Tangled in South Park

Snow Days

*Multiple Days Later*

I shift around in my bed, already knowing that school is canceled for the last two days of the week. The decision was made last night, marking the first snow days of the year. Not only that, but Stark's Pond is safe to skate on as the temperature took a huge dive. It is going to be a nice next few days.

I slowly sit up, letting my brain wake up. Then I slide out of bed, grab my phone off my desk, and head downstairs to the kitchen where my mom is making coffee in the Keurig. "Morning mom," I yawn, placing my phone on the counter before going to the pantry to grab a bag of mini brownies.

"Morning sweetheart," my mom responds. "Winter has arrived now that school cancelled."

I softly smile, "It was only a matter of time."

"What's planned for today?"

I shuffle over to the barstools, hopping up on one. "The boys already have some big snowball fight planned at Stark's Pond, but I don't think I'll be joining in on that. Red should be coming over in a few hours, though. I though we could get a little work in before heading out to make our snow fort even better, not that more snow has fallen."

"That sounds like a good day," she nods, pulling her mug out of the drink machine. "I'll be spending a lot of time in my room organizing my closet. Might as well do something with these days off. Its not like I can go out anywhere with how the roads are."

"Where's dad?"

"He got a hotel last night when he learned of the weather. If he could have come home and done work here he would have, but it just wasn't feasible. Too much stuff to try and transfer, and it will only be for a few days."

"Why didn't we just move to Denver?"

"He didn't want to live in a big city like that, and this was the closest town that fit his needs," she shrugs. "I pushed back a bit because of what happened all those years ago."

"Why did you never tell me that we lived here before?"

My mom sighs, setting her mug down on the counter. "What good would that have done us? Whether you remembered or didn't, this is where we were moving. I was hoping that you could still make friends, and that the whole town had moved on like we never even stopped here all those years ago."

"Everyone remembered me, but I didn't remember them," I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose for a second. "All of them hoped that I would remember my brief time here. I haven't, not really. I mean, I have pieces of a large puzzle that have come back to me, but most of it is gone."

"It was because of that darn teacher," she awkwardly chuckles. "Now he's getting into politics. Not that it matters. We just wanted to wipe him from your memory after the trauma he caused. I just wanted you to be my happy little girl again. You were so distraught for so long. I was so worried about you."

"I've still had a good life, mom," I flash a smile. "Don't worry about that. Even if there are some sour memories of California that will never go away."

"When I heard you talk about all your friends, I knew that everything was going to be okay here, and then I just forgot that you might remember being here. Seeing you with Kenny on the front porch the first day of school, I knew that everything had worked out. The two of you had been inseparable as kids. Have you remembered that?"

"No, no I haven't," I grin. "Well, not that much, other than what he has told me. There are brief glimpses of us together in my mind, but I can't recall whatever I want from that time." I shrug, "That's okay. I've been making great memories now, and I couldn't have asked for a better time in my life. Its okay that I didn't grow up here."