“One scoop of chocolate. That’ll be two hundred and fifty yen.”
The ice cream she’d ordered slid out from inside, the cone supported by its own little stand. Fuyumi put her money into the glass tray next to the stand and took the cone.
Just as she was turning away, she caught sight of something moving inside the store. Wondering what it was, she inched closer to the window and peered through.
Huh…?
Fuyumi’s eyes widened in surprise at what she saw: a small, white, roly-poly little snowman. It turned its head to look at her with its dark coal-like eyes, and their gazes met.
The next moment, the shutter came down with a clatter, and the window closed.
For a while, Fuyumi stood rooted to the spot. She was alone with the staticky music from the stereo, the blustery cold wind, and the sweet scent of chocolate.
“…Oh, right—the ice cream!”
She came out of her daydream and looked at her frozen treat. A few snowflakes had settled on it, like a natural topping, and it sparkled under the store’s lighting.
“I’d better eat it.”
She was still curious about what she’d seen. Very, very, curious. But she was just as curious about how the ice cream tasted.
She took a bite.
It was just the right level of softness, and it melted on her tongue. The sweetness, the cold, and the taste of chocolate filled her entire mouth. She swallowed, savoring the refreshingly cool sensation of the not-quite-melted ice cream all the way down her throat.
“…”
Fuyumi looked at the ice cream in her hand, with only a single bite taken out of it. It was tasty beyond words.
She took another bite. And another. Pretty soon, she lost track of everything else.
Lick, slurp, gulp.
Such an interesting texture. It was almost like biting into a fruit and feeling its juices burst in your mouth.
Before she knew it, Fuyumi had eaten the whole thing. She was pretty cold by that point, so she stopped at a vending machine on her way home and bought some hot corn soup to warm herself up.
✦ ✦ ✦
Even after she got home, Fuyumi’s head was filled with thoughts of the Winter-Only Ice Cream store. Just remembering the taste of that chocolate ice cream made her mouth water. Who would have thought such delicious ice cream even existed?
“I’ve gotta go there again. Which flavor should I try next time? The milk or the vanilla or one of the marbled ones…?”
She found herself fantasizing about how they all might taste.
“Oh, but also…”
She felt a smile spread across her face. It wasn’t just the ice cream she wanted to know more about.
“What was that thing I saw…?”
The tiny snowman she’d glimpsed through the window. It had only been for a moment, but she was certain she’d seen it moving.
A living snowman… Common sense said such a thing couldn’t possibly exist.
And yet… And yet!
“It only makes sense that someone who could make ice cream that good isn’t human. They must be some kind of snow spirit.”
Yes. Of course. A snow spirit that took the form of a small roly-poly snowman. Just like the cherry-tree spirit that made the delicious cherry-blossom mochi cakes in her picture book. That would explain why this snow spirit was so good with frozen treats like ice cream—the cold was its whole thing.
Fuyumi could just imagine it. Inside that little building sat the snow spirit, surrounded by the sweet aromas of the different ingredients, making those lovely, brightly colored ice creams.
In her mind’s eye, she could see the spirit mixing the milk and cream and syrup, adding sugar into the bowl, and mixing it all together with a whisk. Swish, swish, swish… In went the other ingredients: crushed fruit, caramel sauce, chocolate chips…and then the secret ingredient—a spoonful of sparkling magic snow crystals. After that, the snowman would blow on it with its frosty breath to freeze it into ice cream.
That was how they created a taste that other stores couldn’t replicate. That was how they got that indescribable texture…
Fuyumi imagined the scene vividly, and at the thought of the finished ice cream, she found herself craving it even more.
✦ ✦ ✦
After that, Fuyumi started going to the Winter-Only Ice Cream store almost every day. It wasn’t always open, though. On snowy days, or when it was cold enough that it felt as if it might snow, it would be open. On days when it was still wintery but a little warmer, it was shut up tight.
The snowman probably doesn’t like working when it’s hot.
She comforted herself with that thought on days when she couldn’t get any ice cream.
The girl with the raspberry ice cream said the store disappears when spring comes. I’ll bet that’s why—it’s too warm.
The snowman was a snow spirit, so it was no wonder it didn’t like the heat. It wouldn’t want to hang around once spring came and the days started getting warmer. It would have to go somewhere else during that part of the year. Farther north, perhaps, where it was still cold, or maybe to a land of eternal winter where other spirits of its kind lived.
Tee-hee…
Fuyumi was so excited. The more she thought about it, the more she was sure she was right.
The Winter-Only Ice Cream seller was a snow spirit. It had to be.
But even though she went to the store time and time again over the next few weeks, she was never able to confirm that theory. She’d been able to catch a glimpse of the snowman only that one time. She tried peeking through the window whenever she took her ice cream, but it was such a small, narrow opening that she could never make out what was going on inside.
On the other hand, I’ve never seen any people working in there, either.
That settled it. The snowman must work hidden away somewhere, never showing its face to customers. That first time Fuyumi visited, the snowman must have gotten careless and passed by the open window, revealing its true form. She was more certain than ever that she was on the right track.
I’d like to find out for sure, though…
She simply couldn’t let this remain a theory or a fantasy. Just this once, she wanted it to be real. If she could prove to herself that fantasy and reality weren’t so separate as they appeared, that would be enough.
The snowman’s hiding, so it probably doesn’t want anyone looking at it, but—but still…
She wanted to see the truth.
But she wasn’t supposed to look.
Those two desires duked it out within Fuyumi’s heart, getting stronger and stronger.
And then one day…it happened.