The Snow That Didn't Show

Its 6 am on a normal Tuesday in Downtown Denver. There’s the usual traffic sounds right outside the window. The wind whipping the trees right outside my apartment and the soft crunching sound of snow made by the early commuters. I sat up in bed and pulled on a sweater before heading down the hall. I stepped into the white-tiled bathroom and rubbed my face. Something looked different but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I pulled my long dark hair into a slick ponytail and looked back in the mirror. I went back down the hall and flung open the dresser. I pulled out my black GAP jeans, a fuschia colored blouse, and my new Marc Jacobs trench coat. I trudged down the hallway and stepped into my black Coach heels and grabbed the matching bag. I turned around before opening the door, something about today didn’t feel right, it felt different. I must be just tired still. I opened the door and instantly felt the bitter cold. I walked down the frozen steps and unlocked my BMW. For a second I felt like someone was watching me. I turned around quickly but didn’t see anyone. I stepped in my car and turned it on. The heat was on instantly but then all of a sudden it died on me. Right before I even switched gears. It was only 21 degrees out and snowing. This day was not going to be fun. I stepped out of my car and locked it before heading down the street. I passed a scooter leaned up against a wall with frost covering the handles and the wheels covered by snow.  In summer or even in fall when it was warm you would see tons of people riding eco bikes or scooters. But you would have to be crazy to ride one of those around when it was freezing and icy. I stopped at a light and waited in the cold for the red hand to stop glowing so I could cross. I stepped into the street and everything felt like it was in slow motion. The cars seemed to slow and move only inches at a time. I slowly walked in the middle of the street and stopped. I looked into the sky and could see a bird slowly flapping its black feathers. A bright green car almost hit me but I barely moved out of the way. All of a sudden everything was back to normal. I looked back up into the sky and only saw a black feather float down towards me. What is wrong with me? Did I eat something weird last night? What if I have food poisoning from the new restaurant down the street? Or maybe it was something from the office party during lunch? What am I talking about nothing is wrong with me? Just keep walking and everything will be alright. I walked to my office building without stopping. I stepped into the building and immediately felt the warm air rush at my face. Ok, everything is fine. Everything is normal, nothing weird is happening. I walked past Jerry the security guard and waved, he sat and stared absentmindedly at the wall. Huh, I wonder why he didn’t wave back? Maybe he feels the weird energy too. I stepped into the elevator and pushed 13. The doors slowly closed and the cheesy elevator music started playing. The elevator doors opened and I stepped out into the hallway. The office was eerily quiet for a Tuesday. Usually, it was quieter on the weekends. I walked past my assistant Judith, waiting to hear her click of heels following me. I turned around and she was still sitting at her desk filing her nails. One of her many hobbies to do instead of doing her actual job. I stepped into my office and shut the door. Finding a new assistant is going to have to be one of the things I do today, right after I call a mechanic to look at my car. Turning on my computer I skimmed the papers on my desk. A car accident, 2 divorces, bankruptcy, and a drug charge. Judith opened my office door and put papers on my desk without saying a word to me. Just as quickly as she came in she left. Which is surprising because she is one of the biggest gossips in the office and always informing me of the latest news about everyone here. She left my door open so I could hear what people in the office were talking about. Of course, Judith was out there talking. “Do you know where Indigo is?” Judith asked. “No, I’m surprised she’s never late. Even when there was that blizzard she was still here before everyone.” John said. What was going on? Couldn’t everyone in the office see I was right here? Judith was literally just in my office. “Well, I hope she’s alright. She could have gotten the flu it is around that time you know. Or maybe she has a stomach bug.” Meridith said. “If she was sick she would’ve called, she always does,” Judith said. Get a stomach bug? Are you serious? Even when I was sick I still always tried to come in. Why was everyone acting so weird? “She could’ve been running late, though I doubt it. Maybe she’s actually a secret agent,” Toby laughed. “Yeah, she’s probably saving the world from a supervillain right now before swinging in to save a kid from spending 2 years in juvie,” Judith said. Oh, I get it everyone was playing the “pretend I’m not here” game. We just played that game last month on Toby. But the funny thing is that they even got Jerry to do it. He never wants to accidentally offend anyone. I stepped out of my office and smiled. “Very funny. I get it, ‘I’m not here I’m invisible.’” I said. But nobody responded or even looked up at me. “Well, since I’m not here I guess that means I can leave early then?” I said. No answer again. I went back to my office and grabbed my coat and purse. I’ll just step out for a few minutes and then Judith will follow me and tell me it was only a joke. I walked passed Judith at her desk and pressed the button for the elevator. The doors slowly swished to a close and slowly started descending to the main floor. I stepped out of the elevator and walked past Jerry, opening the front doors and feeling the bitter cold again. I walked to the right of the building where a little park was. The slides and swings were frozen. I walked over to a nearby tree and looked down. There were no footprints in the white snow. The snow was like a white blanket with no traces of bumps or holes. Wait didn’t I just walk through the snow? I looked behind me and didn’t see any of my footprints from where I just walked. I stepped in the snow and picked up my foot. No footprint. Ok, something is wrong. I ran from where I was standing and fell. I could feel the cold of the snow but there wasn’t any sign that I was even there. I sat in the snow thinking of all the reasonable explanations of why there wasn’t any trace of me.  Maybe the snow was too icy to see any of my footprints. No that didn’t make sense the snow was fluffy. It couldn’t be the snow. Was I dead?