The winter months set in within the next few weeks, and the colorful trees and fallen leaves were replaced in a layer of thick, white snow. The temperature dropped, the sky got darker, and glimmering lights began to decorate the trees.
Sable recalled the first day it had snowed. She woke up cold and shivering to herself early one morning. The windows were clouded with frost, and the outside was eerily silent. Mabel awoke moments later and began shouting to her.
"SNOW! SNOW!" she screeched.
Label had rolled over and groaned while Mabel accompanied her sister to the window and they eagerly glanced outside at the beautiful blanket that had been left outside. The sun's rays were only beginning to rise, and the crystallized water reflected brilliant light.
They had spent the day building snowmen and drinking hot cocoa until exhaustion forced them to bed at an early time. The day had been so pleasant at the time, but now, Sable was already sick of the snow. It seemed everyone in her family was.
It was much harder to pick fruit and fish while trudging through piles of snow and feeling cold winds blow against you. None of their coats were that warm, but they didn't have the money to replace it, and so they had to endure.
One morning, Sable was grasping fruit with her bare hands from a tree, clumps of snow falling down beside her while Mabel sat in the snow. Her younger sister was much quieter today, though when Sable asked if something was wrong, Mabel only shook her head and kept her quiet.
Sable was concerned for her sister. She was usually enthusiastic to help, but today, she was only glancing down at the snow and sitting near the tree. Sable finished throwing more cherries into her basket when Mabel began to cry softly.
Sable froze and knelt down next to her sister.
"Mabel, what's wrong?" she asked, staring into her younger sister's eyes.
Tears began to pour down Mabel's cheeks. "M-my hands," she complained, shoving her small blue hands out toward her sister. "Th-they hurt!"
Sable's hands were already freezing, but when she grabbed onto her sister's, they were even more cold. Mabel began to cry harder.
"It hurts!" she screeched. "Th-they're so cold!"
Glancing down at Mabel's hands, Sable could tell they shouldn't have been exposed to the cold so long. She quickly grabbed her pale scarf from around her neck and wrapped it around Mabel's hands.
"Does that help?" Sable asked, beginning to get concerned.
Mabel shook her head. "I-I can't feel them."
Sable frowned. "How long have they been hurting?"
"They're always cold. They hurt a lot today," Mabel explained, sniffing her nose.
"Let's go back and get you by the fire," Sable suggested. She reached down and lifted Mabel up, then grabbed the bucket full of cherries.
Mabel still wept quietly on the walk home, and when Sable finally reached the house, she rushed up to the living room where she had started a fire earlier that morning. Label was sitting on the couch sipping a warm beverage.
As soon as they entered and Mabel's cries began to echo the room, Label glanced up in concern.
"What's wrong with her?" Label asked.
"Her hands hurt," Sable explained. She set Mabel down in front of the fire and untangled the scarf from her sister's small hands.
"Hold them up in front of the fire," Sable instructed. "I'll get you some hot cocoa, okay?"
Mabel nodded, her tears finally starting to cease. Meanwhile, Sable marched to the kitchen and put a kettle on the stove. Label moved from her spot on the couch and met Sable in the kitchen.
"What's wrong with her?" Label asked again quietly.
Sable shrugged. "I think the cold is getting to her. She complained of her hands hurting, and I guess it got to be too much."
"She's probably starting to get frostbite in those fingers. We need actual mittens," Label explained. "We're all freezing here."
"We don't have enough to afford mittens," Sable challenged.
"You're going to have to cut her hands off if you send her out in the cold like that," Label argued.
"It's not that bad. Look, she's already stopped crying," Sable whispered, glancing back to Mabel sitting in front of the fire. The bright flames jumped in front of her sister and quieted her cries.
Label kept quiet and returned to the couch, but Sable was still worried for her young sister. Mabel's hands were really bothering her, and even Sable could feel the temperature difference in their hands outside.
As Sable poured the hot water into a mug for her sister, she froze for a moment, an idea hitting her. She placed the kettle back on the stove and brought the hot chocolate back to Mabel.
"How are your hands feeling?" Sable asked, squeezing on one of them. The warmth was already starting to come back.
"Better," Mabel muttered quietly.
"You hold on to this mug for now. Remember to blow, okay?" Sable said, handing the cup toward her. Mabel eagerly reached for it and grinned as it warmed her claws.
"How about we get some nice, warm mittens for you," Sable suggested.
"How are you going to do that?" Label asked, paying attention once again.
"I'll make them," Sable said.
Label let out a laugh and set her drink down. "How? We've had some sewing lessons, but I've never seen you make mittens before."
"I can do it," Sable argued. "We still have a lot of materials, and I remember how to use the machine."
Label shrugged and leaned back on the couch again. Anger fumed through Sable. She'd make those mittens no matter how hard she had to try. Besides, it had been so long since she had touched the sewing machine. She hated not seeing it used.
Later that evening, when the others had gone to bed, Sable crept down to the shop downstairs and found the sewing machine in the corner, in the exact same place her mother had last used it. She turned the light on, watching as the shop became illuminated again. It brought back much nostalgia.
She turned to the machine and wiped away the layer of dust that had gathered. Sable grinned slightly and began going through old drawers for materials. She pulled out some pink fabric for Mabel's mittens, grabbed an old sewing instruction book, and began.
The night hours lingered on. It took many attempts, but Sable wanted to get it perfect. She cut the material many times and sewed many items, but the hours were drawing on, and she herself was falling asleep.
Finally, with the last stitch, she stopped the machine and sat up, ready to admire her work. And it was...something of speculation. The mittens looked like mittens, sort of. They were a bit disfigured, but they'd still work.
Tears began to creep up in Sable's eyes. She had worked so hard, and even then, her mittens were sub-par. She had an image of the perfect mittens for her sister. She imagined it would look like something her parents had made. But instead, it was just a roughly cut piece of fabric with stitches. Still, she couldn't let it get the best of her.
The next morning, when her sisters awoke, Sable proudly announced she had a surprise for everyone.
"What is it?" Label wondered.
"I worked nearly all night, but I have the perfect thing for Mabel," she said. She reached into her pocket and revealed the mittens.
"Now your claws won't be so cold anymore!" Sable explained, placing the mittens in Mabel's hands.
Mabel giggled.
"They're warm!" she exclaimed.
"Yes, perfect for you," Sable told her, glad to have received such a positive response.
"I mean, I guess they look like mittens," Label said, staring at the item that Mabel clutched onto. "You used the machine, then?"
"Yes. It felt so nice," Sable explained. She and her sister spoke a bit about sewing. Sable glanced past Mabel now and was enjoying a conversation with her sister, for once, when Label glanced forward and began laughing.
"What? What is it?" Sable asked, spinning around.
Mabel still sat, though the mittens Sable had given her were not on her hands, but her ears.
"Thanks, sissy!" Mabel explained.
Sable couldn't help but start laughing, and Mabel soon did too. All around, laughter filled the air, and for once, Sable felt content.