Suzy Snowflake
Or the Winter Break Folly
In small towns, it’s not uncommon for the youth to tell scary stories. At least it didn’t use to be. But since computers and TVs have become stronger influences, the old stories have been dying out. The children turn instead to patchwork stories told through films and video games, forgetting all too quickly the stories that used to make them shiver in the night. This is where our story commences. In an older house, a short walk from the lake.
There the landscape is dark save for a few lights that shine through a dark houses lower front windows. Upon closer inspection, the light displays to those that would peer in a group of children. They are sitting in the half dark under the watchful eye of their babysitter. They sit there telling tales about their summer exploits. The television sits in front of them, off. It has a slightly mournful air to it. The children were told by their parents that it was broken, and the children in the blind faith that only the young have believed them. The babysitter on the other hand knew the truth. Had the kids simply looked closer they would have found that someone had unplugged it.
But even so tonight was going well. The kids weren’t fighting, and there was a wonderfully light happy playful feeling in the atmosphere. The kids were happy because there was only 2 days left until their winter holiday would begin, and there was a lot of snow in the forecast in the coming days. The babysitter was also happy, curled up on the recliner in a fleece blanket she pondered her own world as she mused about the one the kids were talking about. She really had nothing to worry about for a month. It was about that long anyway when spring semester would start at the college. The only thought in her mind that was slightly problematic was that she only had 5 days left to complete her shopping in. Luckily tonight’s job was going to give her enough money to make that possible.
The kids were starting to run out of stories though, and were getting antsy. They weren’t as content as earlier but they were getting tired. They’d also been entertaining themselves for about 5 hours now, so she didn’t mind that they were getting tired and fidgety.
“Aer! We’re bored! Tell us a story?”
“I don’t know a story that y’all wouldn’t already know.”
“Can we sing Christmas carols then?”
“Sure, that sounds fun enough. Go ahead. I’d like to hear Jingle Bells and the others like that.”
The kids laughed in response and all started to sing loudly. Not all of the words were always correct, but that was ok. As long as everyone was having fun, what did it matter?
As each of the kids slowly dropped off to sleep, Aer would drop a blanket over their form. She also checked the time, sighing as she noted how late it was getting. Soon she would either have to get them up and ready for school or perhaps their parents would do that. She couldn’t remember exactly what the agreement had been in that regard.
She turned around at the sounding of a soft yawn. The youngest child was still awake
“Aren’t you tired Caroline?” Aer asked scooping the five year old up. Caroline snuggled into Aer, as she settled them both into a lounge chair.
“Mhm.” Caroline murmured, her fist nearly shoved all the way into her mouth. “Will you please sing me a song?”
Aer rocked Caroline gently. “Sure I could. Just let me think a bit. There must be some song that y’all forgot about. I would almost swear though that you kids know all the songs that I know.” She kept rocking the chair, humming a bit trying to remember a song.
“That sounds pretty…” Caroline said burying herself in Aers side.
Aer laughed quietly as she struggled to remember the words. They flitted around her mind on the outside of her conscious thoughts. She could almost hear them, in her grandmothers voice, but that had been years ago. “Hmmm la la la…” She had more than a little trouble remembering the words. “Da..da…tumbling down… Suzy Snowflake…”
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Originally published on one of my livejournals 1/31/2007 https://lindarfenume.livejournal.com/2482.html
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