Summer Heat, Ice Cream Treat
Summer had finally arrived in the City of Nintendo, bringing a lot of cheers and smiles from children and adults alike. For children, it meant no more school and that vacations were finally starting. It was a time to play with friends, go to the beach, be outside and have fun. For adults, it meant taking trips as a vacation and taking those children with them. The summer heat kept everyone busy and having fun. Barbecues were uncovered and many cold treats were being served by street vendors. Restaurants opened up tables for people to eat outside and feel the warm breezes.
In the smashers' castle, things were no different. Many of the smashers had discarded their warmer, long sleeved wear for something that covered their bodies less. Master Hand had opened up the large swimming pool and installed air conditioning units in nearly every room. Smashers in charge of cooking, such as Peach, Zelda, Ike, Marth and Fox, had started cooking summer themed foods, like cold cut sandwiches or barbecued things. Peach also bought a blender and began making smoothies and milkshakes.
Everyone really enjoyed the treats summer had brought.
All except one young smasher.
The female ice climber, Nana, didn't like heat at all. She and her brother, Popo, were born and raised in a village that was cold all year. She was used to snow and ice. To her, it felt like home. Now she couldn't even wear her beloved pink parka or else she would sweat too much. It pained her to leave it hanging in the closet.
Popo thought differently. He had read stories about beaches and summer heat and was thrilled to experience it for the first time. He couldn't understand why Nana was so reluctant to wear t-shirts and shorts for the first time...or why she didn't want to come outside and play. This only frustrated Nana even more when she found that the only one who could have understood her feelings wasn't thinking like she was.
"It sucks being the only one who comes from a cold place," she thought to herself, watching Popo play outside with Ness, Lucas, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Toon Link and Diddy Kong. Her brother looked completely unaffected by the heat and Nana wondered how he was able to stand it. She squirmed uncomfortably and stood in front of the AC unit, trying to cool off. When she started to shiver, she moved away and groaned as the heat quickly replaced the cold feeling in her body.
"Isn't there some other way to cool down?" Nana muttered.
"What's wrong, youngster?" Nana turned around to see the space captain, Olimar, standing outside her room. "Why aren't you outside with the other young smashers?"
"I don't like heat," Nana said, sulking.
"Ah yes...you come from a year round cold place with snow and icicles, yes? This heat must be quite a shock for you." Olimar stepped into the room and took a seat next to Nana on her bed. "Unfortunately, my girl, this heat is here to stay for at least three months..."
"Three months?" Nana cried out.
"...if not more," Olimar finished. He patted her hand gently. "There's so much to try, Nana. So many activities you can do in summer that you can't normally do when it's snowing outside. Have you tried swimming?"
"I'm afraid of the water...in our village, swimming isn't allowed because of hypo...hippo...augh, I can't say it!"
"Hypothermia?" Olimar asked.
"Yeah, that," Nana said. "I don't know how to swim and I'm afraid of drowning if I try."
"Well, what about sports?" Olimar asked. "There's soccer, volleyball, baseball..."
"I don't know the rules," Nana said. "And I watched the guys play it and it doesn't look fun! None of those sports do. And they always come back inside all icky and sweaty. It's gross." The ice climber made a face. "I don't want to stink like they do."
"That's what showers are for, my girl," Olimar said. Nana just shrugged. "How about going to the park? I bet play structures would have been too icy and dangerous for you to play on in your village."
"I've seen those..." Nana began. "And they look like they're made for babies."
Olimar tsk-tsked. "You're very closed minded, Nana. You certainly won't be enjoying yourself if you don't open your heart to new things."
"But I don't like heat! It's gross and it makes me squirm!" Nana protested.
"Maybe so, but this heat won't go away for a long time," Olimar said, slipping off the bed. "I would recommend finding a way of getting used to it, Nana, or you're just going to be miserable for three months. No one likes that, my girl. Misery does like company, but no one will want to be in your company if you're negative about everything."
His words hurt Nana and she looked away. Olimar sighed, used to such reactions like that from his own daughter and son when they made excuses not to do something. All Nana needed was a bit of time and encouraging to open up to her first real summer. Olimar hoped someone would have the right idea.
Nana's stomach rumbled and she covered it in embarrassment, but Olimar heard it anyway. "Would you like some lunch, Nana?"
"Yeah...alright. What's for lunch?" Nana asked.
"It's too hot to use the stove, so Peach prepared salami sandwiches downstairs," Olimar answered. "There's some cold drinks with ice cubes in the freezer and chips to go with the sandwiches."
"See?" Nana suddenly said. Olimar turned to her in confusion. "If it wasn't so hot, Peach probably would have made something much better than just sandwiches."
"Enough, Nana," Olimar scolded sternly.
Down in the kitchen, Nana opened the fridge and took out a salami sandwich with tomatoes and eggplant (her favourite veggie). Olimar had gabbed a similar sandwich, except with pikpik carrots instead of eggplant. He took his drink and plate outside so he could enjoy the sunshine. Nana, of course, refused to join him.
The lonely ice climber ate in silence in the big dining room. There was no one else around inside the house, except for Fox, Falco and Wolf, who couldn't take heat for too long, due to their fur (or feathers in Falco's case). Nana wasn't particularly friendly with any of them and she definitely wasn't expecting one of them to suddenly drop in and have lunch with her. At the moment, Nana just wished for anyone to come by and speak to her. She was really lonely, but she didn't want to go outside.
Just as the ice climber finished off the last bite of her sandwich, the dining room door creaked open. Nana looked up in surprise, expecting one of the three humanoid animals to enter and wonder why she was the only other one inside. But instead of Fox, Falco or Wolf entering the room, it was Kirby. The eight inch puffball looked around and paused when he saw Nana.
"Puyo?"
"Oh...it's only you, Kirby," Nana said, sighing. Kirby tilted his head (body?) at her in question. He evidently looked hurt from her statement. Nana immediately felt guilty. "Sorry about that. I guess I'm just peeved from the heat," she added.
"Oooooooooooooun?" Kirby asked. Nana didn't have any idea what he was trying to say, but she decided to pretend she knew what he was talking about.
"I come from a cold place, Kirby. You know...cold like this," she said, fishing an ice cube out of her soda and showing him.
"YEAO!" Kirby exclaimed, showing he understood. His grin faded and he looked at Nana again with questioning eyes. "Eeeeeeeeeeeehy?"
"Since I came from a cold place," Nana explained. "I'm not used to the heat. So I don't like it very much. I would like to cool down, but every time I try, the heat just makes me hot again."
Kirby scratched under his mouth for a second. "Oooooooum...PUYO!" he suddenly said. The pink puffball picked up Nana's chair (with Nana still on it) and raced to the kitchen with Nana shrieking all the way. "PUYO!" he yelled, setting her down and pointing at the freezer.
"Wh-what?" Nana stammered, still in shock from suddenly getting picked up and going for a wild ride.
"Puyo! Puyo puyo PUYO!" Kirby shouted, waving his arms and continuing to point at the freezer. Nana shook her head.
"I don't understand...you think I should sit in front of the freezer?"
Kirby shook his head (body?). He ran out of the kitchen and returned a minute later with a sketchbook given to him by a friend on Pop Star, an artist named Adeleine. He flipped through the pages and found what he was looking for: a picture of an ice cream cone with a cherry that was neatly sketched and coloured. "Puyo!"
Nana studied the picture with interest. "That looks good...what is it, Kirby?"
Kirby looked at her in surprise and pointed to some tiny writing in the corner of the picture. Nana took a closer look and read the words out loud. "Ice cream cone...ice cream? What's that?"
The puffball jumped up to the freezer and tried to pull it open. Nana got up to help him and opened the freezer herself. Kirby peeked inside and cried out in triumph when he found what he was looking for: a large tub of vanilla ice cream.
"Puyo! Whreeee!" he said, setting the ice cream on the counter. The puffball then went to the cupboards and started digging through the various boxes of dry foods. He found a box of ice cream cones and also set it right next to the ice cream while Nana watched with interest.
Even though he wasn't really cooking, Kirby still put on his chef's hat. He found an ice cream scoop in the utensil drawers, various candy sprinkles in higher cupboards and cherries in the fridge. When everything was all set, he waved his arm to call Nana over. "Reeeeeeeeee!"
Nana's curiosity got to the point where she really wondered what this was all about, so she approached the counter. Kirby opened the box of ice cream cones and gave her two of them. He pointed to one cone and then pointed to himself. "Koi-by!"
"One of them is for you...alright, I get it," Nana said, nodding.
Kirby grabbed the ice cream scoop and opened the lid of the ice cream tub. He scooped the ice cream into a round ball and placed it in the cones so that there was enough inside and on top of the cone. Nana poked her finger at one of the scoops and smiled. To her absolute delight it was freezing cold, just like snow.
Kirby closed the ice cream tub and picked up a few of the candy sprinkle shakers. He shook some rainbow and chocolate sprinkles on both cones until they were both colourful and very sweet smelling. Nana's nose tingled with pleasure and she couldn't wait to try it.
For the finishing touch, Kirby opened the jar of cherries and placed one on each of them. "Puyo!" he cried, taking off his hat and indicating he was finished. He reached for one of the cones and Nana handed it to him. "Eeeeeeehy!" Kirby said, licking the ice cream and eating the cherry. He pointed at Nana and at her ice cream cone. "Oooun!"
Nana figured he was trying to tell her to try it, so she also licked her ice cream. The sweet coldness danced on her tongue and started to cool her off as she swallowed. "Wow, Kirby! This is great!" the ice climber said and kept licking her tasty treat.
"Puyo!" Kirby said gleefully. He inhaled his cone and swallowed it whole, licking his lips. Nana ate hers more slowly, savouring the taste and the much loved chilliness she had wanted for so long. It was so sweet! Nana had no idea ice cream existed since her village was too cold to house any cows for milk and cream. The only cold treat she ever got from home were snow cones.
"Thank you, Kirby!" Nana said, smiling. She finished her sweet treat up and shivered. The ice cream had chilled her whole body and chased off all the heat. It was so refreshing to finally feel cold.
Kirby grinned at her and then pointed outside. "Puyo?" he asked.
"You want me to come out and play?" Nana asked. Kirby cheered excitedly and Nana bit her lower lip. She didn't want to tell Kirby how much she didn't like being in the heat, especially after he had shown her ice cream. Then Olimar's words echoed in her mind.
You're very closed minded, Nana. You certainly won't be enjoying yourself if you don't open your heart to new things.
"Ice cream was new...and that was yummy. Maybe I should try new things...maybe Olimar's right," Nana thought. She looked out the window again and saw her friends laughing and envied how much fun they were having. She felt a nudge on her side and noticed Kirby was trying to usher her out.
"Puyo!"
"Okay okay okay!" Nana laughed. "Alright you win, Kirby. Let's go play."
"YEEEEEEEEEEY!" Kirby cheered. He grabbed Nana's hand with his two little arms and ran outside with Nana staggering to keep up. They caught up with the group of younger smashers and started a big game of hide and seek.
"Olimar was right," Nana thought as she peeked out from her hiding place behind the items shed. "I should open my mind more. This is a lot of fun!"
The young ice climber smiled as she watched Diddy chase Lucas around, trying to tag him. In the corner of her eye, she noticed Kirby waving at her from up a tree. Nana felt a powerful surge of affection for the pink puffball and waved back. It was thanks to him she got out of the house and started having fun. Kirby didn't talk much, but he was really considerate towards his friends and Nana was one of them.
She was lucky to have such a good friend.
In the smashers' castle, things were no different. Many of the smashers had discarded their warmer, long sleeved wear for something that covered their bodies less. Master Hand had opened up the large swimming pool and installed air conditioning units in nearly every room. Smashers in charge of cooking, such as Peach, Zelda, Ike, Marth and Fox, had started cooking summer themed foods, like cold cut sandwiches or barbecued things. Peach also bought a blender and began making smoothies and milkshakes.
Everyone really enjoyed the treats summer had brought.
All except one young smasher.
The female ice climber, Nana, didn't like heat at all. She and her brother, Popo, were born and raised in a village that was cold all year. She was used to snow and ice. To her, it felt like home. Now she couldn't even wear her beloved pink parka or else she would sweat too much. It pained her to leave it hanging in the closet.
Popo thought differently. He had read stories about beaches and summer heat and was thrilled to experience it for the first time. He couldn't understand why Nana was so reluctant to wear t-shirts and shorts for the first time...or why she didn't want to come outside and play. This only frustrated Nana even more when she found that the only one who could have understood her feelings wasn't thinking like she was.
"It sucks being the only one who comes from a cold place," she thought to herself, watching Popo play outside with Ness, Lucas, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Toon Link and Diddy Kong. Her brother looked completely unaffected by the heat and Nana wondered how he was able to stand it. She squirmed uncomfortably and stood in front of the AC unit, trying to cool off. When she started to shiver, she moved away and groaned as the heat quickly replaced the cold feeling in her body.
"Isn't there some other way to cool down?" Nana muttered.
"What's wrong, youngster?" Nana turned around to see the space captain, Olimar, standing outside her room. "Why aren't you outside with the other young smashers?"
"I don't like heat," Nana said, sulking.
"Ah yes...you come from a year round cold place with snow and icicles, yes? This heat must be quite a shock for you." Olimar stepped into the room and took a seat next to Nana on her bed. "Unfortunately, my girl, this heat is here to stay for at least three months..."
"Three months?" Nana cried out.
"...if not more," Olimar finished. He patted her hand gently. "There's so much to try, Nana. So many activities you can do in summer that you can't normally do when it's snowing outside. Have you tried swimming?"
"I'm afraid of the water...in our village, swimming isn't allowed because of hypo...hippo...augh, I can't say it!"
"Hypothermia?" Olimar asked.
"Yeah, that," Nana said. "I don't know how to swim and I'm afraid of drowning if I try."
"Well, what about sports?" Olimar asked. "There's soccer, volleyball, baseball..."
"I don't know the rules," Nana said. "And I watched the guys play it and it doesn't look fun! None of those sports do. And they always come back inside all icky and sweaty. It's gross." The ice climber made a face. "I don't want to stink like they do."
"That's what showers are for, my girl," Olimar said. Nana just shrugged. "How about going to the park? I bet play structures would have been too icy and dangerous for you to play on in your village."
"I've seen those..." Nana began. "And they look like they're made for babies."
Olimar tsk-tsked. "You're very closed minded, Nana. You certainly won't be enjoying yourself if you don't open your heart to new things."
"But I don't like heat! It's gross and it makes me squirm!" Nana protested.
"Maybe so, but this heat won't go away for a long time," Olimar said, slipping off the bed. "I would recommend finding a way of getting used to it, Nana, or you're just going to be miserable for three months. No one likes that, my girl. Misery does like company, but no one will want to be in your company if you're negative about everything."
His words hurt Nana and she looked away. Olimar sighed, used to such reactions like that from his own daughter and son when they made excuses not to do something. All Nana needed was a bit of time and encouraging to open up to her first real summer. Olimar hoped someone would have the right idea.
Nana's stomach rumbled and she covered it in embarrassment, but Olimar heard it anyway. "Would you like some lunch, Nana?"
"Yeah...alright. What's for lunch?" Nana asked.
"It's too hot to use the stove, so Peach prepared salami sandwiches downstairs," Olimar answered. "There's some cold drinks with ice cubes in the freezer and chips to go with the sandwiches."
"See?" Nana suddenly said. Olimar turned to her in confusion. "If it wasn't so hot, Peach probably would have made something much better than just sandwiches."
"Enough, Nana," Olimar scolded sternly.
Down in the kitchen, Nana opened the fridge and took out a salami sandwich with tomatoes and eggplant (her favourite veggie). Olimar had gabbed a similar sandwich, except with pikpik carrots instead of eggplant. He took his drink and plate outside so he could enjoy the sunshine. Nana, of course, refused to join him.
The lonely ice climber ate in silence in the big dining room. There was no one else around inside the house, except for Fox, Falco and Wolf, who couldn't take heat for too long, due to their fur (or feathers in Falco's case). Nana wasn't particularly friendly with any of them and she definitely wasn't expecting one of them to suddenly drop in and have lunch with her. At the moment, Nana just wished for anyone to come by and speak to her. She was really lonely, but she didn't want to go outside.
Just as the ice climber finished off the last bite of her sandwich, the dining room door creaked open. Nana looked up in surprise, expecting one of the three humanoid animals to enter and wonder why she was the only other one inside. But instead of Fox, Falco or Wolf entering the room, it was Kirby. The eight inch puffball looked around and paused when he saw Nana.
"Puyo?"
"Oh...it's only you, Kirby," Nana said, sighing. Kirby tilted his head (body?) at her in question. He evidently looked hurt from her statement. Nana immediately felt guilty. "Sorry about that. I guess I'm just peeved from the heat," she added.
"Oooooooooooooun?" Kirby asked. Nana didn't have any idea what he was trying to say, but she decided to pretend she knew what he was talking about.
"I come from a cold place, Kirby. You know...cold like this," she said, fishing an ice cube out of her soda and showing him.
"YEAO!" Kirby exclaimed, showing he understood. His grin faded and he looked at Nana again with questioning eyes. "Eeeeeeeeeeeehy?"
"Since I came from a cold place," Nana explained. "I'm not used to the heat. So I don't like it very much. I would like to cool down, but every time I try, the heat just makes me hot again."
Kirby scratched under his mouth for a second. "Oooooooum...PUYO!" he suddenly said. The pink puffball picked up Nana's chair (with Nana still on it) and raced to the kitchen with Nana shrieking all the way. "PUYO!" he yelled, setting her down and pointing at the freezer.
"Wh-what?" Nana stammered, still in shock from suddenly getting picked up and going for a wild ride.
"Puyo! Puyo puyo PUYO!" Kirby shouted, waving his arms and continuing to point at the freezer. Nana shook her head.
"I don't understand...you think I should sit in front of the freezer?"
Kirby shook his head (body?). He ran out of the kitchen and returned a minute later with a sketchbook given to him by a friend on Pop Star, an artist named Adeleine. He flipped through the pages and found what he was looking for: a picture of an ice cream cone with a cherry that was neatly sketched and coloured. "Puyo!"
Nana studied the picture with interest. "That looks good...what is it, Kirby?"
Kirby looked at her in surprise and pointed to some tiny writing in the corner of the picture. Nana took a closer look and read the words out loud. "Ice cream cone...ice cream? What's that?"
The puffball jumped up to the freezer and tried to pull it open. Nana got up to help him and opened the freezer herself. Kirby peeked inside and cried out in triumph when he found what he was looking for: a large tub of vanilla ice cream.
"Puyo! Whreeee!" he said, setting the ice cream on the counter. The puffball then went to the cupboards and started digging through the various boxes of dry foods. He found a box of ice cream cones and also set it right next to the ice cream while Nana watched with interest.
Even though he wasn't really cooking, Kirby still put on his chef's hat. He found an ice cream scoop in the utensil drawers, various candy sprinkles in higher cupboards and cherries in the fridge. When everything was all set, he waved his arm to call Nana over. "Reeeeeeeeee!"
Nana's curiosity got to the point where she really wondered what this was all about, so she approached the counter. Kirby opened the box of ice cream cones and gave her two of them. He pointed to one cone and then pointed to himself. "Koi-by!"
"One of them is for you...alright, I get it," Nana said, nodding.
Kirby grabbed the ice cream scoop and opened the lid of the ice cream tub. He scooped the ice cream into a round ball and placed it in the cones so that there was enough inside and on top of the cone. Nana poked her finger at one of the scoops and smiled. To her absolute delight it was freezing cold, just like snow.
Kirby closed the ice cream tub and picked up a few of the candy sprinkle shakers. He shook some rainbow and chocolate sprinkles on both cones until they were both colourful and very sweet smelling. Nana's nose tingled with pleasure and she couldn't wait to try it.
For the finishing touch, Kirby opened the jar of cherries and placed one on each of them. "Puyo!" he cried, taking off his hat and indicating he was finished. He reached for one of the cones and Nana handed it to him. "Eeeeeeehy!" Kirby said, licking the ice cream and eating the cherry. He pointed at Nana and at her ice cream cone. "Oooun!"
Nana figured he was trying to tell her to try it, so she also licked her ice cream. The sweet coldness danced on her tongue and started to cool her off as she swallowed. "Wow, Kirby! This is great!" the ice climber said and kept licking her tasty treat.
"Puyo!" Kirby said gleefully. He inhaled his cone and swallowed it whole, licking his lips. Nana ate hers more slowly, savouring the taste and the much loved chilliness she had wanted for so long. It was so sweet! Nana had no idea ice cream existed since her village was too cold to house any cows for milk and cream. The only cold treat she ever got from home were snow cones.
"Thank you, Kirby!" Nana said, smiling. She finished her sweet treat up and shivered. The ice cream had chilled her whole body and chased off all the heat. It was so refreshing to finally feel cold.
Kirby grinned at her and then pointed outside. "Puyo?" he asked.
"You want me to come out and play?" Nana asked. Kirby cheered excitedly and Nana bit her lower lip. She didn't want to tell Kirby how much she didn't like being in the heat, especially after he had shown her ice cream. Then Olimar's words echoed in her mind.
You're very closed minded, Nana. You certainly won't be enjoying yourself if you don't open your heart to new things.
"Ice cream was new...and that was yummy. Maybe I should try new things...maybe Olimar's right," Nana thought. She looked out the window again and saw her friends laughing and envied how much fun they were having. She felt a nudge on her side and noticed Kirby was trying to usher her out.
"Puyo!"
"Okay okay okay!" Nana laughed. "Alright you win, Kirby. Let's go play."
"YEEEEEEEEEEY!" Kirby cheered. He grabbed Nana's hand with his two little arms and ran outside with Nana staggering to keep up. They caught up with the group of younger smashers and started a big game of hide and seek.
"Olimar was right," Nana thought as she peeked out from her hiding place behind the items shed. "I should open my mind more. This is a lot of fun!"
The young ice climber smiled as she watched Diddy chase Lucas around, trying to tag him. In the corner of her eye, she noticed Kirby waving at her from up a tree. Nana felt a powerful surge of affection for the pink puffball and waved back. It was thanks to him she got out of the house and started having fun. Kirby didn't talk much, but he was really considerate towards his friends and Nana was one of them.
She was lucky to have such a good friend.
