Status: Written for a Contest. We shall see how it goes.

Crystal Patterns

Dancing Snow

Polina was shivering at the table as I handed her a cup of warm tea. The last thing my mother needed to be was cold, she was sick enough. "Mom, let me put the fire on," I pleaded with her, but stubbornly she shook her head in response. I rolled my eyes in utter frustration and plopped onto the sofa next to her mother.

"Oh stop it, Natalia. It's not a big deal," she answered.

"Logically, Mother, if one is cold, one should warm up," I explained, walking towards the fire. In all my life, I never saw a fire lit in this home. It was kept cold, even though my mother easily got cold in the first place. I never could figure out why she didn't let me put the fire on, but it didn't bother me any. In fact, the only thing that bothered me was that she was cold.

"I need to go buy some food," I told her, tugging my coat on. She made no noise in response and instead, a gentle snoring arose from the couch. I rolled my eyes grabbing her wallet and slipping my boots on. I walked out into the snow which crunched under my feet and smiled as the sun hit my face. Although I couldn't bare to lay out in the snow during the summer, I didn't mind it so much in the winter.

"Natalia," I heard in a male's voice, echoing around me. My eyes snapped open and I glanced around me, but only saw that of a barren landscape. My sense of urgency increased and I trudged through the snow significantly faster than I had before.

A strong gust of wind whipped snow in front of face in the same swirling patterns I saw on my window pane this morning. The began swirling around me as if the snow was trying to dance with me and it was the first time I think I ever giggled. The snow stopped then and began flowing down a path opposite of town. Against my greater instinct, I followed it.

It winded through the great silver trees of our town and over the vast hills and finally landed us by the frozen lake. The lake sparkled and then exploded with patterns as if someone was ice skating on top of it. My eyes could not honestly believe the wonder in front of me. "Natalia," I heard again, whispered just behind my neck. All the hairs on my neck were standing on end, but it wasn't an uncomfortable situation. In fact, it felt like home.

Before long, it seemed the snow got impatient with me. Perhaps I couldn't see something that it wanted me to see or I just wasn't getting the point of such a spectacular show. The snow settled, the lake froze over and was as smooth as silk once more.

At a loss for words, I simply turned to walk towards town once more.

"Snegurochka," echoed around me.