Winter wonderland.

Winter, is a place of bitter cold and despair. It is not a time of frolicking in the snow with family, building snow forts and snow men to guard them, nor the reminder of holiday cheer. It is a place of bitterness, plague, loss, and ultimately, death. Many winters humanity has endured, and many have suffered slowly, painfully, in the freezing cold. The merciless onslaught from the blizzard's siege, to the inability to grow anything from the earth. Closeness, warmth, a hearthfire. The scent of soup cooking upon the stove barely lit, as we sang songs of hope around the hearthfire amidst our humbling dwelling, a wooden cabin. Winter was not a time for fun. It was a season of survival, of endurance, of patience. Of keeping the lamplight ablaze when all hope seemed to fade into darkness.

The sun arose upon the east, as its rays gently pierced through my window. It’s gentle touch as an assurance to persist, no matter how cold and unyielding the storms of life currently are. I released a yawn, and stretched my arms out and tried to draw closer to the warm blanket. The day was young and extremely cold, but the tasks were going to start soon enough. “I don’t even want to imagine mother barging through my door, telling me to wake up and not to sleep the day away because there was work to be done,” I groaned softly as I tried to go back to sleep.

The sun rays continued to pierce my eyelids, as they rose up once more from remaining shut. As they did, I saw outside my wooden cabin, a frozen lake surrounded by many trees all throughout the outer rims of the ice. I wondered. I thought deeply. I thought constantly about what it would be like for, just a day, to go play in the snow. To slide upon the ice itself, and for once, after so long a storm, to be able to act like a child, for once.

I liked that idea. No, I loved that idea. The sound of frolicking in the snow and waving my arms back and forward to form an angel with wings. To have Buster, our retriever, pulling me on my sled, eagerly licking my face after the ride was done as I hugged him tightly. I started to pick myself up and set myself straight as I sat on the foot of my bed, and gazed out the window. I looked out on the lake, and sighed for a brief moment. “How can I hope to endure the storms of winter, if there’s no hope all throughout the day? Life can’t always be work, and I’m just a little girl! I want to go out and have some fun! I’m going to ask mom today when she comes up!” I thought to myself. As if on point, Mother barged in with her corset and bonnet, ready to get the day started. “Desiree! It’s time to wake up! We have work to do while father is out!” Mom reminded me. “Mom, if we get our work done early today, can we go play in the snow?” I asked curiously. Mother’s eyes grew big, as if she was taken aback by my request. “Desiree, if you get your work done early today, perhaps! But I am too busy to go out and play! There are things to do and chores to get done and-,” Mother attempted to explain.

I looked at her, feeling sorry. She always worked so hard, and never took time for herself. “Mother, wasn’t there ever a time when you were a little girl, and you wanted to play, but you knew you couldn’t? You can’t always work, work, work the day away! Don’t you ever want to go out and have fun? Weren’t you a little girl once too?” I asked her. My Mom’s face looked perplexed. As if her heart sunk by me even asking the question. Her right eye shed a tear, as if she remembered something. A memory, deeply forgotten within her heart. She sniffled a bit, but then reinforced her composure. A big smile slid on her face, something I hadn’t seen in a while. “Desiree, let’s get our work done early so we can go play in the snow! If you can help me with my work, you and I can go play out in the snow for the rest of the day!” Mother instructed. I enthusiastically began to get dressed as she eagerly walked out my room, the sound of her stomping quickly down the hallway to finish her work. Sometimes, storms are rough, and winter comes. We keep going about our daily business, and forget to start living. How one preserves hope in the darkest times, can be as simple as reminding yourself to go out and play in the snow!

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