switched it on to check.

“Just under fifty nine minutes,” she replied.

“Alright, that means we’re halfway through,” Audrey acknowledged. “One more half to go, and we’ll be able to enjoy our awesome homemade ice cream.”

“Excellent,” Dot said with a smile. “And I believe I know how we can make that hour go by faster.”

“How?” Audrey and Lotta asked, in unison.

Dot reached both of her hands behind her back. “Shall we partake in…” She then pulled out a notepad and a pencil. “...a tic-tac-tournament?”

“Sure!” said Lotta.

“Okay!” said Audrey. “I mean, it’s totally better than doing nothing.”

Dot opened the notepad to a blank page and wrote down the word “Score” on the top. This word was followed by her own name, Audrey’s name, and finally Lotta’s name. She and both of her friends went over to a table, which they sat down at. She then removed the paper from the notepad and placed it on the table for all three of them to see.

“This will be our scoreboard,” Dot stated. “Each time one of us wins a game of tic-tac-toe, that one of us will win a tally, and the first one of us to get five tallies wins.”

“Sounds good,” said Audrey. “But what if there’s a tie?”

“Not counting the time we have until our ice cream is ready, there is no limit to how many ties we can get before one of us wins,” Dot replied, “although I’m certain that may not be the best idea.”

“By the way, there will be no penalties for losing any round, nor will there be any penalties for losing the tournament at the end.”

“Might as well get going, then,” Audrey replied. “How about you play against me first?”

“I was going to suggest that,” said Dot.

She drew four lines, two horizontal and two vertical, and then handed the notepad and her pencil to Audrey. She drew an X in the middle square, then handed the notepad and pencil back to Dot. She took a minute to think about where to make her move, then settled on placing an O in the lower right corner. Audrey’s next move was to place an X on the upper right corner, but Dot’s move after that was to place an O on the lower left corner. But that was when Audrey placed an X in the lower middle square, so Dot counteracted by placing an O in the upper middle square. After a few seconds of thinking, Audrey placed an X in the middle left square. Knowing what she was going to lose, Dot kindly placed an O in the upper left square, and Audrey placed the winning X in the middle right square.

“Yes! First game, first win!” Audrey said, happily but playfully.

“Wow, way to go, Audrey!” Lotta said. On the score paper, Dot placed a tally next to Audrey’s name.

“Now I just need four more tallies, and I’ll be the tic-tac-toe-pion,” Audrey acknowledged. Dot and Lotta just looked at her, however; neither of them were too amused over what Audrey had said, so she corrected herself. “Okay, fine… the tic-tac champ.”

Dot chuckled, and then turned to Lotta. “Why don’t you give it a try, Lotta?”

“Good idea,” Lotta replied with a smile.

With that, another game of tic-tac-toe began, this time with Audrey and Lotta playing while Dot watched. Two more vertical lines and two more horizontal lines were drawn on the paper that their first game had been played on, and Audrey drew an X on the top left corner. Lotta drew an O in the middle square, so Audrey placed her next X on the top middle corner. But then Lotta placed her next O on the top right corner, so Audrey got her “revenge” by placing an X on the bottom left corner, which kept Lotta from winning too soon. That being said, Lotta placed her next O on the middle left corner, which in return kept Audrey from winning too soon. Audrey’s eyes were wide with disbelief at first, but then she lowered her eyelids for a look of dismay. She knew she was going to lose, so she placed an X on the middle right corner - to Lotta’s own dismay.

“And… we’ve both lost!” Lotta said, filling the lower middle corner with an O before Audrey filled the lower right corner with an X.

“Well, I knew I was gonna lose,” Audrey stated, “so I thought maybe you should lose, too.”

Just after she’d finished saying that, Dot glared at Audrey. When she turned her head to look at her, she saw she wasn’t too amused.

“You do realize games are more about having fun than winning, right?” Dot asked. “Not to mention, this one’s no exception.”

“No exception, shmo exsheption,” Audrey replied, jokingly. Just then, an amused smile appeared on her face as she realized what she’d just said, and she could hear Lotta giggling as well. She looked back over at her. “Alright, let’s try that again.”

She flipped the paper over to its blank side and drew four more lines - two vertical, two horizontal. She then placed an X in the upper middle corner, and Lotta placed an O in the middle square. Audrey placed her next X in the middle left corner, and Lotta placed her next O in the upper right corner. With an expression of enjoyment as well as a snicker, Audrey placed an X in the lower left corner, and Lotta placed an O in the upper left corner.

“Welp!” Audrey intentionally placed her next X in the middle right corner, and Lotta placed the winning O in the lower right corner.

“Thank you so much for letting me win this one, Audrey,” Lotta said with a smile of joy.

“Ah, what can I say? I deserve that for not letting you win the first time,” Audrey said with a chuckle, and Lotta giggled as well. Dot placed a tally next to Lotta’s name on the score paper.

“Shall I be the next competitor?” Dot suggested.

“Sure, why not?” Lotta asked, “it’s not like I’d ever leave you out of a game.”

“In that case, I’ll keep the score this time,” Audrey stated as she got up.

She made her way over to the score paper as Dot sat down next to Lotta. Dot drew two vertical lines, followed by two horizontal lines, then drew an O in the middle square. In response, Lotta drew an X in the upper middle corner, just above the middle square. Dot’s next move was to place her next O in the middle left corner, but then Lotta drew her next X in the middle right corner.

“Oh, really?” Dot asked playfully. “Well, then.”

She placed her next O in the upper right corner, but not long after she’d done that, Lotta placed her next X in the lower left corner, which kept her from winning. Dot looked a bit dismayed, but decided not to complain; she simply placed her next O in the upper left corner.

“Hmm, should I let you win, or should we tie again…?” Lotta muttered to herself, looking a bit indecisive.

“Just so you know, I’m the only one so far who hasn’t earned a tally,” Dot pointed out.

“Oh, right.” Lotta placed an X in the lower middle corner, but that was when Dot placed the winning O in the lower right corner.

“And that’s that.” Dot had a satisfied smile on her face.

“Alright, Dot!” Audrey called. She placed a tally next to Dot’s name on the score paper.

The Harvey Girls’ tic-tac-toe tournament lasted quite a while, and they were playing through one game after another. Most of these games took about a minute to finish, sometimes two minutes if either of the players couldn’t decide where to put their X’s or O’s. Finally, however, Audrey and Lotta were up to four tallies, while Dot was up to three tallies. Dot watched in suspense as Audrey and Lotta played through the tie-breaking round.

Audrey had placed her first X in the middle square, Lotta had placed her first O in the upper right corner, then Audrey placed her next X in the lower right corner, and Lotta placed her next O in the upper left corner. Audrey responded by placing her next X in the upper middle corner, and then Lotta placed her next O in the lower left corner.

However, as Audrey was trying to decide whether to deliberately let Lotta win or try one last chance to secure the victory, the Harvey Girls heard a sound, one that caught them off-guard. It sounded like an alarm was going off.

“Holy banana noodle!” Audrey cried. “What the heck was that?”

“I’m not sure. Should we go check?” Lotta replied.

Just then, Dot’s eyes widened and pupils shrunk in realization. Not too long afterward, Audrey and Lotta’s eyes went wide as well.

“Wait… Can it be?” asked Dot.

Audrey gave a big smile. As she made the announcement, Dot and Lotta all smiled as well. “Our homemade ice cream with seven different ingredients is FINISHED!”

“Oh, joy!” Lotta cheered.

“Everyone to the Ice Cream Making Machine 5000!” Dot called.

With that, all three of the Harvey Girls dashed into the kitchen, as fast as their legs could carry them. They didn’t stop until they’d gotten close enough to the ice cream machine. That was when they each brought out a bowl from the cupboard - Audrey’s bowl was pink, while Dot’s bowl was blue and Lotta’s was green. Dot picked up an ice cream spoon and scooped some ice cream into the bowls, until they were about halfway full. Then they each picked up a smaller spoon, brought them to the table and sat down.

That was when they began to eat.

Dot dipped her spoon into her ice cream, then brought that same spoon into her mouth and took in what it held. Just then, however, her eyes widened and her pupils shrunk as the flavors made their way onto her tongue. Some of the ingredients, particularly the cinnamon mixed with the strawberries, didn’t mix that well with the others, but those other ingredients did. She chewed her mouthful of ice cream slowly for a few seconds, then swallowed.

“Well, this is… quite a mixed bag, if I say so myself,” Dot commented.

Lotta, who had tried some of her ice cream as well, was also trying to comprehend all of the different flavors of their homemade treat.

“M-maybe we should’ve went with just one of our flavor ideas after all,” she stated, and Dot nodded in agreement.

When they looked over at Audrey, however, she was bringing one spoonful after another into her mouth. The expression upon her face showed nothing but pure ecstasy - as in sheer happiness.

“Mmmmm!!” Audrey went, her eyes sparkling from the variety of sensations her tongue was experiencing from what she was eating. “Talk about a flavor-splosion! It’s like something’s tickling my tongue without making me laugh!”

“Well, at least you find it delicious,” Lotta said with a smile.

“Are you kidding?!” Audrey replied after she’d swallowed.. “This is awesome! Heck, it’s awesome-marinara-sauce!”

“Yes, awesomely overwhelming,” Dot replied under her breath.

Lotta took another spoonful of her ice cream into her mouth and chewed for a few seconds.

“But yeah, it is pretty darn tasty,” said Lotta. “At least, once you get used to it.”

Dot tried another spoonful of ice cream from her bowl, then smiled as well. She’d found a portion that she liked, one that she didn’t need to describe as the ingredients clashing with each other. That being said, she did have something else on her mind.

“Oh, and Audrey?” Dot asked, causing her friend to look over at her. “Do you suppose the next time we want to make ice cream, we can agree on one flavor without too many ingredients?”

“Not that this doesn’t taste good,” Lotta chimed in, “we just thought it’d be a bit better if we don’t combine all our flavors next time.”

Audrey let their words sink in for a minute, but then smiled.

“Sure, guys! I could tell you don’t like this stuff as much as I do, anyway. By the way, there’s just one thing I’d like to tell you.”

“And what’s that?” Dot wanted to know.

Audrey kept her smile. “Even if this isn’t the best ice cream, at least we’re not getting brain freeze... especially not the kind that turned Melvin into a totally different kid!”

Dot and Lotta couldn’t help but laugh over her acknowledgement.