My Little Raspberry

9 years later.

You could easily feel the huge snowflakes touch your tongue before it quickly turned to water, which it had been before. It was snowing. It was snowing in Las Vegas. It hadn’t happened for years, and the children weren’t complaining a bit. Even though it was late, parents let their kids stay out a little bit longer; the snow could be gone by the next day. There were no worries on this day; Christmas Eve.

Outside this particularly house, someone had even had the time to build a snowman, which had had a carrot added as a nose and what seemed like plums as eyes and mouth. It wasn’t a perfect work of art, but you could see the love behind every touch of it. Beside it stood a little boy, he wasn’t more than five years old, but he had a look of enthusiasm in his eyes, that could seem rare for boys in his age. He was eager to show people what he had done. With small leaps he landed on the doorstep and quickly slipped through the narrow door opening.

In the kitchen stood a woman, leaning over the kitchen desk; tall, which made her look slim, though there were curves. She looked relaxed, with long brown hair falling from her head on her back, there weren’t much that spoke for her visiting a hairdresser too often. She looked aged, though much like she had looked nine years ago. You couldn’t say she wasn’t a beauty, with those long, dark eyelashes which had been pretty much untouched by any mascara. Though there was some sort of ooze around her that indicated on some sort of lack of confidence. It could seem sad at times, but she could pretty much keep it to herself. Her hand carefully turned another page in the magazine she was reading, unaware of what approached he--.

“Woah, fuck!” she shrieked when she felt someone grad her from behind. She turned around to find a little boy, not more than five years, looking up at her with puppy dog eyes. The fact that he had inherited them from his father didn’t make them easier to resist. They were perfectly brown, with a charming twinkle. “I mean--, darn! Why would do that, sweetie?”

“Mom, I want to show you something, come, come, come with me to the window. Look, look, look!”

“I can see. Wow, that one of a snowman you’ve got out there. Did you show dad?”

“Uh-huh, not yet, bu’ I’m gonna, now, I think.”

“Great, he’s upstairs. Go get him.” She gave him a pat on the back as he ran off, still in his outdoor overall. She sighed and continued with her magazine, until the boy came down with her husband. He was tall, very, very tall, and indescribably handsome, if she could say what she thought. He had those eyes, which his son had inherited, and she was so glad for that.

“Look dad, isn’t he cool? Right? I’m gonna call him Albert, ‘cause he looks like an Albert, doesn’t he dad?”

“Yeah, he sure does,” his father said and looked outside. The boy couldn’t stop telling with his body language how happy he was, “what do ya’ say about getting into your pyjamas, and then I’ll come and tell you a story about Santa, okay?”

“Yeah!” the boy shrieked and ran off to his room.

“What do you think will become of that little guy?” he said, still looking down the corridor.

“I really don’t know, Josh, but I know we have to make sure he has options when he wants them.” She had slipped her arms around his torso, and stroked her hands across his chest, trying to show all the love she could. He turned around and gently placed his hands on her cheeks and smiled. “I love you, you know that, right?”

“I’ve got a pretty good idea,” he said and kissed her on the lips like he hadn’t done for weeks, because of all the stress and work.

She knew what it was like to be in heaven again.