Snow Dreams

Chapter 1:

JUNIOR

Junior hesitated before stepping into the ski resort's lobby, gripping his snowboard tightly. He finally arrived. His first real half-pipe competition would begin in the morning. All of his hard work had paid off. He was where he wanted to be, among those he wanted to be around. Nothing could ruin the moment; well, almost nothing.

"Don't hog the space Junior," Dwayne said. He pushed a cart carrying their two large bags into the lobby. Junior reluctantly followed behind him. The lobby had a raised ceiling. It was lit by a glass chandelier hanging in the middle of the room. Red carpet lead them from the door to the front desk. The sounds of the ski hill was distant, but even at night there was the faint sound of people heading down the mountain.

"This place is fancy," Dwayne commented. "I hope they don't charge too much, or else we'll have to sleep in the car!"

"Dad. We've been over this. You know how much they charge," Junior said to his father.

"Right. Come on, we need to check in." Dwayne pushed the cart right up to the front desk where a young woman sat leaning back filing her nails. "Hi-" Dwayne looked down at the name tag on her shirt. "Taylor. We'd like to check into our room."

"Uh huh." Taylor murmured, without giving them much attention. She stayed primarily focused on her nails.

"Yup. See Junior here's competing in the big snowboarding competition tomorrow. Apparently it's an all ages tournament. It's going to be men against boys. Well, boy. My boy."

"I'm fourteen dad! I'm not a kid anymore!" Junior protested.

"Sure you are sonny." Dwayne chuckled to himself. He reached out to pat him on the head, but Junior swatted away his hand. Dwayne shrugged and turned back to Taylor. "And not just anyone can compete. No Siree Bob, you have to qualify to compete. Which is exactly what Junior here did. Heard he's the youngest one in the whole competition. I'm very proud."

"That's nice." Taylor responded rolling her eyes. "Can I get your reservation name please?"

"Oh, yeah. Of course. Kalinski."

Taylor put down the nail filer and typed the name into the computer. "I don't see anything under that name."

"Wha-what?" Dwayne spoke in surprise. "Are you sure you typed it in correctly? K-A-L-,"

Junior stepped away from his father. He had no interest in being associated with Dwayne. It was worse enough that Dwayne had to drive him. Junior insisted that he could take the bus, but his father refused to consider it. This sort of an event was a good father-son bonding opportunity, or at least that was what Dwayne spoke about for hours in the car. Junior had drowned him out with headphones, so he was not exactly clear what Dwayne said. Junior was looking forward to hanging out with his fellow riders and avoiding his father at all cost.

It was then someone tapped his shoulder. He nearly jumped in surprise. He turned around, fearing it to be Dwayne, only to discover a beautiful teenage girl with long blonde hair staring back at him. She had a wide inviting smile, filling her face with warmth. He was awestruck by the sight.

"Hey. Did I hear your dad say you're competing tomorrow?"

"Oh, ah, yeah." Junior said.

"That's so cool! Is this your first major competition?" She asked.

"Um, yeah." Junior said without really knowing what to say.

"Wow, and yet you're still so young. That's really impressive. I wish I was good enough at your age."

Regaining a bit of his composure, Junior pumped out his chest and fixed his posture. "Thanks." He hoped desperately that his voice did not feel forced.

"I'm Carrie," she said, "I'm also competing. In the girls portion of course." It was like there was a spark in her eye, that for Junior, was the prettiest thing he'd ever seen. Desperately, he did not want the conversation to end. "I've been looking forward to this competition since forever. This'll be the first time my best friend and I will get to compete together. I'm so excited!"

"You're not worried about going up against them?" Junior asked.

Carrie chuckled to herself. "For some reason, I don't see that happening. Well I should get going. Good luck and I'll see you out there tomorrow."

"Yeah, you too." Junior called out as Carrie walked down a hallway and out of the lobby. Junior watched her leave the whole time. She was amazing. He so desperately wanted to impress her, or people like her. More than winning, that was his true dream. Eventually he walked back over to his father who was still arguing with Taylor.

"Now listen, I'm telling you, there must be something wrong with your computers. Maybe you need to upgrade them or-" Dwayne was rambling.

"Dad!" Junior interrupted. He turned to Taylor, "Check under the name Robinson."

Taylor entered the name. "Yes. We have one room reserved."

"Oh, right." Dwayne said. "I forgot I put the room down under your mother's name. Hehe. Whoops." Taylor glared angrily at him as she handed him the keys. "Thanks! You're doing a great job here." Dwayne began pushing the cart towards the elevators. "Come on Junior, let's go get settled."

NOAH

Noah stared at the mountain through the restaurant's expansive window. The trails were illuminated at night by towering lamps. The snow glowed in the dark under their light. Shadows sped down the trails on skis and snowboards. Large snowflakes passed by the window gingerly, giving almost a winter wonderland feel. He leaned back in his chair, trying to soak in the serenity of the moment.

"What are you looking at buddy?" Noah's companion asked him.

"Nothing. Just admiring the view."

Owen, who sat opposite of him, gave Noah a concerned look, before turning back to his food. "It's nice right? I told you this was a good idea for a vacation." He cut a strip off his steak. "This steak is incredible. I'd have sex with it if I could."

"For thirty bucks, they better let you," Noah spoke, taking a sip of his glass of red wine. "Is there anything else to do tonight? We've already went skiing. Seems like we're trapped in here."

"More skiing of course!" Owen said. "We only did it during the day. Skiing at night's a whole different experience. Everything's so pretty."

"There's no way I'm going back out there. My body cannot take anymore abuse, at least for today. You should go without me."

"Come on buddy. The whole idea of doing a joint vacation was to do things together."

"When I agreed to go on vacation with you, I imagined you were going to suggest we head to New Orleans and eat so much Cajun food we'd be sick for life. Not this."

"That does sound fun," Owen admitted. "We'll have to consider that for next time." Owen took a bite of the bread that came complementarily with the meal. "But, we're here because you said you'd never spent a full weekend skiing, drinking, and partying at a ski resort before. This is the best. You go speeding down a hill with sticks attached to your feet, come back in, warm up by the fire, chow down on awesome food, drink till you black out, party with strangers. What's not to love?"

"At least half of the things you mentioned, particularly the speeding down a hill part. I might also add crashing perilously into ice disguised as snow and hurting everywhere."

"That's what's so great about being me and why I love skiing." Owen patted his large belly. "Extra padding."

"I also don't get why you keep insisting on us going partying. In case you've forgotten, it is just the two of us. We don't know anyone here."

"You just have to talk to people. I heard there's a snowboarding competition happening tomorrow. I'm sure they'll be throwing a party somewhere."

"So you want to party with a bunch of teenage snowboarders?"

"If that's where the action's at, then yes. Come on, it'd be fun."

"No it wouldn't. That doesn't sound fun at all."

"Noah, we agreed to do yearly vacations to start living more. Real experiences. This is what skiing is all about. Who knows who you will meet or what might happen? Life's possibility is at your fingertips, and all you need to do is reach out and grab it."

"Yeah, one second you're going fine down a trail, next second you're crashing face first into a tree."

"That sure puts a positive spin on it." Owen replied sarcastically. "Look, tonight's the first night. I'm getting all my skiing in because tomorrow night I'm getting all my drinking in. So, I'm going to hit the mountain with or without you. Just remember Noah: real experiences." Owen finished the last bite of his steak and stood up. "Real experiences." He repeated as he backed away.

"Okay I get it. Go have fun putting your life in the hands of two thin pieces of plywood." Noah waved Owen away who promptly left the dining area. Noah took his time finishing his glass of wine. He watched as scores of people descended down the mountain. He could see on the far side where they were still working on setting up the competition for the next day.

After he was finished, he wandered around the resort hoping to find something else to do. He passed by a sauna, but it looked to be filled with people just off the slopes. The gym was busy too, but he had no interest in that anyway. He finally stumbled upon the bar. He had nothing better to do, and he surely could use another drink, so he headed in. The bar was on the third floor of the resort. It had a British pub décor. There were about a dozen tables, most of them were placed next to windows, which reached from the floor to the ceiling, peering down at the mountain. The whole resort seemed designed specifically to maximize the view.

The place was mostly empty. Two older gentlemen were loudly talking at one of the far tables and a single young woman sat at the bar. Noah walked over and sat down at a bar stool, two over from the other patron. The bartender was a big buff dude who looked like he could crush Noah with his biceps. "Gin and Tonic." Noah ordered.

The bartender silently nodded and began preparing Noah's drink. As he waited for his drink, he looked over at the other person down the bar from him. She was pretty, slouched over her drink: a scotch on the rocks. Sensing she was being stared at, she glanced at him. On impulse, Noah turned to look straight ahead. The bartender placed his drink in front of him. "Thanks." Noah grabbed the drink and awkwardly sipped it.

"You're not one of those snowboarders." The girl commented. Noah turned back to look at her. She had rotated her body and was now facing him.

"No, I'm not."

"I could tell." She declared. Her speech was a bit slurred. She had clearly been drinking for a while. Noah generally did not like to engage with strangers at the bar. He found the interactions too awkward. But, in that moment, Owen's stupid voice came back to him, urging him to reach out for real experiences.

"What tipped you off?" He asked.

She took a second to respond, looking him up and down. "You're not built for it."

"Ah. My complete lack of muscle. I knew it would screw up my plan to pass off as a suave snowboarder. I had everything else perfect."

She smiled. "You're funny." There was a straight arrow-ness to her gaze, peering at him. Her tired eyes were inviting. He wondered if she wanted him to continue speaking. Desperately, he tried to think of something clever to respond, but he was interrupted before he could.

"Emma!" a voice called out from the bar's entrance. Noah turned to see a teenage girl who resembled the young woman sitting at the bar. The teenager walked over to Emma. "There you are! I've been looking all over. Come on, you said we'd grab dinner after I finished practicing." At that moment, she noticed that Emma and Noah were turned towards each other. "Oh sorry! Did I interrupt something?"

Emma shook her head. "No Kitty. You're not interrupting anything. Let's go." Emma stepped off her stool and stumbled a bit. Her arm knocked her glass over, spilling it on the bar.

"Are you drunk? It's not even nine o'clock yet." Kitty said.

Emma brought her finger up to Kitty's mouth. "Shh, let's go." Emma walked to the exit without looking back.

Kitty followed behind her but turned and said to Noah and the bartender "Bye! Sorry about my sister." She raced to catch up with Emma.

Noah sat in silence for a moment, before turning back to the bartender. "That was something," he remarked.

The bartender shrugged as he began to wipe down the spilled drink. "That wasn't so bad. You should count yourself lucky. We get quite the characters here. Take Gary and Pete for example," he pointed towards the two older men talking loudly by the window. "Old Olympic skiers. They're here every night arguing about who was better in their prime. If you hang around for longer, you'll see it get even more heated." He finished lapping up the spill and tossed the towel behind the bar. "This girl was nothing. Plus, she was cute and she looked interested in you. Can't get better than that."

"True," Noah agreed. He downed the remainder of his drink. "I'll have another."

MACARTHUR

"Almost done," Sanders remarked. "Just got to lock up the equipment and we're finished. Thank God we didn't get the graveyard shift."

She pulled out a large key ring and began shuffling through it looking for the proper key. She stood with MacArthur outside a shed near the back of the resort's main building. They wore matching black coats with the word 'SECURITY' written across the back shoulders in big white letters.

MacArthur held up her flashlight and pointed it at the keyring to help Sanders see it better. "What a boring shift. No fights, no drunk antics, no parties, nothing to break up." MacArthur said with a disappointed sigh.

"And that's a bad thing?" Sanders asked, already knowing how MacArthur would respond. Finally finding the proper key, she placed it into the keyhole and locked the door. "There, all done."

"Finally!" MacArthur called out. "You want to go grab a couple brewskies at the bar? I need something to burn off some steam. Maybe pick up."

"You? Pick up? I'd like to see that happen," Sanders said dismissively.

"You've just never seem the MacArthur charm in action. Men line up for a piece of this action. I could show you a thing or two about it. Maybe we could both get laid."

"As unlikely as that proposition sounds, I'll have to pass tonight. I'm tired. I want to finish the book I'm reading. You'll have to get laid for the both of us," she said, scoffing at the possibility.

"Will do. See you tomorrow partner."

They shook hands and parted ways. MacArthur headed to the resort chalet. The last remaining boarders and skiers were finishing up their runs. She passed through them to the bar. There was a good number of people inside. Most of the tables were occupied and a crowd stood near the bar.

MacArthur walked up to the bar with a bit of swagger, leaned against it and said to the bartender "Ryan. The usual," she ordered, before turning to survey the pub. It was a younger crowd, most in their early to mid 20s, clearly there for the snowboarding competition, with the exception of two older gentlemen arguing loudly. She licked her lips, eyeing a couple attractive targets. When she turned back around, Ryan stood still with his arms crossed. "What?"

"What usual? You don't have one."

"Just get me a beer." MacArthur ordered back. "And make sure it's not a sissy brand." Ryan let out an audible sigh. He reached down, pulled a bottle out of the fridge, popped it open and placed it in front of her. MacArthur grabbed it and took a couple swigs. "That's what I am talking about." She leaned her back against the bar and looked out. "There's some fine pieces of ass here tonight. Think I might try to grab me some."

Noah, who was sitting next to her at the bar, choked on his drink.

"You sure talk big don't you." Ryan remarked. He picked up an empty glass and began to wipe it with a towel.

"Is that a challenge?" MacArthur said back.

Ryan shook his head. "Nope. Last thing I want is to be associated with anything you do."

"Challenge accepted. What do you think? Those surfer dudes over in the corner look pretty tasty. I could pick myself up one of them."

"Hate to break it to you, but those guys are way out of your league." Ryan said.

MacArthur chuckled. "You've clearly never seen the MacArthur charm in action. All those meatheads need is a little confidence." She downed her beer. "Grab me another." Ryan reluctantly got her another beer. "Watch and learn." She strutted from the bar towards the group.

As she left, Ryan turned to Noah. "See?"

"How you boys doing tonight?" MacArthur greeted the group of snowboarders. She slipped herself into the circle of people, trying to play it naturally. They wore typical surfer garb, dressed slightly warmer for the winter: long hair, beaded necklaces, and cargo shorts.

The group shared a glance, confused by her appearance. "We're good," one said hesitantly. He eyed her security jacket. "Anything wrong?"

MacArthur raised up her beer. "Nothing to worry about. I'm off duty. Looking for a little rest and relaxation. You boys competing in the competition tomorrow?"

"Che-yeah. Course. It's going to be sweet," another responded. He wore a cowboy hat with long blonde hair. His pink shirt was unbuttoned, exposing his sculpted chest. She'd give him a 7 out of 10. Points off for the hippy-like hair.

"Geoff's excited because he's going to win the whole thing. He's top seeded and everything."

"Come on Brody. You've got a good shot too," Geoff responded.

"Yeah Brody, Geoff's right," MacArthur said picking up on the names. Brody was more her style. She liked his flat cut and tribal tattoo. He'd get a solid 7.5 out of 10, which was pretty good for her. Numbers 8 to 10 were reserved solely for the different ages of Clint Eastwood; Dirty Harry, 1971, was the solid 10. "All it takes is one colossal screw up and BLAM! It's anyone's competition."

"But Geoff never makes mistakes. I'm always the one that's crashing out of these things." Brody said.

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself." MacArthur spoke. "You've got to keep your head in the game if you want to be a serious competitor. My daddy always said that if you start doubting yourself, then you might as well quit right then and there."

"Your dad sounds like a wise dude." Geoff said. "I'm going to go grab another drink, be right back bros." He headed off towards the bar.

Brody finished his drink. "You're right. I should stop doubting myself. Thanks for the tip."

MacArthur moved in close right next to Brody. "You're welcome sweet cheeks. I have a couple more tips I could give you, if you're interested." She winked at him.

"Sweet," Brody said.

Afterword:

We hope you've enjoyed our new story. This is our first story with the Ridonculous Race cast. A lot of them have been really fun to write, there will be even more appearing in the next few chapters. We also just updated our other story 'Duncan and the Student Advocacy Club: Help is on the Way!' So be sure to check it out.

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Till Next Time -Nyhlus and BJ