Daydream Believer

xxxiv. snow piles and sledding

xxxiv. snow piles and sledding

It was recess again. It had been snowing for a few days, and it had piled up in big mounds we could play in.

Justin, Aaron, and I headed outside. I zipped up my ugly coat and put on my hat and gloves. "Let's play over there!" Aaron shouted. He pointed to the biggest pile of snow.

"I think I'm just going to read," Justin said.

"You always do that!" Aaron said.

Justin shook his head. "Sometimes I play with you and McKenna."

"When?" Aaron asked.

"I played with you yesterday," Justin said.

"But you're always reading! This is recess! You're supposed to play outside."

"Not necessarily," I said. I liked reading, but I never read during recess. There were too many better things to do.

"Ugh, fine," Aaron said. "We're going to have more fun than you though."

"We'll see about that," Justin said.

"Come on, McKenna," Aaron said. I followed him to the snow pile. I would have asked Rebecca and Robin to play with us, but they were in middle school now. One of the big kids came over to us. She was holding a sled. We watched her and her friends slide down the hill, one by one.

"Can we try?" Aaron asked.

"Sure," she said. She handed Aaron the sled. He took it and went down the hill. When he got back up, he handed it to me. I sat down on it and it immediately began sliding down. It went down faster and faster until it came to a stop. I smiled and carried it back up the hill.

I looked around. The sky was bright blue and snowflakes were falling down from it. The ground was completely white and fresh. The trees were bare. They were like giant sticks poking out of the ground now.

I thought it was beautiful.