First Timer

   Little white angels fell from the sky. They had amounted to a big mass of what seemed to be a large cloud. I giggled softly as I noticed a few had landed on my windowsill. What was this glorious element that seemed to send shivers along my spine whenever one would land on my fingertips? They would only stay for about a second before melting away. I was awestruck. I had never seen such beauty in an eerie yet golden way. The sun had completely hidden itself as if afraid to face this newly found weather. A soft breeze blew across my face causing me to step back a little. How had it gotten so cold so fast? Turning to face the door I could see my mom staring at me amused at how fond I was of the “White stuff” outside. I had overheard her before telling my dad that there would be a snow storm today. Is this the Snow they were talking about? I wondered as I glanced back before following her to the kitchen.

“Mom, is that snow outside?” I asked while walking behind her.

    She didn’t speak but nodded her head letting me know my assumption was right. Sometimes I forget just how distant she can be. Most days it’s as if she is in her own little world dreaming of a better life. In fact, that’s the reason we had moved here. The thought brought me back to my home town, Kingston, Jamaica. It never snowed there. The sun was always shining except for a few days when it would rain. Most days were really hot but we had tons of beaches to escape to whenever it became overwhelming. I had not seen any beaches since I got here. “What was this place called again?” I asked myself raking my brain to find an answer, “London, England.” It wasn’t very nice here and it had been mostly cloudy. There seemed to be a never ending well of nothing to do. Laughing at how clever I sounded I ran ahead of my mom to find my dad.

“Dad,” I shouted in excitement, “It’s snowing outside.”

“Yes Sweetheart, your mom and I have a surprise for you,” He responded with a cheeky grin.

“A surprise,” I squealed.

“Go grab your coat we are going out.” He said while standing up.

    As we stepped outside a loud gasp left my lips. It was freezing but more importantly it was as if I was walking on clouds. Snow laid everywhere. It had consumed the streets and even lay amidst the top of our car. Bending down I grabbed a handful and watched as it trickled through by fingers and landed back on to the ground. I glanced up at my parents; they too seemed to look in awe. After all, this was our first time seeing snow. It was all white; the leaves on every tree, the rooftops on every house, the road that ran right in front of our driveway were all coated. Even the birds that were usually perched outside our home had seemed to vanish.

    The car ride felt like forever, I watched through the window as we slowly went along the highway. I gazed as a few different cars passed by and noticed the extent the weather seemed to have on what looked to be all of England. To be honest it was kind of scary but I was so excited to see my surprise that I had completely pushed the thought to the back of my mind. I could not sit still. Mom kept glaring at me through the mirror as if a warning that if I did not behave she would have dad turn the car around. My dad on the other hand just laughed at how riled up I had gotten.

     About fifteen minutes later we had pulled into a parking lot with the word “Benny’s” written in bright red letters just above what seemed to be an entrance. As we walked up to the booth I noticed that quite a few cars were parked outside. I started to wonder, “Were we going to a game?” Approaching the booth at the front entrance mom handed the man at the counter some money and in returned her handed her 3 small wrist bands, one for each of us. I studied the band as my dad placed it around my tiny wrist. I began to spell the word written on it aloud, “I-C-E …” but before I could finish I stopped to study the 3 relatively large boxes my mom were suddenly holding. My excitement grew even more.

    As we walked inside my attention was immediately taken by the large circle in the center of the room. What took me by surprise though were the different groups of people dancing and spinning. I had so many questions, “Was this a dance competition?” My dad grabbed on to my hand jerking me out of my thoughts. He led me to a bench just off the side of the “Dance floor.” Removing the contents of the box a small pair of shoes came in to view which he placed on my feet. These shoes were stunning; they were like nothing I have ever seen before. They were red, sparkly and came up about ankle high with a few laces to tie. The thing that caught me off guard though was the sharp metal piece at the bottom. I could barely stand in them and had no idea what I needed them for. I hardly knew what was going on but being only 5 years old it was a given. Picking me up my dad placed me in front of what seemed to be a lake of ice. I was terrified. “What if the ice decided to melt just as quickly as the snow did?” Stepping on to the ice first dad urged me to follow him showing me how to keep my balance with his movements. I looked down still very skeptical before tentatively stepping onto the ice.