the ice cream fan

As a young adult who chose to move out as fast as possible, I quickly realized that an air conditioner was way out of my budget. I also didn’t even know how to install one or where to borrow some tools, so I settled for the next best option. A cheap standing fan and lots of cookie dough ice cream. The cookie dough didn’t do much to cool me down, but the idea of lounging in my undies in front of the fan, while totally not inhaling carton after carton of ice cream, was much more attractive.

My summer laziness fully kicked in when I’d hear the ice cream truck make its rounds around the neighbourhood and I’d be too sluggish to even head down two floors. I’d need to put on a bra, and a shirt, and pants. Summer was for being pant and bra-less. Who needed more layers in this heat?

I used to enjoy the jingle tunes of the ice cream truck; the nostalgia feeling would wash over me like a cool summer breeze. But it started to come around more than I remembered necessary. At least twice a day I’d hear the upbeat call playing from the loudspeaker, it would start as a faint melody and soon build up until it would sit outside my window ‘attempting’ to serenade me.

At some point it started to get a tad irritating.

The happy-go-lucky tune appeared in my dreams, a background noise for my dreams.

Then, when I’d go for my midnight sleep-interrupting pee, I’d hear the jingle from the bathroom fan. While rubbing my crusty eyes I’d actually question why the ice cream truck was out so late at night, only to realize seconds later that I was just simply going insane.

~

It was nearing the end of July when I started to detest ice cream. Or the truck. Or the children who would have parents to pay for their sweet tooth.

I felt I could no longer enjoy the cool treat and knew that I was close to losing my mind.

Then my fan stopped working one day. Mid ice cream truck jingle.

That’s it.

I marched my bra-less ass downstairs to the lobby and stomped out the front door. A cluster of children and their parents all stood gleefully around the truck. Some of the younger children already had chocolatey smiles, and ice cream stains on their clothes. A little girl had her mom trying to wipe off vanilla from her hair with a wet wipe. And while the scene looked peaceful and happy, I was at my wits end.

I pushed my way up to the counter, my hands on my hips, and cleared my throat. “Look here mister,”

The driver looked to be at least in his mid-forties, if not older, with some pretty unkept curly hair on his head. Kind of creepy.

“What can get for de lady?” He flashed me a crooked tooth smile, a thick accent adding to his creepy vibe.

“Well, I need ya’ to maybe take a break from this street for a couple days, your stupid music has been driving me nuts!”

His eyes travelled down my own unkept outfit, lingering a little too long on my bra-less tits. Creep.

I crossed my arms across my chest and started tapping my foot. “So? You gonna move on out or what? Don’t make me call the city. You’ve been making me lose sleep goddamnit!”

The man raised his thick brows and just shrugged.

“Hey lady, don’t ruin the fun for us, it’s just ice cream.”

“Yeah! Don’t be a grinch, think of the kids.”

Others behind me chimed in, gaining more support and voices, while the creepy driver man just gawked at me.

I groaned loudly and threw my hands up in the air, then stomped back into the building and away from the complaining parents and kids.

~

The next day, I didn’t hear the ice cream truck jingle. I sighed deeply, feeling relief and calm course through my body. The knot in my upper right shoulder loosened. The headache I had been sporting for days finally dissipated.

But my apartment was getting extremely stuffy. The weather forecast predicted a heatwave on its way and my fan was still out of commission. I made myself a cold smoothie, pretending it was a healthier option to ice cream, even though deep inside I knew that using chocolate milk didn’t change much in terms of nutrition.

After a few days of silence though, I started to feel like my empty threat to the driver was a bit rash. I still heard the jingle in my head from time to time, humming it while doing the dishes mindlessly, or while folding laundry. It wasn’t too bad though.

Then we had a crazy thunderstorm. Thunder and raining rumbled everything, and the lights flickered occasionally. At least it eased the heat for a day.

~

The following morning, I woke up to a chilly apartment and a faint moaning sound. Apparently, the power outage sparked my fan back to life. No complaints there.

Then the heatwave really started, and in tow, the ice cream truck melody. I found it difficult to be upset about the jingle as I had managed to score a few days vacay from it, but I didn’t know how long it would stick around. And I was scared to find out.

The heat was thick. The rain had left too much humidity in the air and going outdoors was barely bearable. I cranked up the fan to its maximum setting and collapsed on my couch in my undies, looking for something to watch on my laptop.

The jingle sounded from afar. The fan whirred on high. A sudden shiver ran up my spine. And suddenly, a scream echoed through my apartment.

My eyes darted around the apartment in search of the source, but nothing around me seemed to change.

The ice cream truck turned down my street and the jingle grew louder. Another shiver. Another scream.

I bolted upright, placing my laptop next to me and held my breath. Was I imagining things?

The truck parked right outside my apartment building. I could practically hear the brakes hitting pavement and the shift of the gears to ‘P’. The stupid tune was turned up to high. The fan started shivering from the max setting, becoming unstable. A piercing scream vibrated through my whole body, and I covered my ears, closing my eyes tightly. What was going on?

I could feel the fan creating some sort of strong wind current through the room, books started falling from the shelves, papers flew through the air, and through it all the ice cream jingle rang louder and louder.

Another piercing scream released into the air, who even knows if it was mine or someone else’s. And then utter silence.

Everything paused, the fan, the music, the buzzing.

Then, somehow, a high pitched almost wind-like voice sounded from deep inside the standing fan that faced me directly.

“Can we pleeeeeeease go get some ice cream?”

Bringing you challenge #4... Beware the Mundane!

Your task is to choose either a non-scary/mundane object or task and create a horror story around it! There is no word count or time limit for this challenge.

And remember, make sure you tag some folks to participate, and share the original challenge post below in your entries.

You can read more about James' & Oneg's Summer Challenge Extravaganza here: