A to Z Challenge 2026 - I - Contessina’s Collection of Human Treasures

“Ice cream,” she said. “Frozen yogurt, frozen custard, gelato, Italian ice…A lot of variations, one of the great desserts. Humans have gone well out of their way to make this one a versatile art form, with a seeming endless supply of ideas as to how to flavor it, toppings to place on it, rivaled only by pizza in the many ways it can be enjoyed…”

Shelby could recall seeing Michelangelo lick Contessina’s ice cream. She was horrified at the very thought. That’s how some people are. I will let in on a secret, but only the suggestion of the answer, at this point. We will see the rest of it play out, later.

Michelangelo was not actually a cat.

Shelby herself couldn’t really care. She wasn’t really human, either. That’s more speculation that’s been popping up that could use some clarification. She was in fact Danab. 

She was voluntary exile. Her story is a complicated one, so for now we will simply assert the basic truth: She was caught between worlds. Not accepted by her own people, and unwilling to assimilate into human culture.

Which is not to say she didn’t try.

She once attended a baseball game. When London had been granted a franchise, that’s where she went. She went to the concession stand early, in the middle of an inning, not after one team had recorded all its outs, but when there were still baserunners in play. One team just kept scoring. She wasn’t rooting for either team. She couldn’t have cared less about the results. She just couldn’t stand the other team allowing so many runs.

At the stand she bought ice cream. It came in a little plastic helmet. In years past it would’ve been a baseball helmet. This one was Danab. She had been horrified. It trivialized one of the most important elements of her culture, one she had been forced to abandon…

There wasn’t much she could do, except throw it in the trash, which was what she did.

So, no, she did not particularly enjoy seeing Contessina indulge Michelangelo. Especially since she too seemed to have gone to a baseball game. Perhaps even the same one. Her ice cream was being served out of a little plastic Danab helmet, too…