S.W.'s Winter Wonderland

Part 1

Date: December 23, 2015

I was freezing my butt off, even inside my classroom. That's how you could tell it was winter; besides the 3 feet of snow laying on the ground outside. And here we were. Stuck in school doing algebra. I could feel my anticipation growing as fast as the goosebumps on my arms and legs. My eyes darted back and forth, between my desk and the clock. 3 minutes. 3 minutes before winter break officially begun. 3 minutes before I could finally see my friends again.

I could sense the impatience of my classmates too. The blonde boy next to me who was wearing an easy 3 layers tapped his pencil ever so slightly, so silently you could barely hear it even if you were sitting right next to him. The girl with the long chestnut hair and pink-rimmed glasses in front of me couldn't help but swing her feet too and fro in excitement. None of us had been paying attention. I'm sure the teacher knew that too; she hummed a series of what might have been Christmas carols, in such a jumble that I didn't bother trying to make any of them out, while she scribbled complex math problems with her "festive" red and green markers. I'm sure she was just dying to drink her coffee decorated with a candy cane soaking in it before it got cold.

A couple of goldfinches and ruby cardinals perched to take a rest stop on one of the now naked tree branches. Them and only a handful of other animals stayed out during the winter, while the others either migrated south or engulfed themselves in the process of hibernation. Though I found it a little unfair that some creatures got to sleep for an entire season and we didn't, I wasn't about to question the authority that gave us Christmas vacation in the first place.

I didn't have many friends. Well, at least in school I didn't. It had been a little hard making new friends after I moved back to New York. My actual friends were a little, uh, special. Certainly not like anyone that went to my school. But if I had one thing to say that Wappingers had better than Florida, it was the snow. I was happily surprised to find on the first day of my first winter that white gold fallen fresh and soft on the ground. So happy in fact, that I actually forgot to change my clothes before I went outside and nearly got frostbite.

The 3 minutes should've been passed by now, but we knew that the school that was run by children-hating nazis probably didn't want us to escape and enjoy life to the fullest. Even the teacher had since stopped writing, and lounged in her spinny-chair, twirling the candy cane in her snowflake-decorated mug. Come on. That stupid bell.

Suddenly, the dusty old speaker exploded into a series of ear-splitting ringing. Finally! I was free!

The class immediately erupted into laughs and chattering. We all darted from our desks, running past the teacher who lazily wished us a happy holiday and sipped her peppermint-hazelnut special. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, taking past my classmates and getting closer and closer to my destination. It was finally time.