Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Winter (11/14/05)
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TITLE: Footprints in the Snow | Previous Challenge Entry
By Kym Gordon Moore
11/21/05 -
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My husband jumped out of bed and rushed over to the window to see what I was gawking at. “Wow! Unbelievable!”
Waking up to a twelve inch blanket of milk white snow covering everything outside was an uncommon sight in our southern port city. We had one of the worst winter storms in the history of our state, due to a ferocious hurricane that ripped through the coastline in September. The intensity of this hurricane resulted in severe winter weather a few days before Christmas. We always wished for a white Christmas, but never imagined that it would actually happen. In the south we are not use to one inch of snow let alone twelve inches. But, the beauty of it made everything look like a massive cream puff. My eyes squealed with delight at the sight of this magical winter wonderland. I watched children sliding down the street in makeshift sleds made from garbage can lids and cardboard boxes. Next door neighbors were throwing morsels of bread out for the wandering wild birds searching for something to eat.
I couldn’t contain my excitement and quickly got dressed to go let my inner child come out. Carefully walking outside I crunched down into the soft, milk white crystals of ice.
The footprints in the snow gave clues to sources making these molded indentations. A trail of tiny webfoot prints indicated that a duck walked here. A meandering paw pattern was a sign that possibly a dog strolled through the area. I looked to my left and saw a path of large footprints with smaller ones running parallel to it. This led me to believe that a child was walking alongside an adult. Facing our house I waved at my husband who was standing in the window sipping a cup of coffee. Then I went for it. With arms close to my side I fell back and plunged into the soft white mass. I began flapping my arms and legs like stationary jumping jacks. What an exhilarating feeling it was to create my very first snow angel at the age of forty! Suddenly, a loud buzzer went off! I looked around but no one else seemed to hear it. At that moment, everything went dark. There goes that annoying buzzer again!
I opened my eyes and realized I was still in my bed. The clock alarm was going off and my husband growled, “How ‘bout hittin’ that snooze button.” I laid there for a moment, but couldn’t fall back to sleep. The clock said seven-fifteen. I rolled over, sat on the edge of the bed and noticed that the fire was blazing. “That’s unusual”, I thought. Normally, I have to put a few logs on top of the smoldering ashes to get the fire going again. Sonny couldn’t have done it because he sleeps like a log throughout the night. I got up and peeked through the curtains. Low and behold I shouted, “Oh my God would you look at this!”
Much to my surprise I saw the pattern of footprints that was in my dream. In the middle of my yard was a life sized snow angel that I know I didn’t make. You want to know the strangest thing about that? There were no visible footprints around it. I found that to be literally impossible! How can somebody make a snow angel and not leave a footprint? Was it actually somebody or a heavenly body? Chill bumps ran all over me. “Am I where I think I am? Do I truly see what I think I see? Am I dreaming again? Or not? Hmm…”
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This is the second entry I read tonight about the difference in attitudes toward snowfall between those from the North and those fom the South.
Around here the radio personalities accuse each other of cussing if the word 'snow' is used in a sentence. Some personal favorites in this piece: your first snow angel at age 40, "made everything look like a massive cream puff," the entire paragraph about tracks in the snow and what might have made them. What an interesting way to conclude this article! Did a real angel visit? Thanks for sharing.