Frost
I saw her today, sitting in the snow. The bright sunshine made everything twinkle in the mid winter morning. She picked up a snowflake and sat there marveling at its intricacy. I didn’t think she’d notice me watching her from the window. I hadn’t meant to intrude on her thoughts, so I was startled when she looked up and met my gaze directly. Her smile was as brilliant as the crisp sun and warmly inviting.
She looked back at the snow and frantically searched for something. In a fraction of a moment, her expression turned to delighted success as she picked up a nearly perfect replica of the first snowflake. She held them up to her ears and let them dangle there, her twinkling eyes asked my opinion. I smiled and nodded, hoping she could read the delight in my face.
Her mouth parted slightly, and I could see a faint wisp of her breath against the cold air. Her deeply red lips held my attention as she mouthed “come out.” I couldn’t resist and ran to put on boots and grab my coat. I threw open the door and peered around the corner to see her still sitting there, admiring the snowflakes. Her face lit up when she saw me and she bit the edge of her lip while tilting her head to indicate where she wanted me to sit.
I made myself comfortable in the snow next to her. The warmth of the sun making the cold seem insignificant. I was delighted when she reached over and placed the snowflakes on my earlobes. They stayed, not melting, like blown glass. I looked at her dark hair and thought about how the sparkling crystals would look entwined there. I found that if I looked just right, I could see whole snowflakes within the mounds of snow we sat in. I picked one up, and it didn’t melt. I looked at her and she turned so that I could touch her silky hair. One by one I laced snowflakes in her hair until they looked like stars in the night sky.
She shook her head and they were alight in movement. Each catching the sun and lighting her hair like the heavens. Her long, slender fingers touching them, and making them sparkle as they caught the light from the sun. The looks she gave me drove away all sense of cold. Then she closed her lovely eyes and drew a deep breath.
To my infinite sadness, when she opened her eyes, she gave me one more smile and waved good bye with her delicate hand. I knew that asking would not be right, so I stood and smiled back. I kissed my fingers and held them out to her. She reached up and touched her fingers to mine. They were surprisingly chilled, and yet so alive. I went back in to the house and back to the window, hoping to watch her a while longer, but she was gone. She left a simple note for me on the window; a heart drawn with frost.
Copyright 2004
Debra Chaffins
All Rights Reserved