melting.

Chapter 2

I awaken to sunlight warming my cheeks. Something about today feels... Good. Well isn't that different. I drag myself into The Snow Monster and roll down the hallway into Aunt Sophie's bathroom. I stare at the huge collection of makeup in front of me. I hadn't worn makeup since... Before the wreck. There were so many things I hadn't done since before the wreck. Then, without my permission my hand shot forward to grab the lip gloss. I smeared it on my lips slowly, until they glimmered with a pink hue. I smiled at my reflection. I looked ridiculous. I grabbed some toilet paper and wiped away the horrible lip gloss job. I stare at the makeup for a minute longer until I finally notice Aunt Sophie in the doorway. "Oh... Hi... I was just looking. Sorry." She grins at me and picks up the lipgloss I had attempted to put on. "What would you say, theoretically, if I suggested a makeover?" I sigh and giggle slightly. "I would sa- theoretically, I would say hell yeah."

About an hour later I emerge from the bathroom looking like a total slut. I have full red lip stick, dark eyeshadow, and WAY too much eyeliner for my own good. But we had so much fun doing it all, we didn't really care about the outcome. Although now that there's a handsome guy about my age standing at the front door, I'm starting care a little bit. He gives me a strange look, and Aunt Sophie and I go into a mad laughing fit. "She..." She tries to explain the story but her laughs interrupt her. "We did a little makeover." She says breathlessly. His confused stare morphs into a warm smile. "Well thanks again for the sugar. I'm going to leave you ladies to your... Makeover?" We nod, still holding in the laughs.

I hold my breath until he closes the door. And then we both burst into laughter. "He totally thinks we're crazy!" I say between breaths. We finally calm down, and Aunt Sophie settles on the couch. I lean my wheelchair back (another perk of the snow monster) and try to sleep. But I can't.

I wake up the next morning, drool hanging from my open mouth. I sit forward with a start, and look to the couch to see Aunt Sophie still fast asleep. I guess I eventually fell asleep after being so exhausted by not being able to fall asleep. I head to the bathroom to take off my makeup from the other day. I have a strange sense of energy this morning, so I decide to go for a walk. Well technically a wheel. I pull a soft teeshirt on and some old jeans. Then my favorite snow jacket. And then I head out into the frigid air.

I pull my jacket tighter around my shoulders and try to convince myself to be warm. And then I notice a certain narrow trail with a certain dense brush around it, and I remember the hiking. I used to spend all hours of the day hiking this trail with Arian.

"Come on!" He said pulling my arm impatiently. "I want to see what's down there, please!" I yanked my arm out of his grip. "I don't want to get in trouble. Plus we might see a homeless guy in there or something. I'm just... I'm too scared, okay?" He sighed, exasperated. He always sighs. "Just one time. I'll protect you."

I ended up going with him down to that old shed, and after finding zero homeless people hiding in it, my courage grew. We went there almost everyday, and each day we would work on it a little bit. And by working on it, I mean we would collect a bunch of sticks and try to fill in all the holes in the roof. We never knew why that shed was there. Of course we were children, so we had our theory that a young couple had lived there happily for many years, but we're then killed by a polar bear and their spirits haunted the shed. We didn't think about how 1. People tend not to live in sheds in New Hampshire, and 2. There are no Polar bears in New Hampshire, or anywhere even remotely near New Hampshire.

As I rounded a corner, I could see the shed through a blur of snow. It took all of me to not check for a polar bear. As I got closer, I noticed the shed had been GREATLY improved. The ceiling had been totally redone, the ugly wooden planks had been sand papered and painted a warm maroon color. And as I entered the shed I literally almost fell put of my chair. The floor had been carpeted, and large leather chairs decorated the room. A stone fireplace had been added into the wall. Suddenly I felt warm breathing on my neck. Polar bear.