Daria Baranova

School 316, St Petersburg

The First Snow

Autumn midday...

I open my eyes and notice that it's unusually light in my room... I draw the curtains and the whiteness hurts my eyes...

The Snow.

All around is white. I go out. Soft snowflakes silently lay down on the road. There is no wind and it seems as if the weather is warm. People on the streets are dressed still like in summer, they're very surprised... The sudden gift of the nature... Light sneakers softly step on the lightly covered ground, they seem yellowish on a dairy snow.

As I turn from a wide street to a court yard I can see an untouched crystal clear and pure snow coverlet there. On a back porch of the house sits a grey cat. Having drawn in paws, it timidly glances at the low grey sky which, apparently, is possible to touch. Today was the first time my cat saw the snow... It made it feel incredibly delighted. It jumped up trying to catch it, then examined the prints of its paws... It is interesting what I felt when I saw a snowfall for the first time in my life? I don't remember... And so it would be desirable to test this feeling again... If the first snow delights me every year, it is difficult even to imagine the feelings of a person who has never seen this miracle before.

I can see a strange bush, green, with white berries. The snow lays on its branches and its berries look like lumps of snow... It is strange. Earlier I didn't notice them at all, and now they've become part of a winter landscape.

I think the first snowfall is necessary for preparing the nature and people for the winter, to remind them of a prompt current of a life. Just yesterday nothing foretold so sudden changes, and now all the things around have changed dramatically. I am very glad. Every year I wait for the first snow with impatience. I feel so delighted, there is an expectation of something kind, fantastic and magic... New Year is just around the corner... I stand and smile to my thoughts.

It seems to me very strange, that there is no snow in some countries. My friend lives in America, almost every Christmas the weather is warm and dry there. I can't imagine this holiday without snow and frost... I have never understood people who travel to the warm countries in winter. They aren't birds, after all.

Having given in to a minute impulse, I bend and write my name on the untouched, smooth, like a white sheet of paper, snow with a finger. The snow seems light and airy. I remember, when I was small, in the winter I dived into snowdrifts... The unforgettable sensation: during this moment the snow wraps you like a blanket, and it isn't cold at all, and it even heats you.

Muffling up in a warm cosy scarf, I walk along a lonely alley. There is a chain of fresh, superficial traces behind me. A few minutes later, they will disappear. Nobody will know that once I have passed here my traces will be hidden from people's eyes.

Snow keeps going... Vanilla snowflakes fall on my eyelashes and, instantly having melted, flow down in drops like tears. I catch snowflakes by a mouth - it's childish. They have a bitter taste... How does snow smell? I have never asked myself this questions. I scoop a handful of snow and bring it to my face... smells for some reason like ice cream. Someone even told me that it is possible to eat snow with jam and it's tasty. It is necessary to try, so I don't forget.

My hands are warm. I make a snowball, and it seems that I put all my thoughts and feelings which I wish to share with somebody in it. Probably playing snowballs is also made up for this purpose. If you hit another person with a ball, he knows what you think, and maybe will share your mood.

All in all, the first snow is an unreliable, short-living thing... You stretch your hand and the snowflake that has landed on it disappears in a moment. Melts... All the snow will thaw very soon... And comprehension of its fragility forces me to enjoy the illusion of winter.

I don't want to return home now. I wish this magic spirit would stay with me forever.

I stand and smile...