Human

I am, I have

It was a snowy evening in December and the sun had just started to set, bathing the sky lavender as the snow flew about in wild directions, covering the ground in a thick layer of white.

A young Larry hurled snowballs at his brother Laurent from behind the largest oak tree in front of their home. They were in the midst of one of their famous snowball fights, and Laurent was in the lead with the most head shots. He quickly returned fire from his safety position close by, behind a rusted and broken wheelbarrow that belonged to their father. The loosely compressed ball of snow disintegrated before it reached Larry, triggering an almost immediate excuse.

"I did that on purpose!" Laurent yelled from his position, and quickly returned to forming another ball.

Larry bursted out in sarcastic laughter. "No you didn't, you just suck!" he yelled from behind the old 50 foot tree. It provided the perfect amount of cover for his five and a half foot frame. He was quite tall for his age, but neither he nor his twin ever found it to be an issue. He knelt to the ground and quickly gathered snow into a firmly packed ball, confident that this would be the one that hits his brother. He stood and took a peek behind the tree, preparing for his launch.

"Lau, where are youuu? I have a surprise!" He narrowed his eyes in an attempt to see through the thick snow and spotted the blue fluff of the tip of his brother's winter hat behind the wheel barrow. He decided to leave the safety of his position to sneak up on his brother for a better shot. As quiet and smoothly as he possibly can, Larry scurried from behind the tree and towards the wheel barrow. The closer he got, the more he realized that while the hat was there, his brother was not. Behind the wheel barrow was a neat pile of snow with the hat neatly propped on top.

Realizing he had been tricked, Larry quickly turned around and was face to face with his now hat-less twin.

"Ahhh!" Laurent hollered and charged, tackling Larry to the ground, knocking his hat off. They wrestled in the snow, attempting to get as much snow as possible in each others faces and under their jackets. Laurent pinned Larry and sat on top of him, as Larry kicked his feet for freedom.

"Beg for mercy!" he demanded, as he struggled to hold his brothers arms down. Larry, in the midst of his struggle and blinded by snow belted "No mercy!!" and used his legs to pry Laurent off of him. Soon they were tussling in the snow once again and their scarves began to become tangled. Laurent broke free from being pinned, and darted toward the large oak tree. Larry chased after his brother, leaving their scarves and hats partially buried on the ground.

By now the storm had picked up, and the temperature was dropping. The strong winds made the snow sting their faces while they ran, but they were having too much fun to notice.

The gentle voice of a woman inside of the home called for them to get out of the storm through a window. Their mother had been preparing a warm dinner for the family that was almost ready to serve.

The boys, hearing her call, stopped in their tracks and looked at each other with a look of disappointment.

"Aw, man" Larry sighed and retreated to pick up their hats and scarves from near the wheel barrow.

Laurent ran next to Larry and nudged his arm. "I guess this means I won, bro."

Larry scoffed and nudged back. "Of course not! Mama saved you!" He whipped the snowy hat across his brother's face and darted toward the house, up the small flight of stairs and through the front door.

"You little-" Laurent dusted off his snow covered face and chased after Larry into the small blue home.

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