The Fountain Girl

Chapter 15

Snow, in little flakes, fell to the ground in the morning, blanketing the yellow and orange leaves in a thin layer. The pureness of it all caught Anna's and my breath, as both of us stared out my window in the morning. Winter was not a first for me, but it never failed to bring joy and wonder every year.

Anna pointed at the snow with her finger, her eyes wide with wonder. "Oohh..." She said, fascinated by the flakes of white falling to the ground.

"That's snow, Anna," I told her. "Do you want to go play in the snow?"

She nodded her head excitedly, bouncing up and down eagerly on the balls of her feet.

I called Katie to meet me at my house in half an hour, and she did, donning a red woolen jacket and pink ear mufflers. Anna and I wore matching orange and bright blue jackets.

"Nice weather," Katie said, after standing in the snow for a while, watching Anna stick her tongue out, trying to taste the snowflakes.

"Yep, Anna likes it almost as much as I do," I commented. Anna screamed with joy as she finally caught a snowflake on her tongue, the snow melting slowly as Anna relished the taste of frozen water. She smacked her lips once and stuck her tongue out again, running around, attempting to taste one more.

"The first snowday, huh, everyone's favorite," I said, glancing around at my neighbors, who were also standing out in the snow, looking up in the sky in amazement.

"Doesn't seem so," Katie retaliated, carrying Anna to her bosom and glancing towards the Cat Lady, who was standing in her doorway across the street, scowling at her white driveway while stroking an orange tommycat. She shut the door behind her, snow sliding off her roof porch and piling up on the ground.

"I'm going with my parents to get a present for Aunt Fergie, she's coming tomorrow to visit, do you want to come?" Katie asked me, patting Anna on the back. I agreed, and we walked to the mall we had gone to two days ago, where we met Katie's parents.

Her dad was a lanky, old man with a gray moustache, well respected by a lot of people in the neighborhood and quite straightforward in his words. Her mom was a nice thin lady who always made me cookies whenever I visited her house, never letting me leave hungry. The both of them were very protective of their daughter but had a warm sense of humor, and I had started to grow on them.

"Ah, here's out daughter with her prince charming!" Her dad announced to his wife, as we approached them. Katie blushed and swept her hair behind her shoulder. "Dad!"

"Alright, alright, Katie. How are you, young man?" He asked me. I was caught in a slight moment of confusion and replied, "Uh, uh, what? Oh, um, great, sir. I'm fine."

"And... Who's that charming young girl?" He asked, looking at Anna. I explained briefly, and

We walked around the mall, while I gave suggestions and the family took them in, nodding their heads and adding to the ideas. We finally got a nice leather coat for her and a basket of knitting equiptment, which Aunt Fergie apparently found joy in doing.

I sent the family to their house along the way to mine, and looked at the old oak tree in Katie's yard, which was now completely barren and covered with a layer of snow where there was space on the branches. The snow has gotten a little problematically thick by the late afternoon, coming up to my mid-shin, so I had to trudge in the snow, with my hands in my pockets and breath coming out of mouth as hot steam. I reached the front door with cold hands, turning the doorknob which was ice-cold.

My mother was in the kitchen, doing her duties, while my father was in the living room, watching soccer with James the snob. My family was not as active as Kate's on weekends, nor were they as awake. I wasn't even sure that they were even vaguely aware than winter had officially started. I sighed with disappointment and proceeded up the stairs to my room, setting Anna down on my bed and getting her bathed and changed. I entertained her for half and hour before letting her have a little nap. Looks like I had gotten the hang of taking care of Anna.

Hey guys! I hope you're enjoying the story so far! I've made some changes to Chapter 6 for anyone that's wondering why the second half of it disappeared mysteriously!