When I was a kid around 7 I got invited to a sleepover, it was my first one, I was used to having no friends and my strict parents not letting me make any, so this was very exciting to me. Somehow my parents accepted and let me go, I guess it was because the house was in the same street and they knew them from my same school.
In any case it was very fun, I had little to no toys and she had many that I could try, we played dress up and built train tracks and a fort. At one point her mother called us from the kitchen in what I assumed was going to be some boring dinner and she presented us with a plate of sandwiches, fries and a big row of petit-suisse and wood sticks to put in each to make ice cream out of them. I was very surprised and impressed, I was totally foreign to the concept of making ice cream and having it for dinner, so I asked
"is it for you (her parents)?"
Her mother looked at me very confused
"no, it's for you and Greta, but I think I might have one with you while we watch the movie."
I looked again at the tiny pink containers and I considered it was a good enough amount as to be allowed one so I started to help them with the making process.
Once it was all in the freezer she set a timer and we went to the living room to watch a Disney movie, I was fine with anything so I just sat down to wait for her mother to put the VHS inside and press play. They both looked at me confused again.
"aren't you gonna come to choose one?"
I got up as to not upset them but I didn't understand, choose from where? The renting place was closed at that hour and I was sure they wouldn't want to spend the money, as my mother used to say whenever she stole the movies she and my father would watch. I had a total of one VHS for me, the little mermaid, an illegal copy with poor quality that I watched every week, I wasn't even aware people bought the movies to have at home and that parents would want and allow their kids to watch a movie at night instead of making them go to bed or stand an adult movie while they play in silence.
When I arrived at the shelves and saw them filled to the brim with VHS movies for kids, family board games and books of tales, I could only stare with a gaping mouth. I didn't dare touch any of it even if they told me, I felt it wasn't for me, and I asked Greta to choose her favorite because in any case I sure didn't watch it before. She chose the fox and the hound.
A bit after the movie started the kitchen alarm sounded and her mother went to grab the petit-suisse ice cream from the freezer, she gave me one and I stared at it a bit before finally trying it. I have had petit suisse only once before, gifted by another family member, I knew I liked it, in fact it was a taste I couldn't forget even if it had been years since my mother told me she wasn't gonna buy it for me.
Tasting it again, covered by a fluffy blanket that smelled like softener, watching a new movie and hearing the soft voice of Greta's mother asking me if I was comfortable from time to time, it was one of the best experiences I've had so far.
The ice cream was finished and I stared at the now pink stick for a minute, I knew I wasn't gonna taste it ever again and somehow I was fine with it.
