Snowed In

“Can somebody tell them to just stop?” 23 year old Hazel Melendaz was not a huge fan of Christmas. Unfortunately, she lived in Snow Falls, a town that’s really into the Christmas spirit. It wasn’t helping that there were carolers right next to her house, and god were they loud.

“I get why you don’t like Christmas, but don’t take it out on the carolers!” said her friend with a smile. Hazel was sitting in her bedroom, packing her suitcase. With her was her close friend, Theresa.

“I just can’t wait to get out of this town. I really don’t get the obsession with Christmas here.” Hazel threw a couple shirts into her suitcase.

 “Well I really don’t get why you run away every year to escape.” Theresa responded. 

“I never get to see you around the holidays! Just think about staying here. We could go Christmas shopping, and bake holiday cookies, and-”

Hazel interrupted.

"Doesn’t sound like something that I would be interested in.” Theresa pulled out her phone and checked the time.

“Oh, I got to go. It’s eleven.” Hazel hugged her. 

“My flight leaves tomorrow at ten, so I have to leave for the airport at seven.” She tightened her grip.

 “I’ll miss you, but you’ll only be gone for a couple days. But before you go, I got you something.” says Theresa and pulled out a little box from her pocket. She handed it to Hazel who opened it up. Inside was a gold necklace with an H. 

“Merry Christmas!” said Theresa with a smile. 

“Thank you so much. It’s beautiful.” said Hazel with a grateful smile. 

She walked Theresa outside and said bye to her as Theresa got in her car and drove away. Then Hazel went back inside and lay down on her bed. She regretted not moving in with Theresa. It got lonely in her little apartment. She finished packing and went to bed, unaware of the snowstorm that was raging outside.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Hazel turned around and slapped her alarm clock. 

“Uggghhh.” she groaned. She looked at the clock. 9:00AM! She got ready in record time and grabbed her suitcase. She took out her phone and tried to call an Uber. 

“Hi, can I have a ride to the airport please?” she asked the man on the phone. 

“Sorry miss, but we can’t drive in this weather. It’s too snowy and icy.”

“WHAT?!” She checked the window and sure enough everything was covered in snow and ice, unfortunately including the roads. 

“Well, thank you anyways.” she said to the man before hanging up. She checked online, and sure enough, her flight was canceled too, due to the snowstorms happening that day. So, even if she did manage to find a ride to get her to an airport, there was no point. 

She couldn’t stay in Snow Falls for Christmas! It was way too festive! She didn’t want to celebrate Christmas. Actually, it wasn’t like she didn’t want to. She couldn’t. She hadn’t celebrated for 3 years and she wasn’t planning on celebrating this year. She decided to call Theresa. Theresa would know what to do. 

Fortunately Theresa picked up. Hazel explained the situation to her. 

“I swear, this is fate!” Said Theresa. 

“What’s fate?” responded Hazel. 

“That you can’t run away this year! You're going to get to experience the Christmas cheer for once, and it wouldn’t kill you to do so.” Hazel sighed. 

“Theresa, you know why I don’t like Christmas.” But Theresa wouldn’t take it. 

“I know that you can’t celebrate after your mom died,” Hazel cringed. 

“But your mom wouldn’t want you not celebrating because of her.” Hazel started to feel angry.

“How would you know what she wants! Nobody will know what she wants right now because she isn’t coming back. And Christmas isn’t Christmas without her, so I’m sorry. I can’t do this.”

“I get that. But can you try, for me? And for her to.” Theresa was one of the most stubborn people Hazel had ever met, so she decided to give in. 

¨Fine. But don't expect me to be happy while celebrating.¨ Theresa laughed and talked about all the things that they could do together for Christmas. But Hazel was zoned out. She was thinking about the last Christmas that she had been able to spend with her mom.

Her mom had already been ill, but it wasn't bad. Yet. They were all opening presents.

¨I love it!” Hazel had said. She got a professional painting set. That had been when she was still into art. ¨I knew you would.¨ her mum replied with a weak smile. That was one of the last happy moments she had with her mom.

It was 3 years ago and 2 weeks until Christmas. But it was bad. Really bad. She was sitting in the hospital, right outside the room where her mom was. A doctor came out and gave her the news. The doctor kept talking, but she wasn't listening. She was only thinking about how life would be. What would happen? She was also thinking about her dad. They had never gotten along well, and a few years back, around the time that her mom had gotten sick, Hazel and her dad had a really bad falling out. 

After that, her dad left. Not there to support his wife in her last few years. And Hazel was still mad at him for that. But maybe it was time to catch up with him.

¨Hey, Theresa, is it okay if I call you back in about ten minutes?¨ Hazel asked. 

¨Of course. But be prepared for the best Christmas ever!¨

Hazel doubted that, but she still agreed. She hung up on Theresa and started to dial in her dads number. But no. He needed to call her. He needed to have a good excuse. He needed to give her an apology for not being there for her and her mom. And yet she knew that would never happen. So she put her phone in her pocket.

¨Okay, so you didn't call me back yesterday.¨ Theresa and Hazel were walking through town to get some Christmas decorations for Hazel´s apartment. 

¨I´m really sorry. I meant to call you, I just… got distracted. Theresa looked like she wanted to say something, but she didn´t. 

¨Well, we are coming back to this later, but for now we've arrived at our first stop!¨ 

Hazel looked at the shop and smiled. It was where she and her mom used to shop for the holidays. 

¨The Elves Workshop!¨ said Hazel. They walked into the shop and were greeted by the owner. ¨Hazel! Long time no see! Always nice to see you to Theresa.¨ Theresa and Hazel thanked her and started exploring the shop.

¨Ohhh… You have to see this!¨ said Theresa. Hazel looked and saw the most beautiful star for a Christmas tree. 

¨That's perfect!¨ They found a box of ornaments, some lights and some nice Christmas pillows. ¨Perfect!¨ said Theresa as they walked out the shop. 

¨Not quite yet! We still need a Christmas tree!” Theresa laughed. 

¨Well look who's getting into the Christmas spirit!” “Maybe I am!”

“I’m glad to hear it.” 

They walked back to Hazel’s apartment and got the car out. They drove up to the Christmas tree farm which was only about twenty minutes away. 

“Oh, look at this one!” Hazel pointed to a big pine tree. At that moment her phone started ringing. She pulled it out. 

“It’s my dad.” Theresa rushed over. 

“Well, what are you waiting for?”

Hazel didn’t pick it up. Eventually the phone stopped ringing. 

“Can I ask why you didn’t pick it up?”asked Theresa. 

“I don’t want someone like my dad in my life. He wasn’t somebody that anyone could rely on, and I can’t deal with that right now. Theresa nodded. 

“Maybe we should come back tomorrow.”

“No! Don’t let my dad ruin this for us.” They decided to get the large pine tree, and it was really hard to get it in the car. 

“Maybe we should just strap it to the top.” Suggested Theresa. And strap it they did. It looked pretty funny, probably because they did the worst job ever. But they managed to make it home with the tree and the car intact. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow!” yelled Theresa as she started walking home. 

“And we’re making Christmas cookies!” Hazel laughed as she went inside her apartment and Theresa walked home. She already knew how Christmas cookies would turn out. Burnt and gross.

On the other hand she didn’t know what would’ve happened if she’d answered the call. Maybe her dad would’ve apologized. Maybe they could’ve caught up. Maybe she could forgive him. But that was a lot of maybe’s. She was in a good place. She just needed some closure with her mom. But Hazel was worried she might never find that closure. 

So she called her dad. 

“Hello, who is this?” Hazel didn’t know how to feel when she heard that voice. 

“Hi dad. It’s Hazel.”

“Hazel. I’m glad you called.” Hazel was getting angry again. He hadn’t said anything rude, but he also hadn’t apologized yet.

 “Look. I just want an apology. I don’t want excuses, but I want you to tell me why you left.” he sighed. 

“Look Hazel, I didn’t want to play nurse. And your mom and I had already been fighting before she became ill.”Now she felt furious. 

“You didn’t even come to her funeral!”

 “There was someone else.” Hazel felt her stomach churn. 

“What do you mean there was someone else?” 

“Before your mom fell ill, I found another woman. She and I got along better than me and your mother did. And when your mom fell ill, I took it as an opportunity. But I always thought that she would make it through.” Hazel hung up. 

“Okay, slow down.” Hazel and Theresa were making Christmas cookies and Hazel was telling her every detail about the call with her dad. 

“I just can’t believe it! I mean, was he cheating on her? Or did she know?” Hazel cracked the eggs into the bowl. 

“Maybe you should’ve asked him before hanging up!” They were in Theresa’s kitchen. 

“But to take your mind off of it, I’ll tell you our Christmas plan.”

“I don’t know if I want to continue celebrating. Maybe I should just stay at home through the holidays.” Theresa grabbed her shoulders. 

“Look. I know that this must be bringing back a lot of hard memories. I also know that your dad isn’t helping. But don’t quit on me.” Hazel pulled away. 

“I didn’t want to do this in the first place. You’ve kept forcing me on your holiday plans, while knowing that I didn’t want anything to do with them!” Theresa looked hurt. 

“You don’t mean that.” “But I do.” Theresa glared at her. 

“Then maybe you should go.”

“And maybe I will.” Hazel walked home alone fuming. 

Theresa had always supported her. Why wouldn’t she now? But when had she supported Theresa? No. She was mad at Theresa. Hazel would not give into the guilt. But the more she thought about it, the more guilty she felt. Theresa always supported Hazel, but when had Hazel supported her? Hazel didn’t even know what plans Theresa had for Christmas. Instead she just let her help. And then Hazel had blamed her and yelled at her. She was officially the worst friend ever.

Hazel got home and went to her apartment room. She thought about calling Theresa, but figured her friend may need some time to cool off. She decided to put all of her and Theresa’s hard work to use. She took the Christmas tree off of her car, which took awhile, and set it up in her apartment. Then she got all of the decorations from her car and got to work.

After finishing, Hazel looked around her apartment. She felt a surge of pride looking at everything she did. No, everything she and Theresa did. The Christmas tree stood tall and proud with lights, garland, tinsel, and ornaments. All the pillows were Christmas themed, and she had stockings for her and Theresa on the fireplace. Her porch was decorated with Christmas lights and had a tiny fake Christmas tree. She even put a little present under the big Christmas tree for Theresa. 

“Okay, why did you call me?” Theresa’s voice over the phone was annoyed. She had every right to be. 

“To say sorry.” 

“You can say that again. I’ve only tried to help you and support you over the last few years. We’ve been friends since grade school, and all I’ve ever done is help you out.”

“Theresa, I can’t give an excuse or explanation for why I’ve been so rude. But you deserve a lot better than that.”

“You can say that again.”

“Would you mind just stopping by my house around two?” 

“Fine.” Theresa hung up. 

Even though that hadn’t been the most fun conversation, Hazel was still happy. Theresa was coming over! She had a chance to make it up to her. Hazel met Theresa in the lobby. 

“I was surprised when I saw the decorations on your porch.” Hazel could tell she was excited but trying to hide it. 

“Yeah, wait until you see the rest!” replied Hazel. She and Theresa made their way over to the elevator.

“What rest?” Theresa wasn’t even trying to hide her excitement anymore. They walked into her apartment room and Theresa gasped. 

“You set it all up!” 

“I sure did. And look under the Christmas tree.” Theresa rushed over and tore open the present. She remembered she was supposed to be angry. 

“You really shouldn’t use wrapping paper. It’s bad for the environment.” Hazel just laughed at that.

“It’s the necklace!” Hazel had managed to find almost the exact same necklace that Theresa had given her. Except, instead of an H it had a T. 

“Thank you Hazel. I know that we’ve had some troubles lately, but I really do care about you.” Hazel helped put the necklace on Theresa. 

“I care about you too.”

“Wait, it’s Christmas Eve!” Theresa stood up 

“It is! Can I stay here tonight?”

“Of course. But do you have any plans for Christmas? I can’t believe I haven’t asked you yet.”

“Nope! My family hasn’t celebrated Christmas for a while, since my parents got a divorce. I didn’t want to deal with them fighting, and because I’m an only child, I said no when they offered to spend Christmas together.” 

“Why would you do that? At least your family offered.” Theresa laughed and smiled. 

“I’d rather spend Christmas with you. We have everything ready for Christmas. The Christmas cookies are finished at my house, so we can have those tomorrow.”

“Perfect! I can whip something together for tomorrow’s dinner. Then we are prepared!”

Theresa put on her serious face. 

“Are you sure that you’re okay celebrating for the first time in years? After our argument, I realized that I have been pushing you.” Hazel shook her head. 

“No way. You’ve only supported me. And my mom would want me to celebrate.” she said with a sad smile. 

“It’s time for me to move on.¨

They spent the rest of the day together at Hazel’s house, except for when they went to get the cookies. They also went out to get everything for their Christmas feast. Theresa slept in her room and the second that Hazel had lain down on her bed, her phone started ringing. It was her dad. She just let it ring. She needed to let him go.

The next day, Theresa and Hazel had one of the best Christmases either of them had experienced in a long time. They spent the whole day together eating cookies. One parcel arrived for Theresa from her parents and they both laughed when she opened it. 

“A pair of socks. God, it takes me back to that disappointing moment when you got these as a child.” They both laughed, reminiscing about those easier days.

It was after their Christmas feast when Theresa suggested it. 

“Do you want to move in together? I mean, I come over here every day anyway!” They had both thought that idea was crazy, but they ended up moving in together a couple months later. It was a memorable Christmas for sure. In a good way. Hazel found closure. She would always miss her mom, but she was moving on with her life. And so, it ended up being a good thing that Hazel was snowed in for her vacation.