Author's Note: I'm going to do my best to write a story centered on snow, despite being a Texan with limited snow experience! For this, I'm featuring Artie's sister, Amy, who appears in many of my other stories. But just for kicks, I've also given him a ten-year-old brother in this piece. I hope you enjoy some good, old-fashioned Tartie. (From the looks of things, we're still in a drought…)
"The depth of the current snow cover will guarantee a white Christmas in the Rockies and interior parts of the West, as well as in the northern Plains, much of the Ohio Valley... sweet."
Austin Abrams was excited as he bounded downstairs to tell the family what he'd just read on the internet. Every ten-year-old wanted a White Christmas. Well, everyone except for maybe his older brother, Artie, who disliked snow. Once upon a time, Artie liked snow, but everything changed the year he started using a wheelchair to get around. Wheelchairs and any kind of inclement weather never agreed with one another.
Still, Austin figured it was okay for him to be happy about snow. Besides, now that Artie had the ReWalk exoskeleton, he figured his older brother might be able to join him for an actual snow ball fight. But the younger brother's hopes were quickly dashed...
Austin did his best to sell the idea, but Artie shook his head as he inched his way across the living room. The machine attached to his body made a whirring sound that Austin had likened to a robot. "There's no way I can risk going outside in this thing while it's snowing," he reasoned, sensibly. "I don't think it's made for that."
In Austin's mind, this new machine meant that Artie was now on the road to recovery. The kid just didn't understand that the ReWalk, though beneficial in many ways, was basically a very expensive mirage. It didn't mean he now had a typical older brother who could wrestle with him in a blanket of snow. It just meant that Artie could now walk around the house with slow, careful steps.
Austin shrugged indifferently. "Whatever you say, Robo-cop." The younger brother plopped on the couch and changed the channel. Artie was about to protest, but Austin had stumbled upon a show about elaborate Christmas light displays. Well, that was a bit more interesting than Shark Week, Artie supposed. He eased his body back on the couch to watch.
"Amy says your girlfriend's coming over," Austin commented, when the commercial break began.
"No, she isn't," said Artie, quickly. "There's no way I'll ever have Brittany over here. Far too embarrassing. Especially when Amy's home visiting..." Artie and Austin's older sister was home from Ohio State for the holidays.
"No... I mean, the other one," Austin persisted. "You know what I mean."
"Afraid I don't know," said Artie. "You can only have one girlfriend at a time, knucklehead."
"The old one then," Austin relented, exasperated. "The ex-girlfriend or whatever, her. Is she coming here tonight? To meet us?"
"She's coming tonight," Artie replied. "But not for the purpose of meeting you, squirt -" ("Don't call me squirt," Austin protested immediately.) "- she and I have a school project that has to be finished by tomorrow. We've got no choice but to work on it tonight."
"But tomorrow's the last day," said Austin, mystified. "We don't have any actual work on the last day before Christmas break. Just pajama day and the class party. I hope Mom and Dad remember to pick up candy canes and cookies on their way home."
"Well, that's fourth grade, isn't it?" Artie mused. "When you're in tenth grade, you won't have any more parties. You barely even get to have field trips in tenth grade."
"I want to be home schooled in tenth grade then," Austin decided.
"Oh, no, you don't," Amy said, coming into the room and bringing along the smell of hairspray and a hint of her boyfriend's cologne. She plopped down on the other side of Artie, propping her combat boots up on the coffee table. "My roommate was home-schooled and has almost no social skills. Long skirts, long stringy hair, the whole she-bang. Luckily, I didn't mind taking her under my wing..."
"Did you dye her hair green and give her a mohawk?" Artie wanted to know.
Amy sniffed indignantly. "Just the mohawk," she said. "Dorothy Jane's not quite ready for color yet, but there's always next semester to look forward to." Evidently ready to move on from the topic of her mousy roommate, she kicked her boots off and pulled her feet up on the couch. "SO! We're meeting the famous Tina today, is that what I overheard you telling the squirt?"
"Watch it," Austin cautioned.
"I'm taking her straight to my room to work on the project," Artie told her. "You can introduce yourself if you want, but she isn't coming over to chat. We've got work to do."
"Oh, right," Amy said, with an exaggerated wink. "Better be sure and shut the door, then, so we don't disturb your hard work."
Austin snickered as Artie glared at his sister. "Tina and I aren't together."
Amy sighed. "Yes, I know," she replied. "From what I gather, you traded a girl with an actual personality for a cookie-cutter blonde cheerleader bimbo. And we aren't allowed to meet that one either. Honestly, Artie, do you actually expect me to believe these girls exist if I never get to meet any of them?"
Artie opened his mouth to answer, but the doorbell interrupted him. Amy's excited eyes met his and with a defeated sigh, he just nodded. There was no possibly way he would beat her to the door. Never in his wheelchair and definitely not with the ReWalk. Amy gave a squeal of delight as she made a beeline for the front door. Not to be outdone, Austin jumped to his feet and scurried after her. As for Artie, he rose slowly and pushed the buttons to make his legs move.
Tree branches slapped at the windows as the wind gave a furious howl.