Nancy couldn’t sleep, so she padded into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator.  She stared at the items contained within but couldn’t decide. She often wondered why her life was complicated by such trivial details. Nancy studied shelves full of tempting treats, even though she wasn’t hungry; eating was one of her favorite pastimes—it made things easier to handle. She eyed her mother’s apple pie and put it at the top of things she possibly planned to taste before she crawled back into her cozy bed, where she retreated frequently.

She had a twin brother—two minutes older—named Brad. They had blond hair and blue eyes. He was captain of the soccer team, senior class president, and he dated her best friend, Cathy. Nancy wrote stories about loners who change the world; she liked David…she didn’t ask him out because she’d be devastated if he said no.

Bending, she checked the back shelves for something sweet and discovered a bowl of strawberry Jell-O; she added it to her list.

Her appetite vanished immediately when she spotted a plate covered with plastic wrap with fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans; last night’s dinner, the meal Brad never got the chance to enjoy. The cold air made her shudder. She closed the refrigerator and opened the freezer instead. A blast of deathly frigid air assaulted her; Nancy staggered back a few steps and thrust her hand into the lifeless, ice-filled realm for a split-second, long enough to seize the pint of Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Dough just within reach. She slammed the door as though it were a holding tray in the county morgue.

Brad.

She grabbed a bowl and spoon from the dishwasher and sat down at the kitchen table. Nancy removed the top, scooped out the rest of the cookie dough from the container and started to eat; not because she was hungry, but because she had to.

The only emperor is the emperor of ice cream!

She had read Wallace Stevens’ poem, “The Emperor of Ice-Cream,” in her Intro. to Poetry class last year; it reminded her that life while sweet, like ice cream, had a predetermined shelf life. Her brother hadn’t planned on being run off the road by a drunk driver, it happened unexpectedly. Brad just got his license last month; he was unsure how to react to an oncoming car in his lane, especially since it was raining.

Nancy liked Cookie Dough because it lingered: After the vanilla melted, she kept the dough in her mouth. While she relished the soothing sensation, these lines returned:

Call the roller of big cigars,

The muscular one, and bid him whip

In kitchen cups concupiscent curds…

She chewed the cookie dough slowly, taking time to savor every morsel. Nancy stared at the empty bowl and smiled; life could never fool her again to have faith in it; she knew the only emperor was the emperor of ice cream.

Bio

Amy Grech has sold over 100 stories to various anthologies and magazines including: 10 by 10 Flash Fiction Stories, Apex Magazine, Even in the Grave, Microverses, Punk Noir Magazine, Roi Fainéant Press, Tales from the Canyons of the Damned, Yellow Mama, and many others. Alien Buddha Press published her poetry chapbook, A Shadow of Your Former Self.

She is an Active Member of the Horror Writers Association and the International Thriller Writers who lives in Forest Hills, Queens. You can connect with her on Bluesky: @amygrech.bsky.social, Medium: https://medium.com/@crimsonscreams, X: https://x.com/amy_grech, or visit her website: https://www.crimsonscreams.com. 

Photo by Aedrian Salazar on Unsplash