D@mn another holiday season…and to make matters worse you definitely are not in the mood this year. Your computer up and crashed on you so you’ll be out of touch of the fam for a while. Beside that the money it will cost to fix the computer takes all of your holiday/Christmas money. So presents this year will few and far between. You thought being around your other family would help, but it hasn’t. Even the weather wasn’t cooperating this year. The weatherman said it would be unseasonably warm this Christmas. You had hoped there would be a white Christmas, at that would have given you a reason to smile, but even that didn’t pan out. So as your family starts arriving for the annual Christmas get together you resign yourself to grin and bear it. No sense in bringing anyone else down.

The party was in full swing, everyone was there laughing and joking and having a good time. But all of this good cheer only seemed to darken your mood. And as much as you loved your family, you knew you had to make an escape before you exploded. Surprisingly you made it out of the house without being caught up in a hug-a-thon [you’ve hugged everyone in the house at least two or three times]. After you made it outside safely you tried to think of a place where you could go where it was likely you would be all alone. You decide to go to Musze Park. You knew that since winter arrived [even minus the snow] no one would be there. Especially now that they’ve removed all the swings and covered up the remaining children’s toys.

As you are walking to the park a few snowflakes begin to fall. You walk around the park for awhile searching for the perfect spot where you can sit and reflect on the past year. The good and the bad, the things that made you laugh or cry, all the new friends you met this year and the friends that seemed to slip away. You wanted to be able to go into the new year smiling instead of frowning. You lose yourself thinking about the aurafam and what was probably going on in the chat room. You just knew some craziness was going on in there [it always happens when you don’t show up…. lol]. As you are sitting there thinking about the room the times slips away from you and before you know it has gotten darker. You also didn’t notice that the weather had changed and that the snowing had gotten considerably heavier. You stand in wonderment and watch the falling snow around you. So caught up in the moment you start to twirl around laughing and dancing. At least one of your wishes was coming to be this Christmas. You smile thinking about all the things you use to do in the snow when you were a kid, and decide that since you were alone you might as well do them again while you got the chance. So like a child experiencing snow for the first time, you stand with your face facing the heavens, and try to catch a few snowflakes in your mouth. You stand there relishing in the innocence of this moment and how it was bringing you so much joy.
“How does it taste?” says a raspy voice.
“Excuse me…” you say looking around.
“I said how does it taste?” he asks again.
“Uuuuhhhhh….” is all you can mutter out as you stare at a bemused Maxwell standing beside the bench you were once sitting on.
“The snow….it looks like you are trying to catch a little in your uhh mouth to taste it and I was just wondering how they taste” he says.
“I…I…I…” is all you can say.
Smiling he says, “I’m only kidding. It looked like you were having so much fun I couldn’t resist asking.”
Finally gathering yourself you respond, “You never tried to taste snow by catching it in your uh…mouth?”
Laughing he says “Can’t say that I have.”
“You should try it, you’d be surprised,” you say.
“I think I’ll pass on that one,” he says laughing again “ I’ll just have to take your word on it.”
“What….honestly you should try it,” you say smiling.
“I don’t think so,” he smirks.
“Why?”
“You might laugh at me, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that to happen,” he says looking down.
“Now why would I laugh ?”
“Cause I might look silly,” he says.
“Oh…so you saying I was looking silly huh?” you ask smiling.
“Naw that’s not it” he responds.
“I promise I won’t laugh,” you say.
“You promise?” he asks. You answer by shaking you head yes and he then says “Ok”
You move to the side to sit down on the ground and watch him as he attempts to catch a little snow. As he leans his head back to catch the snow he looks at you again to assure that you are not laughing. You keep a serious look on your face and tell him to continue. As be begins again you marvel at the change that comes over his face. There is such a look of joy on his face as he experiences tasting snow for the first time. As hard as you try you can’t help but smile. And upon his laughter after catching a few snowflakes you can’t help but laugh with him. He shoots a look at you and you say “I’m laughing with you, not at you”
He smiles and comes over to sit down beside you. You both laugh a little longer and he asks “What’s your name?”
Smiling you say “Snowflake”
“Snowflake huh?
“Yeah snowflake,” you say still smiling “And you are?”
He laughs and says “Just call me Snowstorm.” You both laugh and he says “Well Snowflake thanks for not laughing,” as he hits you with a snowball that he has kept hidden for your view.
“Oh you wanna fight huh?” you say as you pick up a hand full of snow. He tries to stop you from hitting him with the snow, but you throw it at him before he can.
“Ok so this is how it is?” he says as he grabs a handful of snow
“No…no…no…wait” you say as you hold him and the snow at arms length. “ Let’s make this a fair fight, give me a second or two to get me some.”
“Ok…but only because its you Snowflake. You got two minutes, and then it’s on” he says “Pick you home base”
“Ok…ok…ok…I got the bench,” you say as you prepare to head in that direction. “I hope you know you gon’ lose.”
“Are you sure about that,” he says smiling, “cause I have yet to meet anybody who can beat me in a snowball fight.”
“Well, sweetie you’ve met your match…so prepare to lose cause I’m gonna light you up,” you inform him.
Laughing he says, “You gon light me up huh? This I gotta see. Well what are you waiting on…your two minutes are about up.”
“Nunhuh…. It hasn’t even started. You gotta at least let me get to the bench before you start counting,” you say as you hurriedly get up. As you are walking away Maxwell throws one of his snowballs and hits you in the back. You turn to glare at him but he sheepishly smiles and says, “It slipped.” You can’t help but laugh as you continue to head the bench. As the two minutes are winding down every now and then an occasional snowball would fly in your direction. The most you could muster out was “Hey” [you were to busy laughing and making snowballs of your own to yell anything else] and it would be answered with laughter. After two minutes pass you yell out “Snowstorm…”
“What?”
“It’s on!!!” you shout as the snowballs start flying. In between the laughter form you and Snowstorm you have a snowball fight like you’ve never had before.
After several minutes you hear, “I quit…I quit…you win!”
“You’re surrendering huh?” you shout.
“Yes!!! I am no match for you!” he shouts
“That’s what I like to hear….say it again,” you yell back.
“You win…I am no match for you,” he shouts as he is laughing. “Can I come and shake your hand?”
“You wanna shake my hand…why?” you question.
“I have good sportsmanship. Besides I wanna shake the hand of the first person to ever beat me in a snowball fight.” He yells back.
“You ain’t got no tricky stuff planned do you?” you question him.
“Tricky stuff? I aint even like that. I wanna shake your hand fair and square that’s all,” he says all sugary sweet. Not trusting the way he sounds you hide one last snowball behind your back and you go to shake his hand. After you see he is indeed empty handed, no snowballs in sight, you quickly drop your last snowball. He looks at you and your dropped snowball and then again at you. You laugh and say, “Well a sista gotta be prepared don’t she?” you both laugh. He takes you by the hand and says, “I wanna shake the hand of the one and only person who has ever beaten me in a snowball fight. And for that I give you this….” Suddenly he pulls out a hidden snowball and throws it at you. Unable to block it you are hit squarely in the face with a cold soppy snowball. Maxwell is overcome with laughter as he watches you wipe the snowball from your face. As you go to pick up your dropped snowball Maxwell takes off running and you chase behind him snowball in hand. He is laughing so hard you easily catch up to him. You quickly jump upon his back and tackle him to the ground. You wrestle in the snow for a few seconds and somehow you end up sitting on top of chest pinning his arms down. You are looking down at him and he is still laughing when he says, “You gotta admit…that was funny.”
Trying not to laugh yourself you say, “Was it?”
“Yes it was. You should have seen the look on your face. It was too funny for words.” He says still laughing.
“I wanna see your face after this…I wanna see if you think this is funny,” you say as you pick up snow to hit him with.
“You wouldn’t” he says.
Looking at him squarely you say, “You wanna bet?”
“Seriously you wouldn’t,” he says again
“I won’t huh?” you say as you continue to raise your hand with the snow over his face
“Come on now” he says as you allow a few clumps of snow to fall from your hands
“Apologize and I’ll stop,” you say smiling.
“No, I ain’t apologizing, that was funny. And besides you deserved it for not trusting me when I first said I wanted to shake your hand,” he says still laughing. < br> “That wasn’t an apology,” you say as you allow a few more clumps of snow to fall from your hand.
“Ok, ok I apologize oh master of the snowball fight!!!” he shouts.
“Thought so….now call me The Snow Queen and I might think about letting you up,” you say. But before you know it Maxwell has flipped the situation and is now sitting on top of you and you are pinned below.
“Snow Queen huh…?” he says as he picks up a handful of snow.
“Ok, maybe that was a bit much,” you say laughing. He falls off of you and you both lay in the snow cracking up. Once the laughter dies down you look at one another and the laughter begins again.
“Are you gonna make a snow angel?” you ask.
“I don’t need to, I already have one,” he says
“Huh?”
“You’re my snow angel, so you see I don’t need to make one,” he says smiling.
“Didn’t I say my name was Snowflake? I don’t remember saying Snow Angel once,” you say smiling. You both laugh awhile longer and then proceed to make two perfect snow angels. Maxwell helps you to your feet and you ask him, “What should we name them?”
“What else but Ms. Snowstorm and Mr. Snowflake,” he says as you both laugh.
As you are heading towards the bench you first sat on when you came to the park Maxwell ask you, “Why were you at the park tonight?”
“I was waiting for someone to come along so I could have a snowball fight with.” You both laugh and you say, “Seriously, I was just trying to get away from my fam for a second or two, a little too much laugh and cheer going on for me, and I came here.”
“Well I’m glad you decided to come here,” he says.
“So am I,” you say in a whisper.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed playing in the snow,” he says smiling.
“You should do it more often,” you say.
“Should I?” he questions.
“Yeah you should,” you laughingly say.
“And why is that?” he asks.
“So next time you might, and that’s a big might, be able to keep up with me next time we have a snowball fight,” you say.
“So there’s gonna be a next time huh?” Maxwell laughs and says.
“Only if you can hang,” you respond.
“Alright na…..” you both laugh. “I think it’s about time I get back to the hotel, would you like for me to walk you home?” Maxwell asks.
“Aww that’s not necessary,” you tell him.
Smiling he says, “Yes it is I can’t let my little “snowflake” be left out here in the dark alone.”
You smile and say, “Yeah, you might be right, besides I’ve already encountered one “snowstorm” tonight, I don’t think I would be able to handle another.”
Unbeknownst to you Maxwell’s picks up another snowball as you begin to head toward your house. You are laughing and joking with Maxwell along the way. When you reach your house you turn to Maxwell and thank him for walking you home.
“No thank you,” he says.
“Thank me for what?” you ask.
“For helping me to experience the snow again. You had me out there acting a kid who saw snow for the first time,” he explains.
“Yeah you were fooling,” you laugh and say.
“Hahaha….very funny. Well I gotta go tell your family I said hello,” he says.
“Would you like to come inside to get some cocoa or something to warm you up?” you ask.
He smiles and says “Aww as much as I would love to, I can’t. By now I know folks are looking for me as is.”
“Oh ok maybe next time,” you say trying your best to hide your disappointment.
“Yeah next time,” he says smiling slyly.
As you turn to walk away you hear Maxwell laughing and as you turn to see what he is laughing at and you are hit with his hidden snowball. You try to give Maxwell a stern look but you can’t help but laugh.
“I think you better watch out the next time,” Max says laughing.
“Yeah alright, we will see,” you say laughing as you walk into the house laughing.
“Watch out for flying snowballs,” Maxwell yells as he walks down the street laughing. You laugh again as you brace yourself for the onslaught of questions you know will come your way once you go in your house. But to your surprise few questions come. It seems the party is still in full swing and with your newfound spirits you join in and share in a few laughs and cheers. You receive one last surprise for the night as you are given a new laptop with internet access. So as you are checking your emails you sit and think about the laughter and good times shared with Maxwell that night. You could hardly believe that you had a snowball and played with Maxwell or all people. You are headed to Auraqual when an instant message flashes across the screen alerting you that someone has sent you an email. You go back to check it and is excited to learn that Maxwell will be appearing on The Tonight Show with Lay Leno in two days. You think to yourself that you will finally be able to tape Maxwell’s appearance, considering the fact that you missed it last time. Even more excited you head to Auraqual to trip and hang out with the fam. Everyone is excite to see Maxwell, even if it is possibly a repeat. So as the day arrives you are hardly able to hold your excitement. Seeing him again will take you right back to his concert and the feelings and emotions you experienced there. But to your surprise this was a new episode and Max sang a new song this time. And an even greater surprise Maxwell actually spoke this time with Jay after his performance.
“So Maxwell, how are you tonight, did you have a good holiday?” Jay asks.
“All in all it was pretty good…considering,” Maxwell replies.
“Yeah that’s right, you almost didn’t get the chance to sing on here tonight. Tell everyone what happened to you.” Jay says.
“Well, I wanted to get away from the band and whatnot so I decided to go for a walk and it seems I got caught up in a…uhh snowstorm” Maxwell says smiling.
“Wow that must’ve of been horrible,” Jay comments.
“Naw…it wasn’t that bad, I got the chance to remember how fun the snow could be,” Max says laughing.
“Oh ok, so what did you get for Christmas?” Jay asks.
“Well, I got a few things but I gotta say the best thing I got was a new charm for my necklace,” answers Maxwell.
“Oh really, and what is it?” he is asked.
Maxwell laughs, smiles and looks at the camera and says, “A snowflake.”
“Cool, thanks for getting here and performing for us man. Once again I wanna thank Maxwell, Designer Asan….” Jay’s last comments are interrupted when your little cousin comes to your door and says, “Sorry I forgot to give you this, a package came for you this morning.” She hands you the box and leaves. You go to open the box and inside the box you find a necklace with a snowflake charm attached and a note. On the note it say…

“My one and only SnowQueen…this time only…lol….just a little sumthin sumthin to help you remember the snow…and the snow fight…next time you better watch out cause I’ll be ready…thanks again for helping me to experience the snow…”