Saugus.net 2020 IF First Place: The Snowman

She grabs your hand and pulls you forward, until you're both tripping out from under the pavilion into the (link-reveal: "snow.")[ It's almost ice at this point. Too cold out here for you, to be frank. When you were younger, you used to keep your eyes screwed shut when you were outside this time of year, out of fear the watery film on your eyes would freeze straight off.]"Come on, Jacob, it's just the snow," she laughs. [["Not when it's three feet deep, it's not."]] [["And hypothermia is just a cold."]] [["That's the problem, I think."]]

"It's only really snow when it's three feet deep, actually," she says. "And lots of snow means you can make snowmen. And snow angels. And snow castles.""You made that last one up." You press your forehead to hers until your noses touch, melting the snowflakes that landed on her face. "I've never seen a snow castle before.""They don't have snow castles in Texas? Sand castles, then?" [["Dirt castles might be a thing, but I've never seen one."]] [["Only for families that drive down to the beaches."]] [["We lived in a castle, so there was no need for ones made of snow or sand."]]

She laughs again, and you focus to hear the sound from under the howling wind. "In my opinion, yes."You can't help yourself from smiling, either. "For you, it might be. Some of us are but mere mortals." She shakes her head, trying to hide her smile, but you want to look at it one more time. You tilt her head, and try to lean down, but she pushes you back gently."We have to make a snowman, first," she says. [["That seems complicated."->toohard]] [["But I've never made one before."->toohard]] [["The snow'll freeze our hands off as soon as we touch it."->toohard]]

"Snow isn't the problem," she says. "It's our solution. It makes everything look (link-reveal: "magical")[(show: ?extra)]." |extra)[She's right about that. You can't see anything out there tonight except her against the white backdrop. Usually, there might be a few other people around, but you imagine the snow has kept them inside. Where all rational beings should be. ]"If it's so magical, why does it freeze my hair straight off?"She taps the top of your hat. "I think you might be doing all your can to protect your hair from being frozen off. It might be time to start considering other causes for hair loss.""Like what?""Like refusing to have a good time in the snow." Her eyes light up. "We could make a snowman. I haven't made one in a long time. And it'll be your first one!" [["Well, those are certainly factual statements..."]] [["As long as he takes less than half an hour to make, sure."]] [["I can try to help you make a snowman. But you might have to take the reins here."]]

"There's a large number of things you haven't seen, from what I know," she says. "The Grand Canyon. A bear. Those lights that—""Okay, there are lots of things I haven't seen," you say. "I'm willing to try making a snow castle."She grins. "We don't have the buckets for it. But we can do a snowman, if you're up for it.""I don't know if I'm up for it, but I suppose a night like this is meant for trying new things.""That's the spirit, Jacob! I know just the spot." She pulls you [[off into the unknown.]]

"Beaches are no fun," she says. "Sand is a nuisance. But snow is too beautiful to be a nuisance.""You're beautiful, and you can be a nuisance," you say. She raises her eyebrows. "But I'm willing to try making a snow castle."She grins. "We don't have the buckets for it. But we can do a snowman, if you're up for it.""I don't know if I'm up for it, but I suppose a night like this is meant for trying new things.""That's the spirit, Jacob! I know just the spot." She pulls you [[off into the unknown.]]

"A castle, huh?" She raises her eyebrows. "Whenever I mention visiting your parents, it always seems to be a hovel.""It can be both," you say. You don't want to get into this on a night like this, when the world narrows down to just you two. "But I'm willing to try making a snow castle."She grins. "We don't have the buckets for it. But we can do a snowman, if you're up for it.""I don't know if I'm up for it, but I suppose a night like this is meant for trying new things.""That's the spirit, Jacob! I know just the spot." She pulls you [[off into the unknown.]]

"Just one," she says. "After we make //one// snowman, I'll never say the word again." She pauses. "Unless you say you want to make one, and then I'll consider it, just for your sake.""That's awfully generous. Putting yourself through the grueling efforts of making another snowman, just for little ol' me."She shrugs. "Love is sacrifice." [["Then we'll make a single snowman."]] [["You have to make me hot cocoa when we go home if my fingers fall off."]] [["Fine. But I get to name him."]]

She hugs you closer. "I //knew// you'd see reason. You'll never think badly of the snow after this, I swear.""Unlikely, but we'll see," you say. You let her pull you [[off into the unknown.]]

You fall through the ice, into a person-shaped hole you would have sworn wasn't there earlier. The water hugs you, burning against your skin. The contrast between the cold outside and the heat here is unnatural, you think. It doesn't look hot at all. You can see Elise, clear as day, leaning over the gap in the ice. You didn't even hear her following you earlier. You reach out for her, calling her name, but the words don't seem to leave your mouth. She reaches back, and her mouth is open, too, and you hear your name, although muffled. You see her the whole way down, long after your eyes slip shut. [[And you never stop seeing her.->Start]]

"Here we are," she says, standing in a small grove of pine trees next to the (link-reveal: "pond.")[ Or next to what's usually the pond, anyways. It's covered with a layer of snow and ice so thick you can only tell what it is by looking at the arrangement of plants near the area.] There's piles of snow under the trees, in various formations. She tugs you towards the largest one. "This is where we built snowmen when I was younger. We though the trees would protect our snowmen from being destroyed by the constant storms." If the large mounds of snow are any indication, it's clear that children continue to do this, and it never works."So do we just push some snow together?" you ask. You don't have any idea how to make the body."We have to roll it together, but kind of." [["I'll follow your lead, then."]] [["You tell me what to do first, and I'll do it."]]

She cups some snow into her hands, and shapes it into a snowball. "First you make the snowball." She puts it back on the ground, and rolls it around until it grows bigger and bigger. "And then you roll it around." She looks at you. "That means you."You roll it around, following her instructions to the dot. "And to think you said it would be all play and no work," you huff out."It's play after this part," she says. She's rolling another snowball into a larger, heavier snowball. "And this part is fun, too, if you have enough people. We would push it around until it was my little sister's height. Sometimes we'd roll it down the hill and ask someone older and bigger, usually my father, to help us roll it back up." [["I wish we had a hill to roll this down."]] [["If your family still did that stuff, I could be the someone older and bigger."]]

She cups some snow into her hands, and shapes it into a snowball. "First you make the snowball." She puts it back on the ground, and rolls it around until it grows bigger and bigger. "And then you roll it around." She looks at you. "That means you."You roll it around, following her instructions to the dot. "And to think you said it would be all play and no work," you huff out."It's play after this part," she says. She's rolling another snowball into a larger, heavier snowball. "And this part is fun, too, if you have enough people. We would push it around until it was my little sister's height. Sometimes we'd roll it down the hill and ask someone older and bigger to help us roll it back up." [["I wish we had a hill to roll this down."]] [["If your family still did that stuff, I could be the someone older and bigger."]]

"We'd have to roll it right back up," she says. She turns silent, rolling her snowball around with an intense focus. You wonder if she's thinking about her father's death. You wonder what you should say. But you've never been good at talking about that. So you continue [[rolling.]]

She laughs. "I'm sure you could." She falls silent afterwards. You wonder if she's thinking about her father's death. You wonder what you should say. You stay silent and continue [[rolling.]]

When you're done with your part of the snowman, you stand up straight, and help Elise lift her snowball up on top. You step back. "I've gotta say, he looks pretty respectable." You tip an imaginary top hat.She laughs. "He still needs a head," she says, grabbing more snow and packing it into a ball, placing it gently on top of the snowman. "There we go." [["But what about decor?"->decor]] [["He looks bare, doesn't he?"->decor]] [["If I'm being honest, he doesn't seem very fun-looking."->decor]]

"You're right," she says. "He needs eyes and a mouth. And arms, too.""I can find the eyes and mouth," you say."Leaving me to find two equally-sized branches in the dark?" she says. "Not surprising. But I'll look." You both separate, and you wander the area, looking for the right kind of pebbles. [[But it's hard to look for anything in the dark.]]

You stumble around. Away from Elise, everything seems to go out of focus, and the moonlight doesn't help you much. You examine the ground for any rocks, but the snow obscures everything. You walk a little further out, trying to find an area with less snow, where you might be able to stick your arm down to grab for any rocks. [[You see something.]]

A flash in the dark in front of you, slipping downwards. You'd swear it was a person, but you can't tell. "Elise?" you say. It can't be her, though, because she went in a different direction. It must be your eyes trying to fill in the gaps of what's out there, but you know you wouldn't be able to see anything so clearly out there in the dark. You walk forwards anyways. The wind screeches past your ears, and your eyes flutter shut against the gust, but you [[press on.->end?]]