I Write: The Snowwoman Wears Prada

 Different from the I WRITE posts, this is a short story written for the Winter 24 hour writing contest. Writers are given a prompt and have 24 hours to write and submit a story based on the prompt with a limit for words.

WINTER 2024

The prompt: It was a cozy neighborhood where everybody knew everyone else and there was never a shortage of people to help when one was in need. There was also a lot of tomfoolery going on, which he and his wife had always enjoyed, until now. The winter snowman practical jokes had been funny over the years but, this time, their neighbor had taken it way too far…  (1,000 words)

Honorable Mention

The Snowwoman Wears Prada

After two days of heavy snowfall, Harry was struggling to get the family home from vacation driving slowly with caution on hazardous roads and dodging disabled cars and accident scenes.

He gave a deep sigh. “We’re not going to get home until midnight at this rate.”

“We’ll be fine,” Lisa answered, glancing over her shoulder, and seeing Spence sleeping.

At home, after managing to get down the unplowed back alleyway, Harry pulled into the garage. Lisa unhooked Spence’s seatbelt and Harry tried to lift him out of the car.

“Not happening,” he said quietly then walked his half sleeping son to bed. As Spence went to the bathroom, Harry threw the Indian blanket across the bed. He was able to remove Spence’s sweater, shoes, and socks and get him to lay down on the blanket. The boy was asleep before the comforter was tucked around him.

After the long drive and unpacking, it was time for bed. Lisa looked out the side window as the snow was letting up and moonlight cast deep blue shadows on the snow. Very tired and relaxed to be home, they both fell into a deep sleep.

The first early light woke Spence. He lay there thinking about all the things he did on vacation – hiking, learning fly fishing, going to restaurants, and movies. He managed to untangle himself from the comforter and, wondering if it was still snowing, he walked quietly to the living room window. Pushing the curtains aside, looking out on the front yard, he screamed.

His loud scream jolted both of them awake with Harry up first and running. Spence ran and clutched his father as he came into the room.

There was a nightmarish assembly of snowmen approaching the house. There was a hodgepodge of mismatched accessories, and all had large black eyes and frozen grins. The many protruding arms made with gnarled branches created a sense of movement coming toward the house. In the dim light, they appeared terrifying to a 10-year-old boy who had recently seen “The Snowmen of Wolf Mountain.”

Looking up, his voice quavering, he said, “Why are they here? Why did they come here?”

Lisa rushed into the living room. As Harry moved toward the window Spence broke away and ran to his mother.

“What is it Harry? Spence, whatever it is I’m sure it’s all right,” Lisa assured him as she tried to move to the window.

“No! No! Stay here with me!” Spence yelled. “Why are they here? Remember the movie - the killer snowmen? Do you think it could be true? Why are they here?”

Turning from the window, running his hand through his hair, Harry looked at Lisa. “He had a hard time sleeping the night he saw that movie. It really was more a M movie and not a PG one.”

“What is out there?” Lisa demanded, hurrying to the window.

In their absence neighbors had built a variety of snowmen to welcome them home. As the morning light increased it was easier to see them. The biggest one in front wore a straw hat with donkey ears and had a small Welcome Home sign around its neck written in red marker that had run down in streaks. There was a small one with a sand shovel taped to an arm and several with radish noses and short pine pieces protruding out of their heads instead of a hat. There were two wearing hoodie zip up jackets with hoods over their heads and sleeves hanging from long branches.

Lisa started laughing and her son was not amused.

“Mom, it’s not funny!” he cried, looking from his mother to his father. “Why are they here?”

“Well, it IS sort of funny. Come over and stand by me and look at them,” Lisa said. “The snowmen aren’t coming after us. That was just a movie. The snowmen aren’t going to hurt you. Or snowwoman, look at the one with Mrs. Moore’s fancy Prada scarf. It isn’t going to hurt you.”

Spence moved cautiously to the window.

“I believe Josh and Danny and some of the parents made them to welcome us home,” his father explained, “See the welcome home sign.”

Spence said, “It looks like blood.”

“No, it’s just marker. I see Josh’s hoodie on that one and the little one has Connor’s T-ball cap on,” Harry said as he pointed them out.

“Now that the sun is coming out I can see them better. I’m sorry I was scared. I shouldn’t have watched that movie.”

Over breakfast it was decided to keep this morning’s excitement to themselves. After all, it was a nice gesture to welcome them home.

After cleaning up the kitchen, everyone dressed to go outside. The neighborhood was busy with snow blowing driveways and shoveling sidewalks. Down the street there was yelling at a snowball fight and Spence ran to join in.

As neighbors visited and helped each other, Lisa and Harry thanked them for the welcome home and commented on the creativity of the snowmen and snowwomen. Lisa left Josh’s favorite hoodie at his house and returned the Prada scarf to Mrs. Moore.

As the days began to warm, the hats and clothes were shed from the shrinking snow people. Lisa and Harry gathered them and invited the neighbors to claim their clothes and enjoy some hot cider and cinnamon buns.

*   *   *   *   *

Interested in herbs? Looking for a gift?

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I Write - Unstoppable

 At our monthly Writing is Fun meetings we decide a prompt for writing for the next meeting. Length is set at 2 pages so we can read them at the meeting. There is quite a diversity of writing. Some are real life recollections, some fictional vignettes, and sometimes there's a poem.

The prompt for September 2024 was Carnivals or Fairs. Here's what I wrote.

Unstoppable

It was the first week in October and Mayville was the last stop for the carnival before the trucks packed up and headed south. Josie and Dylan paid for their wrist bands and went around the corner to the gate. As soon as they entered the smell of kettle corn, grilled meats, and caramel apples swirled through the cool, light breeze. There was a small merry-go-round playing circus music with farm animals moving up and down among the horses and nearby there was a pirate ship, with parents and kids, swinging back and forth in front of a large canvas ocean. Screams from the bumper cars mixed with the midway sounds - "pop!pop!" of air rifles, "tink!tink!" at the ring toss booth, and “clack! clack!” of the Wheel of Fortune.

Josie grabbed Dylan's arm and leaned into him. "I'm glad we brought our jackets. Once the sun goes down it's going to get chilly."

"And I'm the one who will have to make the run to the car to get them," Dylan chuckled. "Let's start with something to eat then hit the midway."

At the food cart "Tonight's Food" was listed on a blackboard and various condiments were lined up on the table nearby. The large trashcans were full, and a brick held down a small supply of napkins.

“Yes. Hot dogs, and they have brown mustard,” Dylan said. “I’ll have two dogs and fries with gravy and a root beer.”

Josie looked at the hot dogs that a kid had bought and wrinkled her nose. “I’ll have two slices of pizza and a Coke. I’m saving myself for a funnel cake later.”

The dining tables were lined up between the midway and the bumper car booth. Right in front of the dining area was a “High Striker” to rate your strength. After cleaning up Dylan walked over and, turning to Josie, pulled up the sleeves on his “Real men love cats” tee shirt, gave the strong man stance to show his biceps, and picked up the hammer.

Whomp! He hit the platform. The ball only reached five stars for Superman, so he decided to take the other two turns allotted. Whomp! It reached seven stars for Champion and so did the third one.

“I’ll take a turn and see how I do,” Josie said as she stepped up to take the hammer. “Oh, the hammer’s heavy.”

Dylan laughed quietly. “You’re pretty strong and you go to the gym at least three times a week. And you were on your way home from the Performance Agility Camp when we met on the bus. You’ll do okay. For you, Superman will be Wonder Woman.”

Josie clutched the hammer with both hands and raised it high. WHOMP! DING! She reached eleven stars for Unstoppable. Then she quietly laid the hammer down and turned toward Dylan.

He slowly approached, reached out, and hugged her to him, laughing softly in her ear, “I’m standing behind you when the bad guys come.”

They worked their way through the midway, garnering a hacky sack ball and a small stuffed lamb. It was dark, getting chilly, and as predicted Dylan went to the car for their jackets. He saw that Josie had her knit gloves tucked in a pocket so he grabbed his leather work gloves. Then, carefully, he held up his coat and checked the inside pocket.

The carnival was closing at 10 o’clock so Dylan led Josie to the Ferris wheel. It was at the far end of the midway, away from most of the noise and giving great views across the fields to the mountains. This was the last stop for couples and most of the cars were loaded. “Here Comes the Sun” and “California Dreaming” rose up from the base as the wheel began to slowly turn. They slipped on their jackets before sliding into the car.

“This is so peaceful and a nice way to wrap up the night,” Josie sighed as she leaned into Dylan who wrapped his arm over her shoulders.

The wheel went slowly, allowing everyone a chance to take in the views. You could see stars and the moon. Car lights zig-zagged along a faraway road. On the downward arc they could see the midway booths begin closing down. Some of the workers were heading to a large tent at the other far end of the field.

Dylan leaned in and began kissing Josie. They were still in a world of their own as the wheel paused to let riders off. The young boy operating the wheel smiled to himself as he skipped them so they could have a longer ride.

They were at the top when the music stopped and Josie said softly, “I guess it will be our turn next.”

A few kisses later the lights on the Ferris wheel went out. Then they noticed there were hardly any lights on. How long had they been occupied? No one was at the bottom of the wheel or, for that matter, anywhere else. They called down but no one was around to hear them. Everyone had gone to the big tent, brightly lit, and blasting music.

They called until they were hoarse and realized it was no use. Josie noticed that Dylan was getting nervous. His leg was jiggling up and down, he was looking over the side and several times called out again. She sat quiet for a few minutes looking down over the side of the car. She had to do something. She reached out and touched his knee.

“Give me your work gloves,” she said calmly.

Putting on the work gloves she asked him to tightened the wrist straps. When done, she slowly pushed the lap bar away and stood up. Dylan was speechless as he watched her lift her foot over the side.

“Wait! What? I don’t understand,” Dylan, still hoarse from yelling, stammered.

She rested the foot on the inside circle of the wheel. With the precision of a tightrope walker she moved her other foot, balanced herself, bent from the waist, secured her gloved hands on the wheel. Moving slowly she moved one foot down to the spoke and then the other.

He leaned over the side, knowing not to shout, and quietly breathed out, “You’re crazy.”

She looked into his eyes and said, “I’m unstoppable … and I love you.”

Then hand over hand she lowered herself to the hub of the wheel and then again down the bottom spoke.

Dylan watched from the side of the car as she ran for the big tent. He reached into his inside pocket. The small box was still there. His plan for tonight was thwarted.

But, he thought, “Maybe this is a good thing because, seriously, that diamond is not big enough.”

#     #     #

Interested in herbs? Looking for a gift?

Perfect for a hostess gift, or birthday or housewarming.

 Check out the Herb Sampler on this Blog  

The Second Edition Herb Sampler (2019) is available through Amazon. 

Just click this link to find it.