New Wonders

Snow had never been anything special to me. 

In my hometown it always fell in sheets, blanketing the ground until all was white. As a kid I used to race out into the storms and play until my toes were numb. Every year I’d look forward to snow, impatiently putting on my snow pants at the first sign of a storm. When I got older, shoveling the driveway and driving on ice took the wonder out of it. By the time I was nineteen I was used to the frozen flurries and the ivory world they created. It was quiet, peaceful even. But it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. 

The first time I had told her about snow, I wasn’t sure she believed it existed. We were sitting on the warm sands of her home world when I attempted to explain the white flurries that fell from the sky. Snow didn’t exist on her planet; Azuria was covered entirely by pink waters and golden sands.

“I want to see the flakes,” she had said. 

“Snowflakes,” I corrected. 

“Right, snowflakes. They sound magical.”

“I think here is pretty magical.”

“That’s because you had never seen blue people before you stepped foot on our planet.”

She had a point. 

“Beaches are better anyway.”

“Everywhere has beaches, Shayne. You have seen beaches before, right?”

“Yes, I’ve seen beaches.”

“Then you’ve seen Azuria.”

She picked up a handful of sand, letting it sift through her fingers gently. 

“Does falling snow look like this?”

“A little, I guess.”

“I can almost picture it.”

I wanted to take her to Earth right then and there, but traveling between galaxies was a lot harder than flying across the states. The journey from the Andromeda Galaxy to the Milky Way would take over a month and I had only just landed on Azuria a week prior. 

It was two years before I decided to go back home, and Nova came with me. 

A few nights after we returned, a big storm was forecasted to hit most of New England. Nova was determined to stay awake until it started. She didn’t want to miss a single second. Her nose pressed against the window as she looked out into the darkness, willing the snowfall to begin. I watched from the comfort of my couch knowing it wouldn’t start for at least a few more hours. At some point she had taken a seat next to me but she kept glancing out the window every two minutes. 

Hours passed and we had both fallen asleep on the couch. I opened my eyes slowly, grimacing at the slight ache in my back that always came from the uncomfortable position. Nova was still slumped over the armrest fast asleep. 

I attempted to rub the grogginess from my eyes as I walked across the room to the window. There was already blanket of snow on the ground outside and, for the first time in a long time, I smiled at the sight of flurries falling from the sky.

“Wake up!” 

I raced back to the couch, shaking her shoulders lightly. She stirred with a groan. 

“Nova, it’s snowing!”

She gasped, her eyes wide as she sat up and looked towards the window. A moment later she was off the couch running towards the front door.

“Wait!” I called after her. “You need a coat!”

She was gone out into the night before I had finished. Quickly I slipped on my boots and grabbed two heavy winter coats from the hall closet. As I started to the door, I realized she hadn’t been wearing shoes either. I grabbed a pair before following her outside.

She was standing barefoot in my front yard looking skyward. For a moment I didn’t move, watching as she stretched out her arm and caught snowflakes with her hand. The golden streetlights gave her sapphire skin an emerald hue. She laughed lightly, watching as her breath floated in the air. 

“It’s colder than I thought.”

I walked over and wrapped one of the coats around her shaking shoulders. 

“I told you it was freezing. Now put some shoes on.”

She placed a hand on my arm for balance as she pulled on one sneaker after the other. She looked up at me then and I realized in the closeness that I could see where the snowflakes disappeared into her ivory hair. 

“It is magical!”

Her voice was hushed as she smiled at me, her brown eyes filled with wonder

“I guess so.”

“You guess? Look at it!” 

She backed away a few steps, gesturing to the snow with both arms spread wide. Crouching down, she gingerly ran her fingers over the ground at her feet. Her childlike wonder brought back some of the excitement I had for snow as a kid. 

A wicked idea suddenly came to my mind. I leaned over and grabbed a handful of snow, pressing it between my palms. I looked between the ball in my hand and Nova, who was still completely distracted.

Her mouth fell open when the snow made contact and for a moment she stared with wide eyes at her knee. Then she reached down and picked up her own handful.

“It’s called a snowball,” I laughed, bracing myself as she threw the clump at me. “You have to shape it first!”

I walked closer to her and bent over to grab another handful. She watched me closely, her hands making the same movements as mine until we both had a proper snowball in hand. 

“And then you just throw it?” she asked, lifting her arm.

“Not so close!” 

I tried to back away but only got two steps before the snowball hit me square in the face. My shoulders sagged as I huffed, wiping the remnants from my skin. Nova was doubled over laughing, clutching her sides as she struggled to breathe. When she finally rose to meet my gaze, the snowball I had been holding collided with her cheek.

“Not so funny now, is it?” I gloated.

She still laughed. I chuckled and shook my head as I walked over to her. Using the sleeve of my coat, I wiped the snow from her face and she blushed lilac.

“Are you cold?”

“No.”

Her chattering teeth suggested otherwise.

“Come on, let’s head back inside.”

“Not yet, please? Just a few more minutes?”

“We have tomorrow, too. It’s supposed to snow all day.”

“I know, I just…” Her eyes wandered down the length of my street. “I just like the quiet.”

I gave in easily and we stayed outside a little longer. I stuck my tongue out, catching snowflakes on it, and when I turned to look at Nova she was doing the same. I didn’t say anything for the last few minutes. I only watched as she continued to play with the snowflakes. Eventually her entire body began to shiver and I knew it was time.

“We really should go back inside before we turn blue.”

I realized my mistake as soon as the words left my mouth. She grinned as my face flushed.

“I’m already blue, idiot.” 

“Yeah, okay, then before you turn… white?”

“I don’t think that’s how it works.”

“I’ll tell you what,” I sighed. “If we go inside now, I’ll make us hot chocolate.”

She gasped, “What’s hot chocolate?”