You broke up.

Diagnosis

Acute, but survivable. The last time you felt this way you also survived, though you don’t remember that right now.

Treatment

You will make ice cream. From scratch. Not because it is better, but because it takes forty-five minutes, and forty-five minutes is the exact length of one good cry. Scald the cream. Whisk the yolks. Do not check your phone; your hands are covered in custard, which is the point.

Churn it. By the time it is soft-set you will have cried, eaten nothing yet, and accidentally learned a skill. Eat it straight from the canister with the metal spoon you kept in the freezer for exactly this. The spoon has been waiting longer than you have known what to do with yourself.

Put on the rain-cloud sweatpants. Sit somewhere comfortable. You do not have to become a person with a plan tonight. You only have to keep the custard moving and let the next forty-five minutes happen one whisk at a time. If a friend offers to come over, say yes and assign them the dishes. Leave the big questions for a day when you have slept and the freezer is full. Tonight is for a bowl, a blanket, and one less notification.

Fill Your Prescription

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• ice cream maker
• vanilla bean paste and good cocoa
• heavy metal ice cream spoon
• oversized rain-cloud sweatpants

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Side Effects

May develop a genuine ice cream hobby and a vague sense of superiority over people who buy theirs. May forget his name by the third batch.