Snow in Summer.

It was early July, Erica had no college now and was free at home from now on. It was Summer holidays and Erica loved summers a lot- More than snow; actually there wouldn’t be anyone who would prefer sun then snow but yes Erica was one of them.She would like dazzling out in sun,wearing those one size plus glasses and her favourite head umbrella as her protectors. Erica was only one enjoying summer, no family member was ever interested to hangout in their little beach with her.For the next few hours, while Grandma lay dozing, Erica sprawled out on her own little beach. At first, she could not stop smiling. She giddily stretched out her limbs and moved them back and forth, making a sand angel! She read a bit of a book. She picked a few oranges and unpeeled them one by one. She dug holes and then filled them in again. After that, she didn’t quite know what to do. Apparently, the pleasures of the warm sand beach were a lot less fun when there was no one around to share them with. Erica would have woken her grandmother, but she remembered that Grandma didn’t much care for the sun.She had spent the family’s entire Florida vacation under both an umbrella and a huge‐ brimmed hat. Besides, the sunny space wasn’t big enough for two. 

By late afternoon, Erica wasn’t feeling very well. Her mother hadn’t been around to lather her in suntan lotion and her skin had turned a very dark shade of pink. She had eaten so many sickly sweet oranges that she now had a stomach ache. She had gotten some sand in her eye and had to blink  furiously to get it out. The sun was strong and unrelenting. She glanced over to the other side of the yard. She was      reluctant to admit it, even to herself, but the snow looked   sort of…refreshing than the scorching sun. She was flushed and bored, but most of all she missed her siblings and parents; who had gone to town nearby to attend a family wedding.  

She trudged inside, showered the sweat and the sand off    from her body and then joined her Grandma, who had finally awoken, at the table. “My dear! However did you manage to get that awful sunburn?” her grandmother wailed. Erica just shrugged. She wasn’t very hungry, but she managed to pack in some forkfuls of spaghetti and meatballs.Before bed, she crept over to the backdoor and peered out. The sand, the tree, the bucket all were gone. Erica began to think that she had imagined it. She wasn’t thatdisappointed. Her siblings would be back in to the morning and she badly wanted to play with them. She just thought out of the blue even if it meant being chilly; even though she knew there’s no chilling in July.

The car pulled into the driveway. Erica was up with a start and . She charged downstairs. Welcomed both of her parents home with hugs and gave one to her grandmother, too, who was preparing to leave. Then, as her mother began to ready breakfast, she pulled on her coat and joined her siblings in the back. 

Next morning as Erica could barely open her eyes she was surprised to see it white every where outside. It was cold and freezing. How can it be possible to have snow in July- early July! The snow began to fall quite much early this year, in July, before Erica even had a chance to bring her puffed‐up purple winter coat out of the closet. It did not stop. Cold white confetti came down on the city of Montreal morning. Erica was wondering when this would end and her mom shouts out to the children to get down for the breakfast. The other kids in her class as well as her siblings loved the snow. They loved that sometimes, when the winds picked up and the roads turned icy, it was when college was cancelled. They liked to build towering forts and snowmen.

 Erica had already been through a tough time playing out alone in the sun the previous day,she made a plan, go out with family enjoying the snow- as she knew her siblings would react to this because she was never a snow loving person. This was just a try to see how it feels to be in snow for Erica. At breakfast table this was decided and father agreed with a great surprise for Erica planning out this. Everyone got ready and the car took off through the highway towards the mountains. It was decided to go to drive an hour north to the ski hill. They would spend Saturday there, riding chairlifts to the top of a frosted mountain and following the slopes back down. Erica would have refused to go with them as always because he had nothing to do with that thick, white,powdery stuff- but this time it was her willingness to go just for once to see how it works.

Erica despised the snow. More than that, she hated everything about wintertime. Her family had taken a trip to Florida two winters ago, and she wished that they could live there all year round. She had bobbed up and down in the ocean waves, sometimes floating on her back and other times, with one size plus goggles on, searching for colored fish in the water. In the mornings, her mother had squeezed fresh juice from the Florida‐ grown oranges that the hotel left in a basket at the front desk. 

With her brother and sister, Erica had constructed a magnificent castle on the beach, with a moat and a long, looping flight of stairs. She liked feeling the sand between her fingers. It stuck together every bit as well as snow did, and it didn’t make your teethchatter. This time it was different – skiing was fun, they rode thought the white, soft snow, enjoying and throwing snowballs in the air and then at each other. Erica was involved in throwing too. A snowball came and hit her cheek, it was fun fir Erica to feel those cold snowflakes touching her. They created a snowman with Erica's one size plus glasses and their father's muffler. They even arranged a sledge from somewhere and riding it through the hill top and down was amazing experience for Erica, she was enjoying every bit of the time and thinking it to be much better than the scorching heat of the sun. The day was over but the snow was not over yet. It felt like it was wintertime. A day passed and they were all tired; next morning it was time to get back to car and drive back home.

Her siblings, who had been throwing snow balls into the air and at each other, piled into the backseat. Soon the station wagon disappeared from view, Erica was soon asleep. She woke up with a bang of the car’s door and they were back home. Everyone unpacked the luggage and grandma settled into an armchair infront of the television. In a few quick minutes, she was asleep. Erica glanced outside and gave a sigh. Her hot chocolate was just about gone. She was about to turn towards the sink to rinse her mug when out of the corner of her eye she caught something green. Again surprised, something green in her blank, white backyard? She pressed her face up against the kitchen window.There, in the corner of the yard closest to the sliding back door, the snow had melted away. In its place, a small tree with low‐hanging fruit was growing. Erica immediately ran out to it. Elsewhere, the snowy flakes continued to swirl, but not a single one landed on this bright patch of ground, which was covered in sand. The sun beamed down on Susanna so hard, in fact, that she was hot! Sweating hot! Half‐buried by her feet were a plastic shovel and pail. She couldn’tbelieve it. A small slice of the snow filled holiday she had been missing had landed right behind her house for just a day and again it was sunny. 

Then, as her mother began to ready breakfast, she pulled on her snowsuit and joined her siblings in the back. They were sculpting animals a caterpillar with snowy lumps for a body; a fish with fins. She dropped to her knees, without explanation, and began to work. Her hat was pulled low over her ears, her mittens were lined with wool, and suddenly her sister’s hand was over hers, helping to smooth out the fish’s curved tail. She was cold enough she could hardly resist.

Erica could not stop wondering as if it was a one day dream that she had lived. And after giving her a new perseverance towards winters it’s again summer; just back in a day. Erica murmured- might be God's playing and continued her work.