"It’s okay." I smiled at her, then looked toward the window to see that the blinds and curtains had been opened.

"Oh, you will never believe this." She jumped off the bed, and pulled my by the hand to the window. I looked out to see a veritable North Pole. Everything was covered, and I do mean everything. The neighbors car across the street? No. There was only a radio antenna left of the little Honda.

"My god. Where did this come from?"

"I have no idea. I got up earlier to go to the bathroom, and this is what I saw. I bet you there’s over four feet out there."

"Oh, easily. Wow." The entire neighborhood was white, no color anywhere. I hadn’t seen anything like it in quite a few years.

"Maybe we should turn on a radio or TV. It’s still snowing."

"Shit, my mom." I hurried over to my phone, and dialed up the hospital. "Can I speak with Theresa Littman, please? Thanks." The receptionist put me on hold, where I got to listen to cheesy elevator music, warped versions of classics or pop hits. Haley began to get dressed, pulling on the warmest clothes she had.

"This is Theresa."

"Hey, mom."

"Hi, honey." She sounded so tired.

"Have you looked outside?"

"I haven’t had time. We’ve had car accidents coming in all morning, one guy has already died from freezing in his car. Honey, I have no idea how long I’ll be here, but I can’t imagine I’ll be home today, or maybe even tomorrow. Christine quitting really messed us up here."

"Okay. Well, I’d say you’re better off to just stay put, anyway. There’s like four feet out there, and it’s still coming down."

"Oh, jeez. Where’s Chris? Is he still at Brian’s?"

"Yeah. He left last night."

"Okay, honey. Do me a favor and call over there, tell him to stay there, please?" I could hear her being paged in the background. "Oh, I have to go. I love you, and you guys stay inside."

"Okay, mom. I love you, too. Be safe."

"I will. Bye." Before I even got a chance to tell her goodbye, the phone was dead.

"Is everything okay?" Haley asked, brushing out her hair. I hung the phone up.

"Yeah. They’re just really busy in the ER today. Some chick quit last week, so she’s probably stuck there for the weekend."

"Oh, wow."

"Well, I don’t know about you, but I am starving." I found a thick pair of sweats and sweatshirt, and pulled them on, freezing in the tank and shorts I had slept in. "Do you like eggs?"

"Oh, yeah." Haley said, following me downstairs. I searched until I found the eggs, a block of cheddar, and a package of turkey breast lunch meat. "Um, didn’t you say eggs?" she asked, leaning against the counter, watching me.

"Yup." Grabbing a knife from knife block, and began to cut up the meat, and shave off pieces of cheese. "How many?" I held up an egg.

"Three."

I turned back to my cutting board.

"So, what do you want to do today?" Haley asked, coming over to stand by me, watching me.

"I’m not sure. I wouldn’t mind getting out into that stuff." I pointed toward the window above the sink with the knife.

"The snow?" I nodded with a silly grin. "You like to play in the snow?" Again the grin. "Oh, Andi, my hero! I love to play in the snow. I’m so excited." She clapped her hands together, walking over to the sliding glass door that led to the backyard, pushing the vertical blinds aside to look out. "Wow." She breathed. "I can’t believe we got so much."

"Hey, there’s a radio on top of the fridge. Switch it on, will you?"

"Sure." Haley turned it on, and all we got was static. "Hmm." She turned the tuner around, trying to find any station that would work. "Oh, here’s one."

"Yeah, if you understand Spanish."

"True." She continued to try and find something, anything. "Shit, Andi. Everything must be out."

"Try AM."

"Nada."

I looked at her, just as she turned to look at me. "Crap. We’re a bit isolated." She grinned at me, nodding.

"Yeah, I’d say so. Cool by me." She walked back over to me as I began to pour my creation into the skillet that I’d already put on the burner of the stove. "Oh, that smells good."

"It is good. Reach into the cabinet above the Lazy Susan, and grab two plates, will you?" She did as I asked, and I began to dish up breakfast.

* * *

"Are you sure we’re not going to freeze our asses off?"

"No, I’m not sure. But we’ll have fun doing it," Haley said, zipping her coat, which clashed mightily with the flannel pants she wore, and tennis shoes. Her feet were much too large for any hiking boots I might own, so we had to make due. "Ready?"

"Yup." We both pushed together to open the screen door against the massive weight of the built-up snow. "Damn. It’s not budging."

"Yeah. We may have to go out through the garage door."

"One more push; we’ll have to open this door at some point, anyway."

"Okay. On three. One, two, push!" We put all we had into it, our feet digging into the rug that covered the tile of the entryway, the material bunching up under us, making us slide.

"Yeah, no. This isn’t going to cut it."

"Garage?"

"Garage."

The garage opened with much protest, as the mechanical parts were near frozen.

"My god, look at that." There was a wall of snow all along where the door had once been, five feet high and higher in some places. "Hey, I could make a tunnel through that." As I spoke, the parts began to crumble, falling in large chunks onto the garage floor.

"Or not."

"Ready?" I looked at Haley to see that adorable smile on her face, a smile like I imagined she looked at five years old. I nodded, and with a scream, we ran, plowing into the wall of snow, falling onto the driveway, disappearing face first into four feet of snow, which thank god was frozen on the lower layers so we only actually fell in a couple feet.

I scrambled to get out of my self-made snow grave, but trying to not disturb the shape of it. As I stood, I realized Haley was doing the same. I laughed as I looked at her, her face covered in a thin layer of white powder, stuck in her dark eyebrows, her bangs stuck to her forehead.

She also laughed at me, as I figured I looked exactly the same. I looked down at myself to see that the entire front of my jacket was caked with snow, and my pants were already soaked in front. Yeah, this would be a short play time. I figured it wouldn’t do well to end up my mother’s next patient, suffering from frostbite and hypothermia.

I reached down to brush off my coat when SMACK! Suddenly the world turned white in my left eye.

Looking over at my laughing friend, I saw the evidence of the white dusting on her right glove. She was trying to look innocent, but of course had about as much success as Clinton.

"You want a piece of me, Corregan?" Hands on my hips, I looked at, well, hand on my hip as the other one picked snow out of my eyelashes.

"Is that a threat?"

"You want it to be one?"

"You got it, Littman. Or should I say, Littleman." I glared.

"Okay, that was lame."

"It was, wasn’t it?"

I didn’t answer, instead I began to form my own snowballs. "Start making ‘em, Corregan. I used to be the pitcher in our neighborhood softball tournaments, so be warned." Haley looked at me, looking impressed.

"Very nice." She gathered a huge mound of snow, began to pack it between her palms, making it rounder and rounder. "Well you know what?"

"What’s that?" I started on my fourth snowball. Since the snow was nearly to my waist, it was quite handy to just set my ammo right next to me.

"I still play softball."

SPLAT!

"Pleh!" I spit the snow out that had landed square in my mouth, the coldness stinging against my reddened skin. "Oh, you are not a nice person." Grabbed the largest of my bombs, and got a nice, solid hold on it. I looked at her, me the picture of determination.

"Okay, Andi. I’m sorry, that wasn’t fair." She held her hands in front of her.

"Nope, no it wasn’t."

"I don’t have anymore snowballs ready." She gestured to the empty snow in front of her.

"Nope, no you don’t." I lifted my leg over the snow to take a step forward. Haley began to move, too. This would probably be the slowest chase in history, like running under water. I grabbed the rest of my snowballs, putting them in the crook of my left arm, and began to fire. Haley tried to get away from me, even with much longer legs, she was having a hell of a time. Score! The largest of the snowballs smacked her right in the neck.

"Oh man, that’s cold!" she cried as she grabbed the shrapnel, trying to get it off her bare skin. Fire number two!

SPLAT!

Only got an arm, but that’s okay.


We continued on our slow but sure chase around my driveway and front yard, each of us taking our well-placed, yet extremely high, steps through the snow. No one was really getting anywhere of consequence, though Haley did have some space on me because of her longer legs. But that was okay, I still had snowballs.

"Ah!" Before I knew it, Haley disappeared completely from sight as she fell. Phoof! Nothing but an outline of her sprawled body.

"Haley?" I hurried over there, well, if one can hurry in four feet of snow, and saw her laying face-up, staring into the gray sky above, then her eyes traveled to me.

"Wow. Snow is so soft. Just like a bed of feathers."

"Are you okay? You’re talking like Lazareth, back from the dead."

"Oh, yeah. I’m fine. Cold and stuck, but fine." I reached a hand down to her.

"Come on. I think it’s time we went in. The snow is coming down faster, and I can’t get my car out to take either of us to the hospital." Haley grabbed my hand, and I pulled her up with a groan. Finally on her feet, we headed back into the house, both drenched from head to toe.

"My god, I’m so cold." She stood in the middle of the kitchen, her arms wrapped around herself, teeth chattering.

"Come on. My mom has a Jacuzzi in her bathroom"

"Ohhhhhh. Nnnice." She smiled, her teeth still sounding like little jackhammers. We hurried up the stairs, tugging at sopping clothing as we went, leaving a trail to my mother’s bedroom. Finally standing in just our underwear and bras, I got the hot bath started, the jets not far behind.

"I don’t have a bathing suit for you." I looked at Haley, who was looking longingly into the steaming water.

"Like I care." She climbed in as she was. I watched, my eyes following her body as a little more of it dipped into the heated depths. You’ve played sports, and have seen other girls undress in front of you before. You have seen other girls undress in front of you before. You have seen other girls undress in front of you before.

Shaking myself out of my confusing reverie, I also climbed in, dressed only in underwear and bra. The water almost felt as though it was boiling as my cold skin screamed at me. Oh, but what a way to be boiled.

I sat, holding my breath as I became acclimated. Haley sat across from me, her head back against the blow-up pillow, her eyes closed as a slow, soft moan escaped. I looked at the curve of her long neck, the way it spread into smooth shoulders with very defined clavicles, and just the very top of her cleavage in her bra, which may as well have been see-through because of the water.

"God, this is bliss." Blue eyes opened and settled on me. "Will your mom mind we’re in here?" I shook my head.

"I use it all the time." I did everything I could to avoid looking anywhere on Haley that I shouldn’t be. I was so afraid that one of these days she would catch me, or though she had caught me many times, ask me about it. What if she did? I didn’t have an answer for her.

"Andi?"

"Yes, Haley?" I had closed my own eyes to enjoy the feel of warmth spreading throughout my entire body. I kept them closed as I waited for her to speak.

"You know the movie we watched last night?" I smiled.

"Yes."

"Would you ever do that?"

"Die of AIDS? Sure."

"Nut." I felt water being thrown at me, and I grinned again, but opened my eyes to look at Haley. "I mean, you know, be a lesbian."

"Well, it hasn’t really been in the career track packet that I created with my school counselor, but sure."

"I’m serious, Andi."

"Okay, okay."

"Would you ever be with a woman?" She looked at me, her hands weaving under the water, making the hot water flow and ebb to me.