I was 'inspired' to write this fic by the first big snowstorm of the year. Yep, everyone, the east coast's first major snowstorm of '00, and li'l Rb's in the middle of it, writing...and listening to both Savage Garden and Weird Al as she writes!
I meant to write this just 'cause there's snow and I wanted to write about snow, but I ended up writing a little about Christopher's past, which, I must admit, intrigues me. I made up a name for Christopher's older brother (he does have an older brother...at least, KA mentioned one), so, KA, you're free to use it. I won't complain, just dedicate the book to me. ;-) Katy is a made up character. Duh.
This fic needed research. Yep. I had to ask my junior brother what kind of music was popular with guys three years ago. ;-)
The title...there's a double meaning to it. It's obvious the first meaning, but perhaps not the second. Yeah. Leave it nice and vague.
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Snowballing Out of Contriol
by Rb
------
We were walking in a forest. Again. We were lost in the midst of madness, without even a portable TV and a six-pack of ice-cold beer. We were a sick, sad, group.
The weather was certainly ice cold, though. Freezing. I shivered in my motley outfit of various things I'd picked up somewhere.
"Cloudy," David said. The first thing any of us four--me, him, Jalil, and April--had said for a while.
"No shit, Sherlock," I shot back.
"Clouds are good, they'll keep us warmer." Jalil, of course. Resident black genius.
"Not if it's freezing cold," I remarked.
Jalil rolled his eyes at me. "Christopher, clouds keep heat in. Before you start complaining, picture how cold it would be with the sun out."
"Well, duh Jalil, the sun would heat things up."
"No, at a winter climate the sun's rays would bounce off--"
"How do you know this is a winter climate? W. T. freakin' E.--"
"Look!" April said suddenly, pointing upwards. "Snow!"
"Snow?"
"Snow?"
"Snow?"
David, Jalil, and I all said at the same time, like idiots. April was right: small white flakes were slowly wafting down to the ground, or maybe April's red hair. She already had what looked like tiny lights, a halo surrounding her head.
We kept walking. Soon, it became clear that we'd walked into a minature snowstorm. I was suddenly wading into snow up to the tops of my sneakers, and then to my ankles.
"It's so beautiful," April said, gesturing to the trees, pine trees I guessed, that were bending over by the weight of the snow.
"Dangerous," David allowed. "We can't move that far, 'cause it's gonna get hard walking here. And we can't sleep, either, 'cause we'll freeze."
Jalil and David started arguing--debating's the word they'd use, probably--about what to do. April was off in her own world, green eyes bright. In things like this, she's a little kid, all excited.
Me? I was remembering. This girl, Tracie? Katie? Katy? Something weird like that. Katy, that sounded right, but most people called her "Kat." Not me. Weird girl. She had these long dark curls, that came down to her waist that she braided back, and huge eyes, like April's, only brown, and pale white skin. She looked Jewish.
She wasn't my girlfriend or anything, I mean, she was closer to being my little brother Mark's girlfriend. I must have known her, what, eighth grade? Ninth, probably. That was the year my parents started arguing again and I started drinking with some of my friends. Nothing big, but, you know, it was something tough, something to do to get my mind off stuff.
The summer before ninth grade, my older brother Tony was hanging out with his friends smoking junk and drinking a lot, and I was starting to hang around with a new group of kids that were tougher and cooler than some of my other friends. My friends Ben and Evan hung around them too. Since I had a pool, that's where we'd stay a lot, working on our tans, planning what we'd say to girls, listening to music, hanging out. That kind of thing.
She started out as a baby-sitter for Mark, who was maybe five at the time. It was a hot summer, unusually hot, so a lot of the time, she'd take him to our pool and have him stay in the shallow end. Normal baby-sitter stuff. Sometimes my friends and I would try to talk to her, skinny little girl that wore weird, frumpy almost, one-piece black bathing suits. She would give us these cool replies, like she was all superior to us. When she was with Mark, though, or with me and Mark, she was quiet and sweeter.
I don't think she liked crowds very much. I don't think she liked summer very much. I do know that she liked my brother Mark, treated him like a little brother. Better sib than me.
I didn't see much of her next fall. I was in high school, and there were prettier girls, different kids, whole different track. She was a grade below me, I think. Just moved in that last summer. I didn't see her, except occasionally when I would get back from a party late and there she'd be, pale face almost glowing, reflecting light, reading a book in the family room, checking on a sleeping Mark every so often. I'd go up to my room, grab my CD player, put on the headphones, and blare some Coolio.
The reason I really remember her so vividly is probably because of that winter. It snowed a lot, and Mark and I were always out of school. I reacted to this by getting my mom to make some hot cocoa and retreating to my room, where I'd talk on the phone and watch TV. Katy, however, would come over and, cheeks flushed, wearing little more than a grey sweatshirt and a pair of jeans, would knock on our door and wait for Mark, bundled up from head to toe, to come out.
Katy taught Mark how to make snow angels, what the proper snow for snowballs was, how to eat snow cream, and how to appreciate the beauty of a snowed-in world. She taught Mark what a parent teaches their first child, and what she or he must teach to the younger siblings. I'd learned it from Tony, before he started hanging around with some druggies. I'd never taught Mark.
I spied on them from my window.
Katy stayed in our lives until the last snow melted. Then, it's like she just disappeared. I heard her folks moved. I also heard she ran away. Then, after a day or so, everyone stopped talking about her. She wasn't important enough to make an impression. Everyone except Mark.
I never knew why Katy didn't have proper snow outfits. Every kid around here has 'snow suits.' I heard a rumor her parents beat her or something. That could account for it. But Katy, she knew how to appreciate beauty in all things. She was important in her own small way. She was different. Maybe that's why I remembered her, and the look on her face when she saw fresh-fallen snow.
I tuned back in to 'real life.' As real as it got in Everworld. David and Jalil were still arguing. April still had a blissful look on her face. April, sometimes the kid that never grew up. She, too, could appreciate the beauty in everything.
I examined the pure white snow on the ground. Picked some up in my ungloved hand. Yes, this was the right kind of snow.
I packed some of it into my hand into a small, hard, ball, took aim...FIRED!
It smacked Jalil on the arm. He blinked. He saw me. He growled "you're dead," and tried to throw a huge, powdery chunk of snow at me. However, his aim was off--perhaps because April had thrown a snowball at him, too, that just missed his face--and he hit David instead.
David simply stood and stared for at least ten seconds. Then, his face broke into a grin. "Snowball free-for-all!" he howled, grabbing at the snow near his feet. I pelted him again, mercilessly. His snowball hit me. Jalil's hit me. April's pelted them both.
For a few minutes, we were four lost teens in an alternate universe, with a purpose: Try to kill the others in a snowball fight that got way out of control.
I meant to write this just 'cause there's snow and I wanted to write about snow, but I ended up writing a little about Christopher's past, which, I must admit, intrigues me. I made up a name for Christopher's older brother (he does have an older brother...at least, KA mentioned one), so, KA, you're free to use it. I won't complain, just dedicate the book to me. ;-) Katy is a made up character. Duh.
This fic needed research. Yep. I had to ask my junior brother what kind of music was popular with guys three years ago. ;-)
The title...there's a double meaning to it. It's obvious the first meaning, but perhaps not the second. Yeah. Leave it nice and vague.
------
Snowballing Out of Contriol
by Rb
------
We were walking in a forest. Again. We were lost in the midst of madness, without even a portable TV and a six-pack of ice-cold beer. We were a sick, sad, group.
The weather was certainly ice cold, though. Freezing. I shivered in my motley outfit of various things I'd picked up somewhere.
"Cloudy," David said. The first thing any of us four--me, him, Jalil, and April--had said for a while.
"No shit, Sherlock," I shot back.
"Clouds are good, they'll keep us warmer." Jalil, of course. Resident black genius.
"Not if it's freezing cold," I remarked.
Jalil rolled his eyes at me. "Christopher, clouds keep heat in. Before you start complaining, picture how cold it would be with the sun out."
"Well, duh Jalil, the sun would heat things up."
"No, at a winter climate the sun's rays would bounce off--"
"How do you know this is a winter climate? W. T. freakin' E.--"
"Look!" April said suddenly, pointing upwards. "Snow!"
"Snow?"
"Snow?"
"Snow?"
David, Jalil, and I all said at the same time, like idiots. April was right: small white flakes were slowly wafting down to the ground, or maybe April's red hair. She already had what looked like tiny lights, a halo surrounding her head.
We kept walking. Soon, it became clear that we'd walked into a minature snowstorm. I was suddenly wading into snow up to the tops of my sneakers, and then to my ankles.
"It's so beautiful," April said, gesturing to the trees, pine trees I guessed, that were bending over by the weight of the snow.
"Dangerous," David allowed. "We can't move that far, 'cause it's gonna get hard walking here. And we can't sleep, either, 'cause we'll freeze."
Jalil and David started arguing--debating's the word they'd use, probably--about what to do. April was off in her own world, green eyes bright. In things like this, she's a little kid, all excited.
Me? I was remembering. This girl, Tracie? Katie? Katy? Something weird like that. Katy, that sounded right, but most people called her "Kat." Not me. Weird girl. She had these long dark curls, that came down to her waist that she braided back, and huge eyes, like April's, only brown, and pale white skin. She looked Jewish.
She wasn't my girlfriend or anything, I mean, she was closer to being my little brother Mark's girlfriend. I must have known her, what, eighth grade? Ninth, probably. That was the year my parents started arguing again and I started drinking with some of my friends. Nothing big, but, you know, it was something tough, something to do to get my mind off stuff.
The summer before ninth grade, my older brother Tony was hanging out with his friends smoking junk and drinking a lot, and I was starting to hang around with a new group of kids that were tougher and cooler than some of my other friends. My friends Ben and Evan hung around them too. Since I had a pool, that's where we'd stay a lot, working on our tans, planning what we'd say to girls, listening to music, hanging out. That kind of thing.
She started out as a baby-sitter for Mark, who was maybe five at the time. It was a hot summer, unusually hot, so a lot of the time, she'd take him to our pool and have him stay in the shallow end. Normal baby-sitter stuff. Sometimes my friends and I would try to talk to her, skinny little girl that wore weird, frumpy almost, one-piece black bathing suits. She would give us these cool replies, like she was all superior to us. When she was with Mark, though, or with me and Mark, she was quiet and sweeter.
I don't think she liked crowds very much. I don't think she liked summer very much. I do know that she liked my brother Mark, treated him like a little brother. Better sib than me.
I didn't see much of her next fall. I was in high school, and there were prettier girls, different kids, whole different track. She was a grade below me, I think. Just moved in that last summer. I didn't see her, except occasionally when I would get back from a party late and there she'd be, pale face almost glowing, reflecting light, reading a book in the family room, checking on a sleeping Mark every so often. I'd go up to my room, grab my CD player, put on the headphones, and blare some Coolio.
The reason I really remember her so vividly is probably because of that winter. It snowed a lot, and Mark and I were always out of school. I reacted to this by getting my mom to make some hot cocoa and retreating to my room, where I'd talk on the phone and watch TV. Katy, however, would come over and, cheeks flushed, wearing little more than a grey sweatshirt and a pair of jeans, would knock on our door and wait for Mark, bundled up from head to toe, to come out.
Katy taught Mark how to make snow angels, what the proper snow for snowballs was, how to eat snow cream, and how to appreciate the beauty of a snowed-in world. She taught Mark what a parent teaches their first child, and what she or he must teach to the younger siblings. I'd learned it from Tony, before he started hanging around with some druggies. I'd never taught Mark.
I spied on them from my window.
Katy stayed in our lives until the last snow melted. Then, it's like she just disappeared. I heard her folks moved. I also heard she ran away. Then, after a day or so, everyone stopped talking about her. She wasn't important enough to make an impression. Everyone except Mark.
I never knew why Katy didn't have proper snow outfits. Every kid around here has 'snow suits.' I heard a rumor her parents beat her or something. That could account for it. But Katy, she knew how to appreciate beauty in all things. She was important in her own small way. She was different. Maybe that's why I remembered her, and the look on her face when she saw fresh-fallen snow.
I tuned back in to 'real life.' As real as it got in Everworld. David and Jalil were still arguing. April still had a blissful look on her face. April, sometimes the kid that never grew up. She, too, could appreciate the beauty in everything.
I examined the pure white snow on the ground. Picked some up in my ungloved hand. Yes, this was the right kind of snow.
I packed some of it into my hand into a small, hard, ball, took aim...FIRED!
It smacked Jalil on the arm. He blinked. He saw me. He growled "you're dead," and tried to throw a huge, powdery chunk of snow at me. However, his aim was off--perhaps because April had thrown a snowball at him, too, that just missed his face--and he hit David instead.
David simply stood and stared for at least ten seconds. Then, his face broke into a grin. "Snowball free-for-all!" he howled, grabbing at the snow near his feet. I pelted him again, mercilessly. His snowball hit me. Jalil's hit me. April's pelted them both.
For a few minutes, we were four lost teens in an alternate universe, with a purpose: Try to kill the others in a snowball fight that got way out of control.