A Snowy Day

It was a cold winter afternoon when my family and I were going out in the snow. My 15 year old brother took the snowboard and I rushed into the backyard. My parents followed me. My mom is a doctor and my dad works at a bank.  Then my brother sped to the backyard, but even with boots on, he fell on the huge snow mountain! 

“That’s why you don’t run in the snow, Nathan!” I laughed. 

“Ok, then how about we race down the hill?” He asked, climbing to the top of the hill to where I was. 

“No thanks, I just want to have fun.” I shook my head and took the snowboard from my brother’s hand. 

“Besides, we only have one snowboard.” I got in position to go down the gigantic slippery hill. Nathan smiled.

“We can just take a timer and whoever reaches the bottom in the least amount of time wins.” He smirked.

“No thanks.” I got my gloved hands ready to push off and go down the white hill. 

“Are you scared?” He teased.

“No!” I clenched my fist.

“Let’s do it!” I wrinkled my eyebrows. My brother ran off towards the house. He went inside and I looked down at the hill. Then I got my hands ready and pushed off! 

“Whoo hoo!!!!” It was amazing!! I grinned. 

 

•  

 

I went back to the top of the hill and got my hands ready. I started to push off when Nathan came outside! I was falling down the hill! I tried to haul myself up, but my hands kept slipping! “Mom, Dad!! Help me!” I screamed. But my parents were busy doing something else. Nathan turned to me and saw me slipping. He ran over. He grabbed my hand just as I was about to fall. Then he pulled me up.

“Emma, how did you fall?” He asked.

“Um–” I started. 

“Actually, nevermind, I don’t want to know. Come on. Let’s get you inside.” 

“But–” Nathan pushed me toward Mom and Dad. 

“Go take a break. Then you can come back outside.” I nodded. Mom and Dad took me by the hand and brought me inside. 

 

•  

 

Mom went into the kitchen to make hot chocolate. Dad sat down next to me and helped me take off my gloves and my scarf. 

“Em, you need to be careful.” Mom said from the kitchen.

“I know. I was calling your name but you weren’t listening to me!” I argued.

“Luckily, Nathan was there.” I folded my arms. Mom came out from the kitchen with a cup. She gave the cup to Dad, who was still sitting next to me. I took the cup from Dad and brought it up to my mouth to drink. 

“Em, we were just planning something for you-know-what.” Dad said, as I drank a sip. 

“For Nathan’s birthday?” I took another sip. My parents nod. I sighed. 

“Alright, I forgive you. But I’ll only forgive you if you let me go outside to play.” I grinned mischievously. Mom and Dad laughed. 

“Ok, honey, go outside and play.” Mom smiled. Dad took the cup from me as I awkwardly skipped outside. 

 

•  

 

“Nathan!” My brother turned to look at me and waved. I waved back. I walked over to Nathan who was on the other side of the hill doing something intensely. I got up on top of the hill to look behind it. He was clawing at the snow like his treasure was on the other side. “Whatcha doing?” I asked. He looked up at me and then moved to the side. 

“I’m making a tunnel. For any games we play.” I grinned. I slid down and peered into the tunnel. Nathan hadn’t done much, so I moved to the side and beckoned for him to sit next to me. He sat down next to me and we both started clawing at the snow. 

 

•  

 

30 minutes later, we finished the tunnel. My brother lay down in the snow and sighed. I lay down next to him. I turned my head to face him and whispered in his ear. 

“Nathan, is it okay if I check out the tunnel from the inside?” He nodded. I sat up and crawled through the tunnel. It worked perfectly! It’s not really a tunnel because there’s a dead end. There’s a dead end because if we made the tunnel go all the way through, when we go down the hill we’re gonna hit the tunnel and collapse it. And probably injure ourselves. I crawled back out of the tunnel and got up. Nathan was still lying down on the snow. I heard tiny snores, so I think he was sleeping. I grinned and went inside. When I came outside again, I had a party pooper in my hands. I walked over to Nathan and knelt down. I put the party pooper in my mouth and blew in his ear. 

“Aaaahh!!! I’m awake, I’m awake!!!” He sat up and started screaming. I laughed. He turned to me. 

“Emma, that was…” He looked mad. 

“…amazing!!” I raised an eyebrow as he laughed. Then I laughed too. 

 

•  

 

“Aaah!! Don’t hit me!!” I screamed, putting my hands in front as a shield. All four of us were having a snowball fight. 

“Ha!!” I yelled, throwing a snowball at my mom. Everyone kept throwing snowballs and hitting each other. 

 

•  

 

“Ouch!” I yelled. My brother threw the snowball at me and it hit my neck. It was freezing! My family rushed over to me. 

“Are you okay?” My brother asked.

“Where does it hurt?” My mom asked, activating doctor mode. Then there was silence. 

“Em?” Dad asked. 

“It hurts…” I took some snow in my glove.

“…right…” I took snow in my other glove. 

“…here!!!” I threw the snowballs in everyone’s faces.  

“Aaah!!” Everyone bent down and got some snow in their hands. They got ready, but when they looked down, I wasn’t there. I managed to roll away and hide. I was hiding in the tunnel with the dead end. Since, my brother always forgets things, they won’t find me. I grinned. 

 

•  

“Where’d she go?!?!” My brother looked around. 

“Mom, Dad, we gotta get revenge! I’ll look outside, Dad, can you look inside?” Dad ran off toward the house.

“Let’s find her, Mom!” Mom nodded. I crawled out a little and threw a rock in the bushes. 

“Over there!” Nathan ran to the bushes but when he looked around, he couldn’t find me. I giggled. My brother turned around and gasped. I quickly clamped my hand over my mouth. He walked over to the hill and peered behind it. I shut my eyes tight and squeezed my legs together. 

“Mom! Any luck? ‘Cause I can’t find her.” Mom walked up to him and shook her head. I could see both of their legs just outside the tunnel.  “Mom, what are her favorite hiding spots?” “Hmm. Her room, our room–” 

“Ow!” Something hit my leg! I clamped my hand over my mouth so they wouldn’t hear me, but it was too late. “Did you hear that, Nathan?” Mom looked around and then smiled. “Hear what?” 

”I think I found Emma.” She got down on her hands and knees and looked in the tunnel. I put one finger to my mouth. Mom sighed.

“Nope, she’s not where I thought she was. I don’t know where she is!” I smiled and almost shouted ‘Thank you, Mom!’. Then my dad came outside. 

“She’s nowhere to be found!” Dad took deep breaths. Mom sighed. 

“I found her…” My heart sank. 

“You did?!?! Where is she?” Dad and Nathan said. 

“…but I won’t tell you where she is, instead, I’ll hide with her.” My face lit up like a Christmas tree. 

“Ooh! How about we play a game! When you find Emma, you hide with her, and whoever is standing last has to find her!” Mom and Dad nodded when Nathan was done explaining the game. 

“But I don’t want you to look at where I’m hiding, ‘cause I’m hiding with her.” 

“Ok, Dad and I can go against the wall facing the house and close our eyes for 20 seconds and in the meantime, you can hide.” Mom nodded. 

 

•  

 

Dad and Nathan leaned against the wall and house and started counting. 

“30…29…28…27…26…25…24…23…22…21…20…” Mom ran over to the tunnel and got on her knees. She turned around and crawled backwards after I crawled out. Then I crawled back in. 

“…10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1! Ready or not, here I come!” Nathan and Dad shouted. They both turned around and spread out to search for me and Mom. Dad looked around the snowy hill, and Nathan looked around the bushes. Dad went behind the hill and looked around. I could see his legs. Dad looked on the side of the hill but didn’t find anything. Nathan was looking at the side of the house. My nose was getting a little ticklish. Uh-oh.

“A-a-a…” Mom started patting me on the back gently. 

“…-achoo!!” I froze. Dad got down on his knees and looked at where the noise came from. He smiled and I crawled out so he could go in. Then I went back in. I barely fit in, so we had to squeeze together tightly. Then my brother came back. 

“Dad, I can’t find her, do–” He looked up. 

“Seriously?!?! He found her!!” He stomped his foot. I giggled. Nathan looked all around for us. He even looked at the same places over and over again! Then he just stood and thought. 

“Hmm. Wait… I remember something. What did we make today? Oh right! A tunnel. But where?” He gasped. 

“A place with a lot of snow!!” He ran over to the hill. He got the snowboard and went down the hill. In the tunnel, the snow was starting to fall. 

“Uh-oh.” I whispered. Nathan looked at the sides. Nothing. Looked near the front. Nothing. He went to the back and looked around. I could see him. He was starting to bend down. I gasped. He bent down and looked in the tunnel. He saw all three of us with snow all over us. 

“Found you!” He chuckled. Nathan helped me get out. And we both helped get Dad out. Then Dad helped Mom get out. We brushed the snow off of us. Then we stood there and stared at each other. I bent down and got some snow in my hands. I threw it at my brother. I laughed.  Mom and Dad laughed. My brother threw a snowball in my face. He laughed. In a second, everyone started throwing snowballs. Snowball Fight Part 2 has just begun. If you’re wondering what they do next, well, they have hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows. And if you’re also wondering what Nathan got on his birthday, well, he got a lego set from me and an iPad from everyone. He loved it. He loved it so much that he wanted to have another snowball fight! It was awesome!!