The Snowmen
By: Gabriel Hernandez
Nathan Baxter sat in the last desk in the corner of the classroom. Only ten minutes remaining before the bell rang; ten more minutes before the winter break began. Mr. Bailey, a tall white man with a gray beard, sat behind his desk at the front of the classroom with an open book in his hand. He didn't bother teaching anymore since everyone in the classroom was talking amongst themselves waiting for the bell to ring. Nathan stared out the window and looked at the white blanket of snow that covered the streets of the town. It was going to be a perfect winter break; without a doubt it was going to be a white Christmas this year. Windville, the small town where he was born and raised, didn't really get snow. This was the first snow in over six years and everyone was pretty excited about it.
Nathan glanced at the clock mounted above the whiteboard, five more minutes. He looked out the window again and waited patiently for the bell to ring. He didn't really talk to anyone in that class, his only real friend was Thomas Grady and he was in Mrs. Johnson's math class right now. He's been Nathan's best friend since they were six years old and tonight he was staying the night at his house. Nathan was really looking forward to Thomas coming over; he already set out his sleeping bag and broke out the scary movies and bags of popcorn the night before.
Mr. Bailey closed his book and walked to the front of the classroom. "Okay class, I want everyone to have a great winter break", he said, "please be safe and enjoy your Christmas and have a happy New Year. When you guys come back we're going to start reading some of Edgar Allen Poe's work so be prepared for that. The bell's going to ring in about a minute so if you all want to get your stuff together and get ready." Everyone eagerly grabbed their backpack and stood up next to their desk. Nathan grabbed his bag from the floor and stuffed his textbook in there. He glanced out the window again and looked down at the white field where a snowman stood. He didn't notice the snowman earlier; it was as if it just appeared. He looked at it and examined its features. It had three layers of large balls of snow that made out the body, two large holes were its eyes should be, the holes were dark and hollow; two craters of darkness. It had no mouth and a black rock for a nose. Two tree branches stuck out of its sides forming its arms and it had a black scarf around its neck. The more Nathan looked at it, the creepier it got.
The loud bell rang and startled Nathan. He jumped out of his seat and some girls who were standing by him giggled and made fun of him as they walked toward the door. Nathan looked ahead and stood up. He grabbed all of his things and started walking toward to the classroom door. Mr. Bailey called Nathan over to his desk before he could leave the class. "Nathan, come here for a sec," said Mr. Bailey, "do you have to catch the bus?" "No, I was going to walk home," said Nathan, "Why?" Mr. Bailey grabbed a folder from his desk and handed it to Nathan. "Great, on your way out of the school could you drop this off on the front office? It's the attendance sheet. I have to stay and finish some paperwork." Nathan grabbed the folder, "yeah sure." As Nathan grabbed the folder, he quickly glanced out the window just to see the snowman again but as soon as he saw, his blood ran cold and he became confused. The snowman was gone. He wondered if he imagined the whole thing or if he wasn't looking right but the snowman was nowhere to be found. Mr. Bailey looked at Nathan. "Everything okay?" he asked as he saw Nathan's concerned face. "Yeah, yeah everything's fine," said Nathan, "I'll see you in two weeks" Nathan walked out of the classroom without looking back.
The hallways of Windville High School flooded with students as they jolted to the front doors and into their winter vacation. Nathan walked down the crowded hallway of jocks, nerds, and other high school students. He walked towards the stairwell at the end of the corridor and headed downstairs to the first level of the school. He continued to walk and approached the main office located by the entrance of the school at the end of the hallway. He put the attendance sheet in a basket at the front desk of the office and headed out the main doors.
He walked out into the white school yard. It was snowing outside and the sky was overcast. Students threw snowballs, played in the snow, laughed, and enjoyed cold weather. Nathan looked around for Thomas; they usually met outside by the flagpole. Nathan walked down the pathway that led to the flagpole and looked around for any sight of Thomas. He scanned through the school yard and tried to distinguish Thomas from all the other students hanging around outside. Something caught his eye, he tried focusing on it to make sure it really was what he saw in the classroom; the snowman stood there in the white field staring at Nathan. It was in the same spot it was when he saw it from the classroom window except for its position. This time it wasn't looking at the school, it was looking directly at Nathan with its hollow eyes.
Nathan stood there, ignoring his surroundings of students frolicking in the snow and looked directly at the strange snowman. Nobody went near it, everyone walked by it as if it wasn't even there. Thomas grabbed Nathan's shoulder from behind and watched as he jumped out of his grip. Nathan quickly turned to look at Thomas. "Sorry dude, I didn't mean to startle you," said Thomas as he laughed at Nathan, "Are you ready to go?" Nathan had a sense of relief and smiled back at Thomas. "Yeah man let's go, where were you?" asked Nathan. "I was looking for you; I didn't see you so I went back inside to see if you were there then I came back out here and there you were," said Thomas, "what are you looking at?" "Look," Nathan pointed at the snowman, "how long has that been there? It's creepy." Thomas looked over at the snowman and raised an eyebrow. "What's so creepy about it? It's just a snowman. "Yeah I know but I didn't notice it this morning. When I was in class I saw it too but it was facing the school and now it's facing over here." "Yeah right, maybe someone made it during lunch. Who cares about a stupid snowman, let's just go. Winter break already started and I do not want to spend any more time here at school," said Thomas. "I'll say," replied Nathan and they both started walking towards the sidewalk.
Mrs. Baxter was sitting in the living room couch watching TV. The front door opened and Nathan and Thomas walked in. "Hi boys," said Mrs. Baxter as they walked in, "how was school?" The boys took off their winter coats and gloves and hung them up on the coat rack by the front door. "Fine," said Nathan. Mrs. Baxter stood up and walked towards the boys. "Thomas we're glad you're staying with us tonight. If you need anything just help yourself, you're like family here." Thomas smiled and thanked Mrs. Baxter for the hospitality. "Nathan, I'm meeting the girls tonight at Carol's for game night. I'll be home late, you guys can order a pizza while I'm gone," said Mrs. Baxter, "here's some money. I'm going to get ready." "Okay, thanks mom" replied Nathan. The boys walked up stairs and went to Nathan's room.
It was dark outside and the snow was illuminated through the street lamps as it slowly fell on to ground. Nathan and Thomas were playing their game system in his room. "Hey man, do you want to order some pizza now?" asked Nathan as he reached into his pocket and grabbed his cell phone. "Yeah sure," said Thomas, "pepperoni and sausage." He looked at his phone screen and noticed an icon displayed on the top left corner that read no service. "That's weird, I don't have any reception. Can you check your phone?" Thomas reached into his pocket and checked his cell phone and the same message was displayed on his. "I don't have any reception either," said Thomas, "it's probably the snow. This happened last week too." Nathan walked to his door and headed downstairs to the house phone in the kitchen. He picked up the phone and there was no sound on the other end. The phone lines were completely dead.
This was strange, he thought, how could they contact the police in case of an emergency? Nathan walked over to the living room and headed to the large window next to the couch. He pulled the curtains to look outside and saw the snow fall on the empty street. No cars, nobody was outside, it was only 7:45. He looked over at the nearby houses and each one had their lights off. This was strange, it was Friday night and nobody had any of their lights on; could everyone be asleep at this hour? As Nathan continued to look out the window, something terrifying caught his eye. Shivers ran down his body as a sudden cold feel made him freeze where he stood. The snowman from the school was outside in his front yard, looking directly at the window with its hollow black eyes. It just stood there, a motionless terror that Nathan knew was following him. It can't be possible, snowmen don't move. Who would have built that in his yard?
Thomas grabbed Nathan's shoulder by surprise and watched as Nathan jumped out of his skin. He shrieked in terror as he faced to look at him. Thomas laughed, amused by Nathan's fear. "What's wrong man, I didn't mean to scare you," said Thomas with a big goofy grin. "It's that snowman," said Nathan as he pulled the curtain open and showed Thomas the terrifying figure outside. Thomas looked over at the snowman and didn't really care. "Maybe some of the neighborhood kids put it up." "No, that's not possible, look there," Nathan pointed at the smooth snow-covered yard, "no footsteps, there's no sign of anyone ever being here. Something's not right." Thomas rolled his eyes and got away from the window. "Don't worry about it too much. Hey do you have any batteries? My controller's dead." Nathan nodded. Come on let's go to my place and get some real quick. Maybe my mom can drive us to Al's Pizza," said Thomas as he walked over to get his coat. "I don't know man, something weird is going on. Maybe we should stay here." said Nathan with a worried look in his eyes. "Come on man, my house is only four blocks away. Aren't you hungry? I'm sure my mom will drive us there and drive us back to your place." "Fine," Nathan gave in, "but, let's not stay out too long, okay?"
The boys walked out of the house and headed for the sidewalk. Nathan looked over at the snowman in his front yard. It was still staring at the window. They walked down the lonely sidewalk; the only lights leading their way were the lamp posts on the edge of the curves. They continued to walk, not a car in sight or a light on in any house they have passed. As they continued their walk, Nathan froze were he stood. Thomas continued to walk and noticed Nathan wasn't beside him. He turned to look at him and saw him staring at the house next to them. It was Mrs. Johnson's home. She lived with her husband and two teenage kids that went to their school. Thomas looked at Nathan and looked over to see what he was looking at. There were four snowmen in Mrs. Johnson's front yard. Each one had their own jacket and beanie. Two were large and two were small, almost as if they were a family of two adults and two kids.
"Come on, dude! They're just snowmen. People make them when it snows," said Thomas as he walked back to Nathan. "But not everyone makes them. Look," said Nathan as he pointed at the houses straight ahead. Thomas looked at the direction Nathan was pointing and saw what he saw. Every single house in the block straight ahead had a family of snowmen in the front yard. Some houses had four of them and some had two, but every single house in that neighborhood had its own snowman family. Each snowman had a piece of clothing on. "Let's just keep going, we're almost to my house," said Thomas as he grabbed Nathan by the arm and gently pulled him to move forward.
They continued to walk and they passed by each house with the snowmen. They were both quiet, a dead silence surrounded the street. No noise, no cars, just absolute silence. They saw each snowman looking straight ahead at the street. Thomas was slightly frightened but figured it was some sort of a strange coincidence.
They finally arrived at Thomas' house. His mother's car was parked in the driveway and there was no snowman in the front yard. They walked up to the porch and Thomas reached into his pocket and pulled out his house key and unlocked the door. They walked in to a dark house. Thomas reached over to the light switch but it wouldn't turn on. "Power's out. That explains all the houses without their lights on." "But our lights worked just fine," said Nathan, "something's going on." "I'm going to go check up stairs, I'll be right back," said Thomas as he went up stairs to his parent's room. Nathan stayed in the dark living room and sat on the couch. It was freezing inside. He was shivering; his coat was not enough to keep him warm.
A penetrating cold suddenly struck Nathan as he sat on the couch. It was beyond cold for being inside a house. It felt like it was colder than an industrial freezer where he sat. "Why is it so cold in here?" whispered Nathan under his breath. He could see his breath in front of him. He stood up and called over to Thomas. "Thomas!?" he yelled from the living room. No response. It was really quiet in the house. Nathan headed for the stairs and slowly walked. He could only hear the creek of his footsteps as he climbed the stairs. He made it to the hallway and walked over to Thomas' room. "Thomas?" he asked as he opened the door. There was nobody in the room. "Hello?" he called out as he walked over to Thomas' parents room. He slowly opened the door and saw nobody in the room. "Hello!?" he cried out again as he realized he was alone in the house. "Thomas!?" he yelled again, but no response. He suddenly heard the front door open, a loud creek coming from the living room. Nathan rushed to the stairs and as he was climbing down, he saw the front door wide open. "Thomas, is that you?" he asked as he climbed down.
Nathan looked at the front door and slowly walked towards it. He looked out the open door and saw a snowman outside. He was confused by this snowman; there was something about it that looked strangely familiar. Nathan slowly walked out of the front door and quietly walked towards the snowman; it was facing the street. As Nathan examined the snowman's features, he realized why it looked so familiar. It was wearing Thomas' coat.
As the sudden realization hit Nathan, he tried to scream but nothing came out. He was shocked at the terrifying reality. How did this happen? Nathan slowly walked passed the snowman and as soon as he reached the front of it, the snowman jerked its head and faced Nathan.
Nathan fell to the ground in terror and immediately got an adrenaline rush. The cold blood ran through his veins as fear took over his entire body. He quickly got up and jolted out of there as fast as he could. He ran down the street and looked at all the snowmen turning their heads, staring at Nathan as he ran past them. Nathan looked straight ahead; he didn't know he could run that fast. All of the snowmen moved their heads to look at Nathan, taunting him in his attempt to escape the terrible fate he was about to experience.
Nathan made it to his front yard; the snowman with the hollow eyes was gone. He ran up to his porch and quickly got inside his house and locked the door behind him. He was breathing heavily, he thought this was all a dream, a terrifying nightmare, but it was a horrific reality he couldn't explain. His house was freezing cold; he could see his foggy breath in front of him. He walked over to the living room and pulled over the curtains. All of the snowmen in the neighborhood were outside in his front yard. They all stared at him. Nathan quickly retracted from the window and ran upstairs, panicking. He reached his room door and ran inside. His heart immediately felt like it was about to explode from his chest, he could not speak as his overwhelming fear finally reached its breaking point. This was it, there was no escape, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. The snowman with the hollow eyes stood in his bedroom, staring into Nathan's eyes. Nathan did not move, he came to the conclusion that this is how his world ends.
All the snowmen were gone from his front yard except for one. It was not the snowman with the hollow eyes; this was a completely new one. The snowman stood in the front yard looking dead ahead wearing Nathan's coat, beanie, gloves and his scarf. There was something else that was very familiar about this particular snowman; it had Nathan's eyes.