The way a young mind would describe the day: it was cold and gray.
Ignored would go the stark contrast of the dead trees against a muted sky. There would be no mention of the subtle sound of crunching footsteps in fresh powder, or the mournful caw of a lone crow that accentuates the desolated landscape. A child’s mind will not let the intermittent silence build into an encompassing soundtrack to a winter day.
Only it was cold and gray.
Zach and Charlotte trudged through the new snow, across the field and into the surrounding woods. There was a fresh layer of powder covering the old sun-packed ice which broke unevenly under their feet and made their walking look staggered and broken. At two-feet deep, the snow almost came up to their waists and by the time they reached the woods, out of their parents’ sight, they were breathing hard and the icy air scraped their throats.
It was when they were alone, when they were away from the grown-ups, that they felt they could talk.
“Where is the cave?” asked Zach. His younger sister pointed in the general direction past his shoulder. Her mittens, frayed and chewed on, hid her fingers. She tilted her head back to see out from under her hat.
“That way, I think.”
Zach let her lead the way. Although a year and three eighths older than her, he marveled at her height and how it helped carry her through the deep snow. And then it bothered him. Girls grow faster than boys their mom had told him in private, which assuaged his jealousy at the time, but where was she now? Zach looked over his shoulder and found no encouragement. He could no longer see the fields or their mom. He pushed forward to catch up with Charlotte, sometimes bending over to paddle snow for balance.
“Zach?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you believe in Santa?”
They both stopped and sat down to rest. Charlotte grabbed a handful of powder – a miniature mountain in her palm – and ate the peak. She threw the rest away and did the same thing with another mountain of powder. Her callousness toward the snow seemed disrespectful to Zach. “No,” he huffed.
“Why not?”
“That kind of stuff is for babies.”
“Well, who…”
“Mom and dad.”
“Oh.” The answer seemed to pacify her. Perhaps a little too easily, thought Zach. Why didn’t she put up more of an argument? Had she already known? Was she just patronizing me? Of course, Zach’s young mind had trouble articulating these thoughts and instead, he was just left with more jealousy and a desire to pout and, above all, a need to hurt his sister. He stood up and tried to pack a snowball, but the snow was so fresh that it crumpled in his hand. He threw the remaining dust at his sister, who simply giggled.
He gave up. “Where is this stupid cave?”
Charlotte looked around and shrugged her shoulders.
Zach sighed and balled his hands into fists within his gloves, but only to keep them warm. In truth, his sister’s uncertainty made him happy. The feeling carried a sudden burst of energy that drew the cold from his fingers and his increasingly-soaked extremities. He jumped on his sister and pinned her shoulders; she flailed helplessly and he put a handful of snow in her face.
“Whitewash!”
“Stop it!” She swung her arms but they simply fell limp on his thick coat. She turned her head to breathe and cough up some snow; he paddled more snow into her face. She sputtered and bucked and he finally fell off her.
“You’re going to pay for that!” Her smile diffused any anger she was trying to fake. She ran at him and jumped with more force than he expected and they tumbled down a large snow bank, bumping trees like a pinball on its descent toward the flippers. Using her legs and leverage from the tumble, Charlotte lifted Zach off her, mid-backwards-somersault. His little body pirouetted gracefully in the air – a neon-clad bundle flying over monochrome landscape – and, like he was bottom-weighted, landed square on his feet. Even he was surprised at his feat. He took a bow and Charlotte squealed with glee and clapped.
“Thank you, thank you! I couldn’t have done it without— ”
The sound of breaking overpowered Charlotte’s clapping. It steeled them both. Overhead, a flock of crows scattered.
Zach fell through the ice.
His sister screamed. He kicked with his legs and a sour cold rushed into his boots and filled up his snow-pants. When his feet touched the bottom, the water was at his neck.
“Zack!”
“Stay back! Find a large stick or something.” It was the first thing to come to his head, but his clattering teeth chopped the words up. Charlotte ran back up the bank, out of sight. He tried to jump out but the hole was too narrow and the water too deep to get any real leverage. The stood in the dark water and let the cold seep in. He suddenly felt like going to sleep, or crying, but didn’t want to suffer the embarrassment when his sister got back. Overhead, one crow had stayed behind and was watching Zach go into shock.
There are no trees here. The snow covered the pond. Enjoy the view crow. Can I borrow that branch?
Suddenly, a sharp pain counteracted the cold numbness of everything and he realized that Charlotte was poking his face with a long stick.
“Grab it!”
He shuddered and hugged the stick. She pulled too hard and it came loose from his grip. “Try again. This time on three.” When she got to three, he pushed off the pond-floor and got his torso up over the edge. The ordeal tired him out. He lied on the edge of the hole with his legs still submerged. His sister grabbed his coat collar and fished him out, back to the safety of the snow-bank. From there, the black water looked evil.
“We should go back. Are you okay? Can you walk?”
Zach nodded.
Charlotte took her brother’s hand and pulled him up. Together they walked back through the woods. It was a cold and gray walk. When they got to the clearing, they could see their parent’s car, warm and inviting, waiting for them to return from play.
Zach turned to his sister. The stilted walking had returned some warmth to his muscles and his shivering subsided noticeably. “Hey, when we get back to the car, please don’t tell mom about that.”
“About the pond?”
“Yeah, just say that it was the snow and we were playing.”
His sister looked at him and then at her clothes. Indeed, they looked similarly soaked. “Yeah, I won’t say anything.”
“Thanks. And for that.” He nodded back towards the woods.
She smiled and put her arm around his shoulder as they walked toward the car.
From inside the car, the mom turned to the father and noted, “Charlotte’s so lucky to have an older brother who will look out for her.” The father nodded in agreement.
