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Getting free Hot Chocolate from that new food truck seemed like a great idea at the time, and the blue sprinkles on top was just the cutest touch!

A few hours later though, you just can’t seem to get warm. Nothing helps. Not a bath, not wrapping in ten blankets and not sitting in front of an open fire. Your skin begins to turn a pale blue starting at your fingertips, and if you were warm enough to remove your socks, you’d see your toes were doing the same thing. As the minutes wear on you begin to sneeze small bunches of snowflakes as the icy blue continues to take over your skin. Perhaps it is a good idea to just go to bed and pile on the blankets.

The cold lasts for about six hours, and the blueish tint fades after you again get warm. Maybe you should think twice the next time someone offers you something for free…


One thing Lulu really loved was trying out new food trucks when they came to town. She loved to follow blogs that talked about them and didn't mind going out of her way to find them. This one was just adorable and the blog had talked about how they were giving away free hot chocolate as well, just the thing she could use to warm herself up after walking to find it. There was a fairly large line in front of it, but once she got up to the register she happily ordered a home made donut to go with her free cut of sweet hot chocolate. She watched as the adorable blue sprinkles were splashed on top. How appropriate for the season. It was the perfect balance of sweet with a bitter hot chocolate, and the donut tasted amazing to boot. What a wonderful little trip.

By the time she made it home she had finished the cup of hot chocolate, which was tossed in the trash on her way into the kitchen. All of the sweets had put her into the mood to do some baking. A chocolate cake would be nice and she already had everything she needed. She pulled out her new mixer first, then started to hunt down the ingredients she would need for her cake. She needed to start the cake batter first and then she could start on the icing.

She had the batter made and poured in the pan, that was her first clue that something was wrong. As she opened the oven to place in the cake the heat was almost unbearable against cool skin. "Ouch." She nearly dropped the pan, but managed a quick recovery and slipped it in. Why was it so cold in here? She walked over to her thermostat, but the heat was on and keeping her apartment at a steady seventy-two degrees. She didn't usually like to push it past that, trying to conserve energy and all. They last thing she needed was some huge electric bill. She turned it up anyway and listened as her heating kicked on, she didn't notice and immediate difference, but she figured she'd start feeling better in time. For now though, she pulled a hoodie on over her shirt and when back into the kitchen. She still had icing to make after all.

As she worked in the kitchen though she only felt herself getting colder, She dreaded the thought of pulling the cake out of the oven, but somehow managed it. very carefully. She set the cake out to cool and finished up the icing, but as she was getting ready to put it into a piping bag that was when she noticed how blue her fingers were. She was shivering now as well, which made no sense with how positively warm her kitchen must be after the oven had been running. She decided to take a break and put her icing away in the fridge. The cake still needed to be cooled, so she left it out for now.

After that she walked into her living room and flipped on the tv, finding something to watch on Netflix and curling up on the couch with a blanket. Things weren't getting any better though and when she sneezed she noticed the cool blue snowflakes that came from her nose. reminded her of the sprinkles on her hot chocolate. Anything free was too good to be true around this time of year, she felt silly for being so excited about it before. Nothing she was doing was keeping her warm, even as she added blankets over herself on the couch She didn't even have the strength to unbundle and make her way to her bed. Instead she allowed herself to drift to sleep on her couch. When she woke up later that evening she was fine, hot in fact.