I own nothing
After assuring Darrel for the hundredth time that they'd be fine walking ten blocks on their own in the snow, the brothers set off for the park.
Looking around, Zack saw how people could like winter so much. Before, they had lived in Nashville, Tennessee. Not much snow ever came down there. But here, the snow had transformed everything overnight into a picture that looked like something out of those old black-and-white Christmas movies.
Plus, the even better part of snow, having the day off in the middle of February wasn't that bad either.
By the time the tow of them got to the park Tapeworm, Bob, Max, and a handful of other kids from school were already on the hill-either sliding down it or trudging back up.
"Hey, look who showed up!" Max yelled. Suddenly, as if on cue, the air was filled with dozens of snowballs hurled from different directions. Cody laughed as one sailed over his head, knocking his hat off.
Tapeworm waved them over. "You guys are just in time for the race!" he exclaimed pointing to a spot a couple yards away where several sleds were lined up.
Zack looked at Cody and smiled. He loved races. He was even happier when Cody smiled back. They took their positions at the starting line between Max and Bob.
Tapeworm stood a couple feet in front of them, waving his red hat like a flag. "Racers to their starting marks..." Zack caught Max's gaze and rolled his eyes. Tapeworm was such a ham. "On your mark, get set-" Zack leaned forward. "GO!"
And he was down the hill. All sound was gone. It had evaporated along with his vision. Zack let out a wild whoop, which was gone in an instant. He didn't know if he was winning. He didn't care. This was the most fun he could remember having in the past few months, and he intended to savor every moment of it.
Then it was done. The entire ride had lasted all of thirty seconds.
Zack rolled off his sled and laughed. Deep and long and loud. He felt lightheaded and free and great. He looked over his shoulder at Cody, who had also rolled off his sled. He couldn't hear over the wind, but Zack was pretty sure that he was laughing, too.
Suddenly, Max was over him, snowball in hand. She pelted it at his face. "That's for beating me!" she cried, her smiling face red from cold. Zack hurriedly stood up and scooped up some snow of his own. He threw it at Max, who ducked. His snowball landed on Tapeworm, who had joined the racers at the bottom of the hill.
The next half-hour was the time of one of the best snowball fights Boston had ever seen. By the time they were finished everybody was either panting from exhaustion or rolling in laughter. Most were doing both.
Cody laughed the loudest.
You have no idea how hard that was to write. I just can't do happy. So how do you like my first attempt at it?