Snow Angel
"Hey, babe." A familiar set of arms encircled my waist from behind, and I could feel the amusement as his voice tickled my ear. "Whatcha doin' out here?"
I had had the good fortune to have had the day off work already planned when the snow had started to fall. I'd watched it coming down out of the sky until late last night, but I was up with the dawn anyway, eager to commune with its blanketing perfection. By the time Jeremy returned from his own rather early day at work, I had already laid claim to the better part of the front yard of our apartment complex, sketching out the boundaries of a moat, packing in a drawbridge, and had even begun sculpting perfectly crenellated battlements atop my imaginary castle walls. It had continued snowing all through my work, making it harder in its way, but I had remained undisturbed in a neighborhood of mostly older couples, on a day when most of the younger folks were at work or at school, so my masterpiece was nearly complete.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" I laughed, turning around to greet my love, stretching up onto my toes in my boots to kiss him hello, twining my cold fingers into his perfect sandy hair, dislodging some of the snow that had fallen since he stopped to watch me. His mouth - his warm, inviting, amazingly expressive mouth - curled into a smirk as he lifted his begloved hands to cover my bare ones.
"Having fun, I hope. Where are your mittens, you silly goose? You must be freezing!"
"Can't work with 'em on." I wiggled my fingers in his face, giggling madly. "Think I left them in the throne room somewhere, though."
"Throne room?" He quirked an eyebrow. "You really have been busy."
"Yup!" I paused, an idea forming. "Wouldst come across the bridge, good sir, and grant this fair maid the boon of thy time?"
"Oh, my lady - after you!" These sorts of games were more my thing than his, but he indulged me like a champ, ducking under an imaginary portcullis as I pretended to lift the crank. I took his hand, slipping my fingers innocently under his glove, and led him to the pièce de résistance - a throne, constructed of snow and detailed with carefully-carried cups of water from our third-story apartment in a number of trips I don't care to count, large enough to sit in. Jeremy let out a low whistle at the site. I stood back, delighting in watching his reaction, my hands clasped eagerly behind my back, barely resisting the urge to bounce on my heels. He turned to me, incredulous.
"This is... something. You are something." He shook his head, laughing. "I hope you didn't give yourself frostbite for this." He turned back to the throne again, a calculating look in his eye. "Can I...?"
"Oh, but soothe, for what is a kingdom without a King?" I knelt, making a grand sweep towards the icy chair with my arm, feigning obeisance, all the while peeking up at him from under my half-skewed hat.
"Indeed!" He sank into the throne, suppressing a shiver at the sudden drop in temperature. "What shall my first edict as King be?"
"Oh, but m'lord, I think you are forgetting something..." I sprang to my feet, creeping around behind the throne, leaning over it to whisper into his ear, mimicking the posture he had taken with me just before. "What's a king without a crown?"
"What's that?" He looked up just in time to get a face full of the snow I had had stashed behind the throne for just such a purpose.
Grinning impishly, I started to skip away, but Jeremy recovered from his shock faster than I would have thought. With a stammered protest, he lifted his lithe frame out of the chair of ice and chased after me, tackling me unto the carefully-flattened snow "table" I'd finished only an hour or so ago.
"You're in for it now, then!" Both of us laughing, we wrestled and ducked and tried to white-wash one another, losing gloves and hats and scarves in the process. In a matter of minutes, the palace I'd so carefully laid out was reduced to snowy rubble - hours of work, but it was worth it. After an intense but brief bout of guerilla-style hide and seek, we finally settled on a sort of unspoken truce, lying in the wreckage of what I think used to be the stable, my knee cocked over a broken ice column, Jeremy sprawled comfortably and warmly atop me. I gazed up into his beautiful hazel eyes, noticing with a flush that they were staring just as intently back into mine. I watched the fog from our breath intermingle, floating up past his eyelashes and his bangs, where tiny crystalline ice flakes still clung. The light from the sinking sun was reflecting off of the snow, creating kaleidoscopes out of air and water and wonderful, masterful, fortuitous genetics.
"Jeremy..." I breathed his name, fumbling with fingers slightly stiff from my day of labor at the hem of his shirt, teasing the skin that was exposed to the chill air. We were still warm from our exertions, and though the temperature was dropping quickly in the deepening dusk, I felt a familiar flush creeping up my face, warming my core. His eyes widened incredulously as he recognized the look in mine.
"What, here?" He ducked his head, almost embarrassed at the thought, peering around. "Come on, even if it weren't almost below freezing, I don't think the neighbors would appreciate that!" He chuckled, his voice dropping a few decibels as he leaned in to kiss my neck, pausing in the crook just below my ear. "We could always take this little game inside, though."
I grinned. My fingers weren't the only things stiffening, it seemed. Even this victory, however, was not quite enough to stem the disappointment. I didn't want to leave this moment, the beauty surrounding us, the indescribable ecstasy of the aesthetic of the snow.
"I'll be in shortly, then." He started to ask why, but thought better of it. Sitting up, he helped me to do the same, then put his arm around my shoulders, squeezing gently.
"I'll get the shower heated up for us. Don't be too long, okay? Love you." He kissed the top of my head, standing up and brushing himself off, shaking his head on his way inside finally. I was lucky to have him, I knew. He put up with my peculiarities, and while I knew I did for him in return in my own way, I always appreciated his willingness to meet me halfway. He knew what I liked, and did what he could to provide it. Still, though I knew what I had waiting inside, I was not eager to part ways with my wintry fantasy. I sat still in the snow, closing my eyes and letting an alternate ending to the story of the King in his castle play out in my head, my boiling blood warding off the night's chill. Etched behind my eyelids was the perfect snowflake, radiant as the sun and cold as the moon.
"Not too long," I whispered to the darkness, opening my eyes and sighing softly. I could never stay here too long - just this one moment, of romance, and mystery, and perfect, virgin, blanketing snow.
I had had the good fortune to have had the day off work already planned when the snow had started to fall. I'd watched it coming down out of the sky until late last night, but I was up with the dawn anyway, eager to commune with its blanketing perfection. By the time Jeremy returned from his own rather early day at work, I had already laid claim to the better part of the front yard of our apartment complex, sketching out the boundaries of a moat, packing in a drawbridge, and had even begun sculpting perfectly crenellated battlements atop my imaginary castle walls. It had continued snowing all through my work, making it harder in its way, but I had remained undisturbed in a neighborhood of mostly older couples, on a day when most of the younger folks were at work or at school, so my masterpiece was nearly complete.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" I laughed, turning around to greet my love, stretching up onto my toes in my boots to kiss him hello, twining my cold fingers into his perfect sandy hair, dislodging some of the snow that had fallen since he stopped to watch me. His mouth - his warm, inviting, amazingly expressive mouth - curled into a smirk as he lifted his begloved hands to cover my bare ones.
"Having fun, I hope. Where are your mittens, you silly goose? You must be freezing!"
"Can't work with 'em on." I wiggled my fingers in his face, giggling madly. "Think I left them in the throne room somewhere, though."
"Throne room?" He quirked an eyebrow. "You really have been busy."
"Yup!" I paused, an idea forming. "Wouldst come across the bridge, good sir, and grant this fair maid the boon of thy time?"
"Oh, my lady - after you!" These sorts of games were more my thing than his, but he indulged me like a champ, ducking under an imaginary portcullis as I pretended to lift the crank. I took his hand, slipping my fingers innocently under his glove, and led him to the pièce de résistance - a throne, constructed of snow and detailed with carefully-carried cups of water from our third-story apartment in a number of trips I don't care to count, large enough to sit in. Jeremy let out a low whistle at the site. I stood back, delighting in watching his reaction, my hands clasped eagerly behind my back, barely resisting the urge to bounce on my heels. He turned to me, incredulous.
"This is... something. You are something." He shook his head, laughing. "I hope you didn't give yourself frostbite for this." He turned back to the throne again, a calculating look in his eye. "Can I...?"
"Oh, but soothe, for what is a kingdom without a King?" I knelt, making a grand sweep towards the icy chair with my arm, feigning obeisance, all the while peeking up at him from under my half-skewed hat.
"Indeed!" He sank into the throne, suppressing a shiver at the sudden drop in temperature. "What shall my first edict as King be?"
"Oh, but m'lord, I think you are forgetting something..." I sprang to my feet, creeping around behind the throne, leaning over it to whisper into his ear, mimicking the posture he had taken with me just before. "What's a king without a crown?"
"What's that?" He looked up just in time to get a face full of the snow I had had stashed behind the throne for just such a purpose.
Grinning impishly, I started to skip away, but Jeremy recovered from his shock faster than I would have thought. With a stammered protest, he lifted his lithe frame out of the chair of ice and chased after me, tackling me unto the carefully-flattened snow "table" I'd finished only an hour or so ago.
"You're in for it now, then!" Both of us laughing, we wrestled and ducked and tried to white-wash one another, losing gloves and hats and scarves in the process. In a matter of minutes, the palace I'd so carefully laid out was reduced to snowy rubble - hours of work, but it was worth it. After an intense but brief bout of guerilla-style hide and seek, we finally settled on a sort of unspoken truce, lying in the wreckage of what I think used to be the stable, my knee cocked over a broken ice column, Jeremy sprawled comfortably and warmly atop me. I gazed up into his beautiful hazel eyes, noticing with a flush that they were staring just as intently back into mine. I watched the fog from our breath intermingle, floating up past his eyelashes and his bangs, where tiny crystalline ice flakes still clung. The light from the sinking sun was reflecting off of the snow, creating kaleidoscopes out of air and water and wonderful, masterful, fortuitous genetics.
"Jeremy..." I breathed his name, fumbling with fingers slightly stiff from my day of labor at the hem of his shirt, teasing the skin that was exposed to the chill air. We were still warm from our exertions, and though the temperature was dropping quickly in the deepening dusk, I felt a familiar flush creeping up my face, warming my core. His eyes widened incredulously as he recognized the look in mine.
"What, here?" He ducked his head, almost embarrassed at the thought, peering around. "Come on, even if it weren't almost below freezing, I don't think the neighbors would appreciate that!" He chuckled, his voice dropping a few decibels as he leaned in to kiss my neck, pausing in the crook just below my ear. "We could always take this little game inside, though."
I grinned. My fingers weren't the only things stiffening, it seemed. Even this victory, however, was not quite enough to stem the disappointment. I didn't want to leave this moment, the beauty surrounding us, the indescribable ecstasy of the aesthetic of the snow.
"I'll be in shortly, then." He started to ask why, but thought better of it. Sitting up, he helped me to do the same, then put his arm around my shoulders, squeezing gently.
"I'll get the shower heated up for us. Don't be too long, okay? Love you." He kissed the top of my head, standing up and brushing himself off, shaking his head on his way inside finally. I was lucky to have him, I knew. He put up with my peculiarities, and while I knew I did for him in return in my own way, I always appreciated his willingness to meet me halfway. He knew what I liked, and did what he could to provide it. Still, though I knew what I had waiting inside, I was not eager to part ways with my wintry fantasy. I sat still in the snow, closing my eyes and letting an alternate ending to the story of the King in his castle play out in my head, my boiling blood warding off the night's chill. Etched behind my eyelids was the perfect snowflake, radiant as the sun and cold as the moon.
"Not too long," I whispered to the darkness, opening my eyes and sighing softly. I could never stay here too long - just this one moment, of romance, and mystery, and perfect, virgin, blanketing snow.