Snow

Something dropped onto my nose. I tried to look at it but it made my eyes go funny. Another one. I looked up and could see millions and billions of bits of white falling down on to all the people in the street.

‘Mummy!’ I laughed and stopped, pulling on her hand in mine, ‘Look Mummy!’

‘It’s snow, Charlie, it’s snowing. We’ll have to hurry to the bus stop now or we’ll get wet.’

‘Wet?’ It didn’t look wet to me.

‘Of course, you haven’t seen snow before. Goodness Charlie, your first snow! When we get home we can have some fun in it, sledging and snowmen, but we need to get to the bus stop.’

She pulled me along but I wanted to stop and look at it. Everyone was moving faster and we were pushed along the pavement. No one else wanted to look at the snow but everyone looked cold. It fell and fell and fell, jiggling about before it landed. The floor was turning messy and puddly. I tried to stand in them but Mummy kept pulling me along. The hedge beside us was turning white like I had spilt my sherbet on it. The cars in the road were going slowly and had their wipers on but the snow was holding on to the windows and making them look bumpy. I held out my hand and tried to catch some. It felt fluffy and soft and tickly, like stroking next door’s cat but then it was gone and my hand was wet. I tried again and held my hand close to my face. It didn’t smell of anything but it looked sort of spiky, not soft at all. Staring quickly I could see points and spikes like a star but then it was gone. We found the bus stop and stood in line.

‘Mummy, it goes.'

‘It what?’ She asked, reading the timetable.

‘When I hold it, it goes.’ I showed her my empty hand.

‘Of course it does, it melts. Like ice cream. There’ll be one in five minutes.’

Ice cream? I looked up again and opened my mouth. It felt cold on my lips and tongue. I stuck my tongue out to taste more but it went so quick. I looked up again and tried to fill my mouth with the snow, bobbing around trying to catch as much as I could. It didn’t taste like ice cream. It tasted a little bit like water and felt like feathers. I stopped eating it and looked around. There was so much white now, everything had some snow on it and it was quieter. It felt like I was under my duvet, like my ears were covered and I couldn’t hear very well. I stood closer to Mummy and waited for the bus.  

Diane Scott