FROZEN EMOTIONS

Many times in life we do not understand why we crave for certain foods or even when we run away from them. Through the years we have come to understand that these certain foods give us joy or repel us. One such example is gelato that normally gives joy to a person but in today’s story we will explain how it even changed the protagonist’s perspective towards life.

Erica was a very quiet girl who used to spend most of her time in her room or sitting quietly in a corner in school. At times, other kids used to think that she is too shy and weird, and at home her family thought that it was just a personality trait she had of being an introvert. Little did people know that behind those walls of her room there was a dark secret that nobody except her knew off. Little Erica used to sleep not hearing her mother narrate fairy tales to her, but with loud music to evade that horrible noise coming from those walls. This terrifying noise were the screams of her abused mother while her father used to yell at her and beat her up. But Erica never told anyone of it and chose silence as the best way to keep this secret. After all, everybody was so busy in their own lives and she couldn’t expect any kid at school to understand her situation. 

As a matter of fact, whenever there was a celebration she never had any cake or ice cream as she considered it fake sweetness in front of her sorrow. She wanted a happy life and knew that this temporary sweetness couldn’t fill that emptiness in her. This sorrow that was eating into her would end up killing her one day. At least that is what she felt through all those tormenting moments at home. She used to wake up in the morning praying that today her father wouldn’t lose his temper on her mother and would sleep at night wondering why she was even born. As she was a child all she could remember were words her father used to use on her that would demoralize her even further. She actually came to believe that she was dumb, ugly and useless. Her mother tried very hard to protect her against all this evil but a child’s mind is very naive and believes whatever people say.

She used to stand in a corner while the other kids used to gauge into those colorful ice creams and delicious cakes. She used to wonder if she was actually weird or they were stupid to get excited for such silly things. She grew up with that thought that she was not worthy of any sweet things in life so she always kept away from anything sweet like ice creams, cakes, and chocolates. There was this internal fight that was going on within her to prove herself not only to her father who berated her or to all those kids who shunned her at school. The true fight was within her to prove herself not to anyone else but to herself.

As years passed by she took up each challenge as it came and participated in each activity in school to excel everything and kill that voice within that kept on telling her that she was useless. Her father never got to see her growth as he passed away after some years, but she still kept away from anything sweet. That feeling was deeply embedded in her and whatever she did wasn’t sufficient to make that emotion disappear. In spite of that, Erica excelled in her studies and won many competitions. That day she won one more competition and was waiting on the stage while her mother smiled at her with pride. She expected to receive a trophy or certificate as that is what she had been receiving for the times she had won. Nonetheless, the price was simply an envelope she received and got flabbergasted and a bit disappointed at the same time. 

So when she went back home, she left the envelope on her night table as she knew that it was not even a cheque. It simply felt like a card so she thought that it was an invitation to an event. Next morning as the breeze suddenly just gushed into the room and threw the envelope down, she took it and decided to open it. Surprisingly it wasn’t an invitation to any event but an invitation to a gelateria. All those thoughts of unworthiness rushed into her mind and disturbed her presence of mind. So she decided to get dressed and head to that gelateria. As she reached there she stood outside looking at Bo Bom Gelato and procrastinating on what to do. Today she was a strong and confident woman but this feeling never left her. As this feeling began to take over her mind she began to take her steps back and head away from this gelateria. 

Then she suddenly stopped and said enough! She had to put an end to this turmoil and move on in life. Till when could she run away from the sweet things in life? She too was worthy of having them. So she turned and without thinking twice she headed towards Bo Bom Gelato and entered it. She could feel her heart palpitate as she saw all those different flavors of gelato. What could it taste like? Would it be too sweet for her or would it just melt in her mouth? While she was thinking of all this the person behind the counter asked her which flavor she would like to have. She was lost as she had no idea what gelato even tasted like. With a confused look on her face she just asked for a minute to think over it. All of a sudden someone else came from behind and introduced himself as Luca Narbora, the owner of Bo Bom Gelato. He explained his first experience to her of when his grandfather made him taste his first gelato and he totally loved it. He loved it to the extent of opening his own gelateria and personally making each gelato. Erica still looked confused so Luca decided to make her taste a few flavors in order to decide which one to narrow down on.

So she tried mango, chocolate, and strawberry flavors and obviously her first reaction was, “Oh My God, they are so cold!” But as the taste blended into her mouth she felt a lot of peace. There was a sense of tranquility that took over all those questions and hesitations of hers. For a second she wondered if the coldness of the gelato was numbing her feelings but then nodded her head as it was a silly thought. All three flavors were super delicious and tasted so much better than what she had imagined. She was still confused on which flavor to have but then she noticed a mint green colored gelato with clusters of chocolate inside. She wondered why precisely that gelato was calling out to her as she had kept away from gelato and chocolate her entire life. So she asked Luca to give her some of that greeny brown gelato to which he sweetly smiled and corrected her stating that it was called choco-mint gelato and quickly filled up a cup of it to give her. As his arm was approaching her with the cup in his hand, again she was feeling anxious and hesitant. Nevertheless, she wanted to end this slow torture and quickly took the cup. As she began having it she noticed how mouth-watering it was with that soft texture and sweet mint flavor. Also the chocolate chips in it added to its flavor even further with crunchiness as the cold gelato dissolved into Erica’s mouth. In no time, tears started rolling down her cheeks as she welcomed sweetness into her life. She was sad that she eluded from this bliss all her life but even happy that she took such a drastic move and finally tasted gelato, hence inviting sweetness into her life. 

Today she doesn’t wait to receive any invitation to any gelateria but simply drops by any of them whenever she feels like it. Naturally her first gelato and her favorite till date is Bo Bom Gelato which she frequents every few weeks without fail. Now she not only tries out every new flavor but even takes some home and shares this sweet happiness with her family and friends. Erica now believes that sweetness is part of life and everybody is entitled to it! 

Tags: emotions, storytelling, gelato