The First Snowflake

• Charlie Andersen, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2018

Belinda walked down the ladder and looked at what she had down. She sighed in relief and happiness. Belinda was 16 and lived with her younger brother Ben and her mother. Her hair was a dark, dark brown and her eyes almost black. She had just finished decorating the Christmas tree when her baby brother Ben crawled in wanting attention.
Belinda picked him up swung him around then plopped him on the couch and closed her eyes. She saw kids playing around in the snow having snowball fights, making snow angels and playing ice hockey or skating on the ice, she opened them and saw kids outside sitting down bored to death. It was winter but was hardly cold. Belinda wished it was snowing and freezing so she could teach her brother to skate just like her parents did before her dad moved away. She wanted Ben to experience the early childhood that she did.
Weeks past and still no snow fell. Belinda was disappointed she hadn’t gone outside for weeks, well that’s what it felt like. It had started cooling down outside, but she hoped for snow. Ben was still young and had never seen snow. Belinda was younger than him when she first saw snow. Her mother needed help looking after Ben all the time so Belinda was always there to help. She was told to race to the supermarkets for food. Belinda could feel the cool air through the door and so put on a coat, gloves and grabbed a beanie in case.
She stepped outside and in walked to the supermarket, she payed and walked to the exit. She stepped outside, shivering. Belinda looked up and saw a white dot start falling from above. She reached out and caught it. Belinda gasped in surprise, dropped it and hurried home. She went inside pulled off her gloves and coat and ran up to her mum.
“Mum, mum, it’s snowing!” Belinda squealed.
Her mum gasped and said to take her brother outside to see. Obediently Belinda picked up Ben and dressed him and herself in warm clothing and rushed outside. Ben eyes adjusted to the light and then he lit up and ran towards it. Belinda watched for a while and smiled, she loved seeing this beautiful sight. Her skates were just inside the house in the hall, she grabbed them and ran to the water hole. It was half frozen.
She took a deep breath and let out a disappointed sigh. A few ran across the ice and so Belinda decided to skate. She pulled off her shoes and pulled on her skates, she hopped on the ice and started skating. A few more kids came and started watching her, she smiled and kept on skating. Ben came and watched and then joined her. He was amazing, he hadn’t even skated before. Their mother rushed around in her room and then saw them. She stopped and smiled, it was beautiful.
The snow was light and all over the ground. Children played and ran around as Belinda and Ben skated. But little did they know that their dad had returned home was watching them with his wife.