Today's mini prompt is snow!
This prompt immediately brought to mind a very specific image but I really struggled with putting it together.
I think I finally pulled it off but I'm excited to revisit this snippet of a story. In my head, these are some characters I've written about before. I'll have to come back and make it work.
But for now, here's Snow:
The conversation had lulled. The parents of the party retreated to the kitchen to find the wine opener and the younger siblings were attached to the TV, trying not to fall asleep.
Suddenly, left alone at the table, he looked at me with an adventurous smile. "Do you want to take a walk?"
I had never heard a better idea in my life and never got dressed for the cold so quickly. Taking walks near his parents' house had become a usual hobby of ours. It gave us an escape from the noise and hustle and bustle, especially during the holidays. And the park down the street became our usual path.
The park glittered and gleamed with all the Christmas lights sparkling through the dark night. We walked side by side, my hands buried in my pockets, trying to reserve as much heat as possible.
"And you liked it?" I asked, looking up from the suspiciously clear sidewalk.
"I loved it!" He answered, his voice filled with it's usual enthusiasm. "And I think you'd like it too."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, I thought, um," his voice dropped a touch, his smile becoming a bit sheepish, his cheeks somehow growing even more red than the effect the cold already had on them, "I thought about you the whole time I was reading it. You know, how I thought you might react to the characters and some of the plot lines. I'd love to talk about it with you."
The butterflies made a reappearance in my stomach, just as usual. "Well, you'll have to lend it to me sometime."
"It's in my backpack," he said, perking up again. "I'll get it out when we get back."
"I'll start reading it tonight," I said, hoping it didn't sound too eager. Though, as worry passed through my head I thought about the fact that he packed this book in his limited space of holiday luggage from his dorm room just in the chance we would talk about it.
Also, I could almost hear his smile.
"Oh, look at that one!" I pointed to a kiosk that stayed in the park year round for venders to set up pop-up shops. They had decorated it to look like a giant gingerbread house with an array of different colored lights. "So cute!"
"You can almost see a giant gingerbread man standing outside and opening the door for you."
"I don't know if that would be cute and funny or just a nightmare."
"Oh, definitely nightmare."
I laughed and took my eyes off the sidewalk for half a second again. This time I immediately felt the earth slip out from underneath me. My arms shot out at either side of me, I made noise that I think surprised both of us, and I braced myself to hit the ice.
"Whoa!"
But two arms broken my fall and pulled me back up to my feet.
"Are you okay?"
"I think so," I said without really knowing what had happened.
It took me a minute to actually get my footing back. He pulled me into his chest to help me steady until I could stand on my own.
"Thank you."
His gloved hands slid down my arms and clasped around my bare hands as he exclaimed, "Your hands are so cold!"
"I forgot my gloves."
"Let me warm them up," he said, rubbing his hands over mine.
"Oh wow," I said, looking up into his face.
"What?" He laughed.
We were standing under a street lamp that illuminated all the snow as it passed behind his silhouetted head. I wished so badly to have my camera on me in that moment; it was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen.
"Just the snow in the light," I said.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" He didn't look away from my face.
"Beautiful."
I may watch too many hallmark movies during the Christmas season 😂
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