Snow Globes and Skylines

By: Elyse Roe

Chapter 1: A Loss…and Lost

Elena watched the glitter and flakes of powder fall onto the shimmering, miniature New York skyline. The snow globe had been a gift from her father and, especially now, she treasured it.

Elena felt tired after her seemingly endless and mind-numbing week. She remembered getting ready for school Tuesday morning. She remembered seeing her father back his car down the driveway and leave for work. She remembered how she hadn't even gotten to say goodbye to him- she had forgotten to set her alarm clock and, because of that, had woken up fourteen minutes late. She remembered going to school and facing the boredom with her friends, laughing off their worries. She also remembered being called to the front office. There she had been told about the accident- the car accident that had taken her father's life.

As she tilted the snow globe upside down again, a strand of her long, brown hair fell from behind her ear. She was sitting cross-legged on the bed shifting through memories. She realized how little she remembered about the days following the devastating news. Her only memories were like snapshots of time. She could remember her friends' and teacher's concerned faces. She could also remember all of the worried expressions she had received at her father's funeral. But besides these few moments frozen in time, she remembered nothing else except a deep sense of loss. She remembered the feeling of not being able to function.

Elena was finally beginning to accept her tremendous loss. She had always been very close to her father, which made his death even more traumatic. Unlike other girls who, despite mother-teen bickering, considered their mothers as one of their closest friends, Elena never was close to her mother. Her father was her one best friend. The one who understood everything about her, and she about him. He had always been there for her when she needed him. Her mother never was- she was either "out with the girls," getting a manicure, drinking, or simply didn't care ("You'll get over it." She would say). Her dad was the one who had heart-to-hearts with her. They both felt incomplete- her without a loving mother and him without a loyal and loving wife. However, Elena and her father helped each other partly fill that gap by spending time together and becoming closer and closer. She was definitely a daddy's girl.

And now he was gone. She really could not imagine life without him. She felt empty. She had lost her father, the only one who she truly loved and was truly loved by. The gap she had in her life from her unloving mother seemed insignificant now. She simply felt alone.

Her dark blue eyes remained fixed on the snow globe. Her eyes looked like whirlpools of emotion, emotion that she never let anyone (except maybe her father) look into. She acknowledged that she did have several good friends at school, but she quickly realized that they were not really very close to her at all no matter what they thought. She had never let any of them close. She didn't feel she could trust females, partly because she could not trust her mother. True she would not be overly secretive around them, but she never would let anyone in on her private, innermost thoughts and problems. The day that her dad had died she apparently pushed her friends out of her life. It was no surprise to her that her mother, Nancy, did not attempt to comfort her. She had never really acknowledged Elena, except when she wanted to buy her some new clothes. Elena was like a doll to her- something you play with when you want to. Nancy did not even really seem to care much about losing her husband. Sure, she was upset by losing someone she had gone through life with, but that was the extent of it. She did not cry like one who had lost someone loved. Elena had not cried yet- instead she worn a blank expression, one that shut out all emotions and all sympathetic people.

Elena righted the snow globe and leaned backwards onto the mountain of lacy pillows on her bed. She held the snow globe carefully on her lap and reached to her cherry wood nightstand, grabbing the television remote. She turned on the television hoping to distract herself from her depressing thoughts and memories. She smiled slightly as the movie Titanic appeared on her television. She could good for a sappy romantic chick flick; she could go for a tearjerker. She set the remote down and her fingers gently traced the bubbles at the top of the snow globe. She contemplated changing into her pajamas, but decided that it was not worth the effort.

The dress she had on was one of the few dresses that she appreciated from her mother. It had been one of her father's favorites and Elena had insisted on wearing it to the funeral despite Nancy's protests. The main reason that Nancy had protested Elena wearing the dress was that it was not black. It was dark blue and matched Elena's eyes perfectly. Her mother had bought the dress at a vintage store as a dress-up outfit and had not been to happy when she had started to wear it often. The dress was supposedly from around the 1910 and fit Elena beautifully. It had a pattern of tiny, blue flowers that had been sewed on. It had dark blue ribbon at the bottom, around Elena's waist, and around her wrists. The color was square-cut and came down a bit. The dress fit comfortably and went down to her feet. She looked very beautiful in the simple, yet elegant, dress. With it she wore dark blue slippers and tied her hair back in a bun. As always, Elena wore her the ring her father had given her on her sixteenth birthday. It was a silver ring shaped like intertwined roses. He had given it to her because her middle name was Rose. She also wore a silver cross necklace (a gift from her late grandmother, her father's mother). Hidden 8nder her sleeves were two silver bracelets. She had worn them the day that her father died and simply had not bothered to take them off.

Elena felt comfortable. As the movie continued, Elena began to dose off. She fell asleep and dreams spun around insider of her head. She dreamed of all of the good times with her father. She dreamed of the time he had taught her to dance. She dreamed of going to get ice cream with him- rocky road for her and cinnamon for him. Her dreams were happy, but when she woke up shortly afterwards she felt a tear glide down her cheek. She sat up, turned her bedside lamp on, and grasped the snow globe in her lap. She gently turned the snow globe upside-down, and then right-side up. A few more tears glided down her cheek as the snow-like powder and glitter leisurely floated once again down onto the miniature city. As the glitter and powder settled, Elena became overwhelmed with her emotions and a weeks worth of emotions started to fly out o her. The few tears turned into a stream and she bit her lip attempting to control her emotions. Frustrated and upset, Elena threw herself back onto her pillows. She threw her hands back as well and her tears quickly ceases as she felt glass break in her hand and a cool, thick liquid cover her hand. Her eyes opened wide with shock as she looked at her now glittery, wet hand. Her eyes began to become filled with tears, but suddenly her room began to move.