Snow Dancing

Prologue

I've always wanted to see the snow. I've only heard tales of it from the travels that come back home. Here everything is warm, the orange skies, the bright yellow sun, even the moon, though cold, is a pink. The nights are never completely dark. On Aragon, everything is so bright. I almost feel wrong to crave some kind of darkness, to feel a cold breeze against my cheek and stare into the pitch black and not see anything. To float. But I don't know if I would ever really want that. Maybe to see, but to stay? These are the thoughts I think when I stare out my window and watch the sunset from my cottage. Over the hills the last few rays of sun stretch over deep into the valleys. I almost start to daydream when I wake up to my senses and start cooking dinner. I make roasted yams and some kind of meat most of the time, but tonight we are going to have fish and rice because it's a special day. It's my birthday. My brothers would return soon. The oldest, Aharon, has my green eyes, but I have one gold one. He is not heavily built, but more scrawny. However, he is strong nonetheless. His hair is more auburn then mine. He has a more angular face than the rest of us. It's from my mom's side of the family. He's the serious one, but that just means he cares. My other brother, Adam, is the bigger one. He's the tallest and the one who does all the heavy lifting. He has my hair, which is dark and curly, but dads brown eyes. He is always smiling and goofing around, and when he isn't you can tell something's wrong. He wears his heart on his sleeve. I also have a younger sister named Ava. She's going to be 6 soon, and I have to make her a birthday cake. She has her hair in a curly bob, and it's the lightest in the family. She has pale green eyes that go well with her milk chocolate skin. She's the doll of the family. Sometimes you can't tell the difference between her and Adam the way they're always smiling. Right now I'm 16, Aharon is 22, and Adam is 19. Our parents are both gone, my mom from Ava's birth and my dad from a heart condition, though I think it was heartbreak because it was a year after mom's death. The boys and Ava go out fishing every morning, and I stay back and make everyone food and keep the house clean. I'm not mad about it though, because I get to read my books. Books are a rarity here, most people get them digitally. But I can't beat the feeling of the paper running through my fingers, the surge with every passing page. Right now I'm reading The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes. A merchant bought it from a planet we called Senth, and apparently, it's famous there. I always wondered what another life was like, but I do have to say that their world must be filled with crime. The rice looks done so I start straining it. Just as I get the pot out and turn off the stove, the door slams open and I can hear the boys having an argument. They walk in drench, slam the fish on the table and keep screaming at each other. Ava walks in after then and looks exhausted from all the yelling. I am too and I haven't even seen them the whole day. I give her a quick kiss on the cheek and send her to go get changed. "Enough!" I scream in their general direction. They immediately stop fighting and stare at me. Now that I look at them, they look really worn out. "I don't know if you saw, or even cared, but Ava just walked in like she's been put through it with you guys bickering. Now cut it out already." I could tell my eyes were piercing because Adam just frowned while Aharon looked the same. I practically snatched the fish of the table and threw it onto the chopping board. I could tell that Aharon left to either blow off steam or apologize to Ava. As I was preparing the fish and turning on the stove, I felt someone hug me from behind. I immediately knew it was Adam, he was the only person that would. "Hey, Green, please don't be mad," I could tell he was genuinely upset, he only calls me green when he's serious. "We didn't mean to make you mad, I just lost temper. That's it. But can we still have dessert?" I laughed a little to myself. He's always thinking about food. I shoved him off. "Make it yourself, you big oaf!" I turned around and he was once again sporting his humongous grin. He almost skipped off into Ava's room, and I almost immediately heard giggles. I couldn't help but smile to myself as I cooked the fish.