The town is completely white. Cars, trees, power lines — everything is covered in white. I climb the couch by the double window and slide the curtains open. Kneeling on the couch, I cross my hands under my chin and watch the white matter as it falls from the sky. It doesn’t stop falling.
No different patterns, no colors, nothing but white when I look up, down, and around. The brick houses in my neighborhood are untouched, except for their roofs. Up there, the white matter does stick. The roof on some of the houses have a very thick layer hanging on for dear life, while others only have some flakes scattered all over the edges.
A squeaky sound disrupts my absorption. I turn my head to the house next door to the left and see Mr. Claude, our neighbor, resurfacing from under his garage door with a shovel in hand. He walks about two feet from the garage to where the white matter is accumulated and then starts clearing up the driveway. Mr. Claude is wearing a big black and blue coat and the hood almost covers his whole pale face. He doesn’t notice me staring out the window.
I watch in fascination as my neighbor cleans all the walkable spaces around his house, only to be hit by more and more of the same white bits. Mrs. Claude storms out of the house, running after Gregory — Mr. and Mrs. Claude’s only child. My new mom says he’s more hyperactive than me and my two sisters combined. I thought maybe Gregory was in trouble and that’s why Mrs. Claude was chasing after him, but she’s just being playful. They start playing with the white matter and now I’m really tempted to touch it.
“Do you want to go outside, Emma?” says a sweet soft voice. My mom is standing behind me in her pajamas, smiling and holding a cup of, I think, tea. I nod enthusiastically at her question. “Okay, let’s go bundle up and wake your sisters!” I can hardly contain my excitement. I didn’t know you could go out and play with it.
I’m bundled up and ready, waiting for Annabelle, my oldest sister, to put on her boots before running downstairs hand in hand. I watched Gregory play with the white matter earlier and, like him, I want to roll some of it into a ball.
When I finally go outside, I step on it and it’s like stepping on air. Finally, I can touch the white matter with my hands. I take a handful. It’s flaky and fluffy and…cold! Just like the wind. I am googling it with intense curiosity.
“It’s snow,” says my new mom, a smile on her face. Snow. Of course. It’s been seven months since I came to this country, but I’ve only seen this in one of the movies Annabelle plays for me a bunch of times a day. I really like Manny and Sid, and Annabelle says it keeps me busy while she studies. And, here it is, the same white matter in front of me. My other sister Liz comes out running and grabs my hand.
“Yay, snow day! Come on, Emma, let’s make a snow angel!”
Snow angel? I don’t know what it is, but my mom seems excited, so I get excited. She steps aside and takes her camera out of her pocket. She says we can play for a while today. Tomorrow might be the same because schools close when it snows in Boston. I think I will forever love this place.
