The Soaking of Snow

“That's right folks, it's gonna be another cold one! Plus 3 feet of snow! Careful driving out there, the roads are already covered!” The weatherman bellowed on the 6 o’clock news. More snow. More unique flakes cascading through the air, banding together to create mountains. Each flake had its own shape, the frozen water branches out into different directions. The beauty should take your breath away, instead the cold air shows us our breath, small clouds forming around our lips. The only downside is when the cold air stings your face like tiny needles, a small price  to pay for the beauty of snow. 

I grabbed my big jackets, wrapping it around me like a big warm hug. My puffy tipped hat fit snug over my huge hair, suffocating it. That didn't stop my hair from trying to break free from under the hat. I pulled my hat down harder to brace for the outside. The door opened with a squeak, the winter wonderland awaited.

The darkness overtook most of the landscape. The street lights fought against the darkness for power, unfortunately a fruitless battle until dawn,wins, the street lights still had a long battle ahead. They were able to shed light onto the flakes slowly falling to earth, building something much bigger than themselves. The feeling deep in my chest was like a kid on Christmas, the giddiness bubbled up inside me, my smile widening as I danced through the snowflakes all around me. There was no music, but I never needed any. Each step left crunches behind me and every flake that hit my face melted as soon as it did. I continued forward, crunching along. The world goes silent when it snows, almost like there's a dome around you and sounds get muffled. You can hear each snowflake hit the ground and the impact each step has with every step. Pure silent bliss.

A flash of light from nowhere, my head started pounding. A cry of agony fell from my lips as my legs fell from under me. The flakes never stopped falling, one by one melting as they hit me. The snow made mountains on me, the cold set in and the darkness took over.

The pain throbbed as my head felt like it was going to implode. My eyes fluttered open, I moved my head side to side, surveying the landscape, nothing. Just the winter wonderland building up. I brushed what was left of the snow off of me, getting back on my feet. That's when I saw him. the  broad shoulders and the bigger frame, the scruffy hair were a dead giveaway. My darling love, his closeness made my heart thump and jump, just like a rabbit. My boots gripped and slide through the frozen earth as I bounded toward him. I reached out to hold him in my arms, to bring him as close as possible. Our paths crossed, he went right past me. My smile evaporated. 

“Babe?” My voice cracked, Jack continued padding forward, leaving his footprints in the snow, leaving a trail behind him.

“Jack!” My voice echoed through the night. Crunch, crunch, crunch. The sound felt like a punch in the face with each step. My feet finally began to respond again, I barely even realized the lack of sound behind me. Thump, thump, thump, my heart not missing a beat. A single tear fell down my face, like a razor blade puncturing my cheek. 

“Jack,” my raspy voice choked out.

“HALLIE!” My name rang me like a bell, my whole body vibrating. My exhales no longer exist, neither did my feet. The snow behind me only had one set of footprints, but they were way too big to be mine. I could feel the blood rushing out of my face. My blood ran cold, mine specifically, absorbed into the snow around my body like a snow angel. The crimson encirclement made my dinner come up my throat. My brain screamed at me to run, to put my footprints where they should be, into the snow on the perfectly beautiful night. A night that was supposed to be filled with snowball fights and smiles. A night where the snow fell around us as we danced together to the music that wasn’t there, something I used to do alone. That is until the boy next door came bargaining into my life. He gave me a reason to smile everyday and now I was the source of his pain.

I slowly approached the horror scene as if I wasn't living it. The snow fell slowly each flake make a small impact. If it were raining, all my blood would have been washed away by now, instead it lingered around me, my first crown, except it was composed of blood. My puffy hat lay feet away from me, getting soaked as the snowflakes melted into it, the puff starting to lose it's puffiness. My bubble popped, “BABY. Please don’t leave me. PLEASE.” Jack sobbed, “ what… what happened? This isn’t how tonight was supposed to go!” The pain in his voice made my chest heavy. “The ambulance is coming just please, please hold on,” His voice got lost in the void of the night. Right next to my hand lay a box, small and velvety, slowly being covered by the flakes. “Please stay with me.”

Lights flared in the darkness of the night. The sound of the sirens broke through the void, approaching closer with every second that passed. “They’re here Babe, hold on,” Jack gripped the lifeless hand, staining his gloves with blood. The roar approached, not missing a beat, but my heart no longer did. 

It all felt like a dream as the world blurred past me. My body was loaded into the roaring beast, Jack jumped in right behind. The door slammed shut, I still couldn’t move. My brain could not accept what was happening right before my eyes. My eyes travel instead, down to the body shape in the snow, outlined with blood. I watched as the black velvet box disappeared as did the ambulance. I approached the blood soaked snow, just in front of it were tracks left behind, evidence imprinted into the snow, tire tracks. My heart sank, one flash, one night. I sat beside my own blood stain where one person had forever changed my life, whether they meant to or not. To my right I saw the erratic trail of my boots getting covered by a fresh layer of snow, flake by flake. In the distance the lights of the ambulance disappeared. I looked down toward the curb and saw my body slowly fading. My last breaths were transparent. I looked into the distance as my tears fell to the ground, no longer making an impact. One last breath, “I’ll always love you.” My translucent hand fell upon the black velvety box as I exhaled for the last time.