Short Stories

Say NO To Yellow Snow

**This was originally written from a Creative Writing Class. Inspired by the above video.**

It was possibly the worst blizzard of my lifetime and it was unquestionably the worst blizzard of my daughter's life, so far. You could see scarcely anything out of the window. But I knew that come morning it would be a winter wonderland for Christine to play in. I watched the snow cascade by the window and pile on the cold grass of our front lawn. I was happy for Christine but I knew that while she was bouncing around the house in the morning I would have to go out there and shovel the driveway and the pathway to the house. I sighed and thought, That's going to be a b**** to shovel. Nonetheless I prepared for the morning. I pulled her snowsuit out of the closet and put the hot chocolate mix on the counter along with marshmallows and our favorite mugs.

I awoke to a warm mass on my chest and a shrill scream in my ears. My eyes slowly slid open, adjusting to the light from the sun coming in through the window. I turned my head and saw Christine trying to wake me up with the help of the family dog Bacon. My daughter was on my chest and Bacon was whining in my ear. I slid myself up the bed and leaned my back against the headboard. Seeing that I was awake, they leapt off the bed and made a beeline for the door, excited to go outside.

"We need to eat breakfast first," I said to Christine in a hushed tone, still sleepy.

"After breakfast we can go outside and play."

She continued her sprint for the stairs. I followed, slower, almost like an upright crawl. I eventually made it to the stairs and used the railing to make sure that my fatigued body wouldn't fall. From the kitchen I could hear Bacon's excited barking as Christine put his food dish on the kitchen tile and refilled it. The sound of the kibble dropping into the bowl echoed down the hallway. I quickly cooked a couple waffles in the toaster for christine and fried a few eggs for myself. After pouring syrup on top of the waffles, I watched her scarf them down as if I had been starving her for days.

"Are you done?" I asked her after scraping the last of the eggs off my plate. Her energetic nod was all the answer I needed. I placed the dishes in the sink for later. Christine ran up the stairs, laughing her heart out as the tickle monster (me) chased her to her room. Upon arriving I saw she already had her snowpants on and was attempting to put on her jacket and gloves at the same time. I sighed in amusement and walked over to help her, pulling her arms through the sleeves. Making sure all of her fingers were in the right spot in her gloves, I helped her put on her snow boots. Plopping her hat on her head, she was ready to brave the "harsh" conditions outside.

"Give me five minutes to get ready and then we'll go outside alright?" I asked but knew that it was no use. She was already running down the stairs to wait for me by the door. I smiled and gave a little laugh before going to my own room and removing my snow clothes from the closet. Adjusting them so that they were comfortable, I already felt toasty warm. Losing no time I walked down the stairs and grabbed Bacon by the collar. A formidable task considering how fast he was running around the house. I tightened it to prevent it from sliding off during his snowy journey.

A gust of freezing air swept my hair back as I opened the door to our very own frozen tundra. Christine and Bacon rushed outside and immediately began running through the snow. Snow flew into the air as they made footprints in the fresh powder. I let them run around and tire themselves out knowing that soon enough Christine would ask me to help her build a snowman and then we would go inside for her favorite drink, hot chocolate. It was the same series of events every year. Snow would fall, she would play, build a snowman and then go inside for a cup of hot cocoa, until finally she was tired enough to go to bed without a hassle. Sure enough she was already on her way over to me with the sticks we would use for arms, with Bacon on her heels.

"Mooooooommmmmyyyyy can we please build a snowman? I promise I'll help. I even have the arms. See?" she exclaimed as she held up the sticks in her small hands. It looked like her hands were barely big enough to hold them. I looked around at the snow blanketing the yard and decided the best place to make our snowman would be by the side of the house, in shadow so that it wouldn't melt right away.

I pointed, "Over there is a good spot sweety. Why don't you put the sticks there and start rolling some snow."

She hurriedly put her bundle of sticks on the snow pile and began to make little snowballs in her hands. I started to make larger snowballs, turning my back to Christine when I heard a hissing a soft hissing sound. I turned to see that Bacon was taking a leak behind the bush. When he was done, he ran back over to Christine, who was the closest. I suddenly got a weird feeling in my chest, like something was going to happen.

I turned back around finishing the base of the snowman. A sloshing sound made its way to my ears from behind me. I turned again, this time just in time to see Christine bending by the yellow snow. The only evidence of what Bacon did. I moved in her direction, trying to stop her from touching it, but I was too late. I got to her as she began to put it in her mouth. The look of revulsion on her face cracked me up. I was hysterically by the time I picked her up.

"Gross mommy that was yucky."

"I know, honey, that's why we don't eat the yellow snow."