No Nuance November

Snowman

 The morning seemed brighter than normal.

Almost like the sun was shining directly into his window, which was impossible since his window faced South and not East where the sun rose normally.

When he looked outside not only was he pleasantly surprised to see a beautiful cloudless day but a thick blanket of snow covering everything in sight.

Dick remembered Bruce mentioning a blizzard coming so he hadn't let Dick go with him last night saying it would be too cold. He also remembers watching the snow begin to fall by the time he went to bed, but he hadn't been expecting this much.

He smiled as he had an idea only a nine year old could come up with, the snow he could tell likely came up to his waist, he was going to attempt to build a snowman. The biggest snowman he'd ever built. Bigger than him.

This would require some planning and clothes much warmer than his pajamas.

He decided he would get started after breakfast. He was going to need lots of energy in order to complete this task. Dick could remember when he and his family would travel to colder areas he and his father would build snowmen everywhere they went. It was tradition.

This was the first good snowfall in Gotham since he'd gotten here. It'd been snowing when he first arrived but it was more of a slurry and had pretty much melted by the next day. And given how sour things had turned he hadn't really been in the mood to do something as trivial as building snowmen.

But today was a new day. He could think back to them and not have to take a breath to steady himself. A bittersweet feeling but he knew they'd want him to press on. So press on he shall.

Dick dressed himself in thick boots and the warmest coat he could find before standing in vast white laid out in front of him. It was a daunting task. It needed some planning.

He decided he needed a bucket and a shovel. Both of which would be in the gardening shed not too far away. Unfortunately the wind had made a rather large snow drift blocking the door, and, without a shovel, made it impossible for Dick to realistically clear out so he could get in.

Scrapping his original idea he decided the old fashioned way would produce a better snowman anyways. Sure it would probably take longer but it would be worth it. He knew it would be because he said so.

He trudged back to where he planned on building the snowman and began with the base. He would prefer the traditional circle but as he began to pack the snow he realized that it may be a little unrealistic given his size.

Dick felt his fingers go numb with each handful he added to the base. He still didn't feel it was big enough. It needed to be taller. He really wished he had a shovel or something.

He got the base up to his nose. Dick marched around the base examining his hard work, he wondered if he needed to make it taller. Of course if it gets any taller he won't be able to get the head on or give it a face.

"I see we are building a snowman." Alfred commented.

Dick smiled proudly. "Yeah, got nothing better to do today anyways."

Alfred nodded looking over Dick's progress. "Perhaps you should take a break. I made some soup for lunch."

Dick glanced back at Alfred before double checking his snowman. "Yeah maybe."

He tried to eat his soup as slowly as he could. Alfred didn't want him inhaling it and running back out, he instructed him to thaw out completely before going back outside. The soup warmed him inside out. It was nice to not feel like an ice cube for a little bit.

Alfred gave him some thicker gloves and hat before letting him get back to his project. He wanted to have it done before it got dark, he didn't have much time.

Dick began to fashion the head.

It was a very large round head that he quickly figured out, he couldn't get up on the body of his snowman very easily.

He struggled against the limitations that came with being a small nine year old. He wasn't quitting. He never quit when things got hard. Thinking that didn't make this less difficult.

"Having trouble, chum?" Bruce asked as he approached.

Dick glanced back at him. "I think I made his body too big. I can't get his head on."

Bruce seemed amused. "Let me help."

Lucky for Dick, Bruce did not have nine year old limitations and could get the head up where it belonged.

He stepped back looking over Dick's hard work before commenting. "He needs a face. Wait here." and disappeared in the house.

Bruce came back with a carrot, an old smoking pipe, and a couple of buttons. He fashioned a face on the snowman.

"What do you think?" He asked Dick

Dick scrutinized the snowman. "He's missing something." he decides before taking off his scarf and handing it to Bruce.

Bruce chuckles lightly before wrapping it around the snowman.

"Perfect."

"Alright, let's go inside, get some hot chocolate to warm you. Alfred said you've been out here a while."

"Well I had things to do."

"Clearly."

Dick glanced back at the snowman before going inside. It probably wasn't the biggest snowman he'd ever built but there was always the next time it snowed when he was bigger. This one was pretty good though.

Something sweet that I couldn't get out of my head.