My First Snowball [An Unexpected Shower]

So, there I was, freezing to death in my well-lit room, binge watching TikTok videos like the average teenager nowadays... when I felt a burst of energy. Heck, I did not know where it came from, but I followed my instincts and sprinted down the stairs like a deranged animal. Sure enough, there was nothing special to meet the eye... except that God was apparently shredding tissue papers down on us.

I was obviously really excited by the amazing display because... this was the first time I've seen snow in my LIFE. We had just recently moved here from Africa and at this time of year back home it is usually very dusty and chilly. Of course, I ran back upstairs to tell my mom I was going out whether she liked it or not. Not exactly what I said, but she liked it so we both won.

I remember it was exactly 11:23am when I stumbled out of the house with my kid sister behind me, bundled up in heavy winter coats, heavy gloves and, you guessed it, snow boots. The cold wind stung my face and my nose hurt from the chilly air yet all I was thinking about my little sister running away from me and towards the main road chanting "snow, snow...me want my snow!" I ran after and fortunately we were not hit by a bus on the way...phew.

Mesmerized I was by this fluffy white stuff. It was so TINY. I raised out my hand to catch some speckles in my gloved hand and observed the intricate design of this one snowflake. While I was marveling at this snowflake, my little sister was making her play on the snow-covered swings in our public park. I lost count of how many times I tried to stop her from putting that white fluffy stuff in her mouth! Even though I was kind of tempted to do it myself.

Oh, but times change, don't they? So, it should not have surprised me when my sister migrated from the swings to the other section of the park where there was MORE SNOW. I was elated. I once again caught my little sister shoving that stuff in her mouth. For the love of all things great and small... give me some. I'm kidding. I gathered some snow from the slide like it was nobody's business and as I was about to make history, I heard an agonizing shriek. A man had fallen off his bike across the street! He was obviously in pain. I could smell it from his many words of curse. I dropped the half-formed history and walked quickly towards the man before freezing in my tracks just outside the park gates. "What if he harasses you?", "What if it's a trap?", "What if he makes fun of your accent when you ask if he's ok?", "Don't risk it." But the man was in pain... and then he'd got up from his bike and stumbled into my street. I felt like such a fool. Why did I not help him? Why did I do nothing even though I knew he was hurt? Why was I still standing at the park gates instead of walking away from the semi-accident scene pretending like the battle with my subconscious never happened? And why was I now walking away from the semi-accident scene towards my forgotten little sister...still eating snow.

I grabbed a handful of snow and molded it in my hands. At first it stuck to my gloves, and I felt more useless than I already was, but soon it also stuck to itself and formed something round in my hands. It was lighter than I thought it would be, and the first thing I thought was throwing it at someone, but I had no friends and throwing it at my sister would not be the best idea. So instead, I threw my snowball at a pole...which sadly did not give a satisfying result. And for some reason it reminded me of the man that fell off his bike. If you think about it, they were somehow similar to each other. The man fell and I did not help him, the snowball was thrown and did not give satisfactory results.

Anyway, I know I was downplaying myself and the poor snowball but am happy that at least I was able to share this memory with my little sister, even though she was rolling in snow and eating it the whole time. I've heard how that was not good for the health, but she NEVER listens. Ugh.

We got back home and the white snowflakes that speckled our coats quickly vanished, with my mom complaining that we did not stay out long enough! Even though my little sister and I were chilblained...literally.