In the middle of Central Park after school, Caleb stood inside the immobile ice cream truck, the Swirly Go Round, gazing admiringly at flattened waffle cones with faces branded onto them pinned to the back wall.

The owner of the Swirly Go Round, Lance Milton, stood beside him, also admiring the wall. "This wall displays the finest Swirlers the Swirly Go Round has ever seen. And you, Caleb Lazlow, could soon have your face burnt into a waffle cone."

Caleb soaked in the very thought. "That would be an honor, sir."

"Then keep up the good work and you, my ice cream concocting companion, will be the next Swirler of the Month. Between you and me, Eddie's starting to lose his touch."

Over at the counter, Caleb's more experienced co-worker, Eddie, was too busy talking to a girl to notice the pile of sprinkles he had shaken on top of his hand.

"Yup," Lance said. "He's a goner."

Bad news for Eddie, good news for Caleb. With Eddie out of the way, he would gain ice cream wall of fame for sure.

While Eddie cleaned up his mess, Caleb took over the window. There wasn't much activity that afternoon, but the weather report said that the highs would reach around ninety-five soon, which meant one hundred percent chance of ice cream customers looking to cool off. Tomorrow. In the meantime, his eyes wandered around the park until they landed on Danny Lockhart who sat at one of the stone tables nearby. He looked really upset. Since no one was coming for ice cream any time soon, Caleb decided to take his break early.

He walked over to Danny and dropped into the seat opposite him. "Let me guess. You lost your phone, and you're in desperate need of a tracking device to get it back."

Frowning, Danny looked up at him. "What?"

"Aren't you rehearsing for your new commercial? Was I right about the phone device thing cause I kind of need that right now."

Despair returned to Danny's face. "There won't be another commercial. I'm finished. My career is over."

Caleb pondered this. Aha! "Owner of the Snap-A-Leash company."

"I'm not acting," Danny snapped. "This is serious. Normally by this time I'd be at my third commercial shoot of the week. Do you know how many photo shoots I've been to so far?"

Unlike the swooning girls at school, Caleb didn't keep track of Danny's TV whereabouts. Except when it came to that three part jeans ad with those cruel, cruel To Be Continued's. "Uh..."

"None. Zero."

"It's only Monday," Caleb reminded him.

Danny stared at him blankly. "What's your point?"

No wonder that guy was having a mini meltdown. He was used to being literally all over the place and now that he had nothing to do, he was driving himself crazy. "Maybe this is a good thing. You could use a break."

Danny half-laughed half-snorted. "A break? In my world, a break means being jobless. I've never been out of a job in my life." He pulled out his wallet and showed a clipping from a maternity catalog of a lady in plaid pajamas. "This is my mom." He pointed to his mom's belly. "And this is me. It was the day a star was born. Literally. I was born 8 hours later." His jaw quivered. "And now that baby's dreams are evaporating into thin air. He was so young."

Caleb had to give it to him. The dude had some serious skills. He almost bought that one. "Why not try something new for a change and get a normal job?"

"All I've ever known is being in front of a camera. Who's going to want a washed up actor with no experience?"

"We're hiring. You should give the Swirly a GO around." Caleb cracked up hysterically, but when he saw that Danny wasn't smiling his face shut back down.

"No offense Caleb, but you're used to looking like a dork. I have a reputation to uphold and I can't do that with my hands covered in frozen custard."

Caleb lifted a brow defensively. "It's ice cream. There's a difference."

"Still dorky."

Says the guy crying to his unborn baby picture. "Look, you'll never know what else you're good at if you don't try. If you don't like it, you can quit. Or get fired. Whichever comes first."

Danny sighed, but his expression held a tinge of interest. "I guess I could give it a shot. But do I have to wear one of those goofy uniforms?"

Caleb smiled.

***

Danny stood emotionless in his new Swirly Go Round uniform, equipped with upside down strawberry ice cream cone hat.

"Looking good," Caleb said to his new trainee. "Though, you might want to try smiling. You don't want to scare the customers away." Danny's face remained completely blank and unfriendly. "We'll work on that." Caleb turned around. "Come on. I want to show you my favorite part of the job."

He led the way over to a row of bicycles with ice cream carts attached to their backs. Getting to ride one of those was one of the best perks of being a Swirler. They gave his glutes a workout like no one would believe.

"What are those things?" Danny observed them curiously.

"Swirly Carts." Caleb slapped one. "We use these babies for deliveries."

"Why would we need delivery carts when we have a whole truck full of ice cream."

Caleb chuckled. "Newbies. The Swirly truck hasn't moved in fifteen years. Instead of customers coming to us, we go to them. Unless that customer is in the middle of a crowded place during a heat wave. Then we do not go to them."

"How do you keep everything cool," Danny asked, more intrigued now.

Caleb unlocked the cart's latch and lifted the lid. Clouds of frost billowed into the air, flooding them with the sweet, delicious flavors of the Swirly's inventory.

Danny stared inside the cart in a trance. Beneath trays for cones and tubs, it was loaded with every frozen treat imaginable. "Cool."

Caleb nodded in agreement. And people wondered why he loved his job.

***

Thanks for reading! Will Danny last one day at the Swirly Go Round or will he melt under pressure? Stay tuned to find out!

-Love, Charly