Snow Day

“…with heavy accumulation expected.” the weather report concluded. 

Fallon opened one sleepy eye and glanced at her clock.  12:30 a.m. 

“Be sure to watch the updated school closing list at the bottom of your screen or check our website, KSDK.com, for more details on the weather or weather-related closings in your area,” the news anchor finished. 

“We now return you to your regularly scheduled program already in progress.”  As the announcer finished speaking Fallon clicked off the television and ran to her window. 

“No snow yet,” she assured Fiona, who stirred from her sleep as Fallon swept across the room.  Opening her laptop, Fallon sat down at her desk to get online and check the weather.

“Hmm…” she contemplated the forecast.  “I bet we won’t have school tomorrow!”

Fallon was right.  When she awoke there was a strange brightness outside.  Jumping out of bed she remembered the weather forecast.  “It’s snowing,” she cried, dropping to her knees, taking hold of Fiona’s paws, and dancing her about the room.  “It’s snowing!” 

Quickly Fallon pulled on her sweat pants and brushed her hair.  “I have to call Kayla!” she said to her little white shadow.  Fiona, Fallon’s faithful dog, followed the excited girl with her eyes as though she understood every word.  “We can get out the sled and go for a ride!”

“It’s snowing!” Fallon called to her younger brother as she ran through the kitchen looking for her purse.

“I know that!” he exclaimed!  “I’ve already been out helping Mom get the groceries out of the car, sleepy head!”

Fallon stuck out her tongue as she fished her cell phone from her purse and dialed Kayla’s number.  “You don’t have to be rude about it,” she retorted as the phone call went through.

After making plans with her friend, Fallon ate a bowl of hot oatmeal for breakfast at her mother’s insistence.  “It’s cold out there, girl!  You need something hot to keep you warm or you’ll be too sick to go to school when the snow days are over.”

Gulping down the last spoonful of oatmeal, Fallon ran back upstairs to get ready.  First she pulled a larger pair of sweat pants over the pair she was already wearing.  She tugged at her heavy socks and then put plastic bags over her feet before forcing them into her snow boots.  After tying her scarf around her neck, she tucked her hair up under her knit hat, adjusting the pompom on top until it was just so.  Next came the gloves.  She liked to put gloves under her mittens to keep her hands extra warm.  “It’s hard to zip your coat with mittens on,” she always complained, “so I can put my gloves on and then my coat so there’s not a cold gap between the end of my sleeves and the top of my gloves.  Then I can put my coat on and zip it and put my mittens on.”

“Come on, Fiona!  Let’s go!”  She reached down and pulled a sweater over the white terrier’s head, tucked her ears through the holes in the hood, attached the leash and stood up.  “Just one more thing,” she told Fiona. 

Downstairs again, Fallon ran to the garage and grabbed her purple sled from the hook.  In the laundry room she sprayed a rag with furniture polish and rubbed it over the smooth plastic surface.  With Fiona’s leash in one hand and the rope from the sled in the other, Fallon opened the front door and stepped outside.  She loved to hear the crunch of the snow beneath her boots.  Fiona didn’t like the snow as much as Fallon did.  Instead of running ahead as she did on nice days, Fiona lagged behind, jumping from one of Fallon’s foot prints in the snow to the next in an effort to stay out of the snow as much as possible.  “Big baby,” Fallon teased.  She picked Fiona up, put her on the sled, and pulled her the rest of the way up the block to Kayla’s house.

In the backyard, Fiona found a comfortable place on the patio bench, where the girls covered her up with a warm blanket.  They took turns pulling each other on their sleds as the snow continued to fall.  All of the sudden, Fiona’s ears perked up.  She shook off the blanket and looked around, sniffing the air.  “She hears something,” Fallon whispered.  She started to run towards the patio to grab Fiona’s collar but it was too late.  A small brown rabbit darted from beneath the bushes and Fiona leapt from the bench and dashed across the yard in hot pursuit!  As she ran in front of Fallon, she tried to step on the dangling leash but her boot got tangled and she slipped and fell.  “That looked so funny!” Kayla cried as she ran towards her friend, sled in tow.  As she bent over to help Fallon up, she stepped backwards onto the sled and lost her balance!  The girls fell together in a crumpled giggling heap as the sled, empty and free, skidded away down the hill behind the little dog, coming to a stop only when it hit the fence!  Undistracted, Fiona ran laps around the yard chasing the little rabbit until it squeezed through a small opening under the gate and escaped.  Breathing heavily, Fiona stopped short with her nose against the fence, barking furiously at the little rabbit who glared defiantly back from safety just feet away on the other side.  Fallon and Kayla, now cold from sledding, decided it was time to go in and warm up.  “Let’s go in, you silly little dog!”  Fallon called out.  With a last look at the rabbit, Fiona ran towards the girls, jumped on the sled, and rode comfortably all the way to the front porch.

“I hope we have another snow day tomorrow,” the girls agreed as they sipped hot cocoa.  “Playing in the snow is so much fun!”