Snowy Girlfriend

Snowy Girlfriend.

Terry scratched at her head as the snowman on the other side of the window spun round and round. “Ohh, Markus would just adore that.” She sighed as she looked at the price tag sticking out of the golden base. “But there is no way I can afford that. A hundred bucks for a Frosty the Snowman rip-off.” She shook her head and rubbed the sleeve of her jacket. “Why do people think they can rob you on the holidays? It just isn’t right. It isn’t the spirit of Christmas.”

“I might as well try and find something in this store. It is getting late, and it’s Chrismas eve.” As she walked up to the door, a young man flipped the neon light to closed.

“What!” She rushed to the door and slammed on it. “What are you doing? It is only three p.m. You can’t close this early.”

He narrowed his green eyes. “Sorry, miss. It’s Chrismas eve. You are lucky we were open this late. Go home and spend time with your family.”

Terry hugged herself as a cold wind blasted across the street. “But I have to get something for my boyfriend.” She shivered. “I have been working to the bone these last few weeks, and I haven’t had the time to shop until now! You have to let me in.”

He shook his head. “Sorry. I am going home to spend time with the family. You aren’t the only one who has been worked to the bone. Have a happy holiday.” He disappeared into the store.

Terry turned around and shivered, her warm breath penetrating the cold air around her. “This won’t do. I need to do something for Markus. Ughh.” She closed her Amber eyes. “But what? I can’t just keep shopping. Everyone is going to close soon. I can’t go to him empty-handed.” She looked up as snow began to fall. “Oh no. The snow wasn’t supposed to start for another two hours.” She shook her head. “There is supposed to be a blizzard tonight. This is just great.”

The phone suddenly vibrated in her purse. Terry pulled it out and gasped. “Oh no.” She raised it to her ear. “Hi, Markus.”

“Hey, where are you? You said you were going out for a cup of coffee, but that was two hours ago. Are you ok?”

She hugged herself. “I got a bit distracted. I am heading back now.” She looked at the ground. “Don’t worry. I am fine if a tad cold.”

“Well, hurry back, ok. It is freezing out there. The last thing you need is to catch a cold on Christmas eve. I want to enjoy your company tonight.”

She tugged at her coat. “Yes. I want nothing more than that, too, honey. But look, I have to go. It is already snowing, and I need to find my car.”

“Ok. Hurry back. I am making some hot cocoa for when you get here.”

She smiled. “That sounds wonderful.” She ended the call and slid her phone into her purse. “Ok. Now to find where I parked.” She looked up at the sky as the snow continued to fall. “And I should hurry before this snowfall picks up.”

Terry rushed down the street as the snowfall intensified. “Ughhh.” She narrowed her eyes as the visibility worsened. “Where is that damn truck of mine.” She looked up and down the street. “I know I left it right here. Fuck.” She slammed her foot on the ground. “If I have to walk six blocks in this cold, I am. . .” She rubbed her hands together. “Ohhh, what am I going to do? I don’t want to catch my death trying to get back to Markus’s house.”

She looked down as a strange top hat brushed up against her leg. “Huh?” She knelt down and picked it up. “What in the world? I haven’t seen something like this since I was a little girl.” She laughed. “And those Christmas specials. Hmm. . .” Terry dusted the snow off the top of the black hat. “What was this from again? Oh yes, that snowman show.” She winced. “Ugh, I have the song stuck in my head now. Frosty the snowman.” She pounded on her forehead. “As if I need any more misery today.” She began walking down the street. “Now I am going to have that song stuck in my head all the way to Markus’s house.”

As she walked down the street, she stared at the hat. “What am I going to do with you? Hmm. I could bring you with me as a present for Markus. I don’t very well have anything else, do I?” She smiled. “Well, I guess it’s a good thing you bumped into me.” She put the top hat onto her head. “I just hope Markus likes you. As far as last-minute presents go, you are a bit unusual.” She smiled. “Hmm, it doesn’t feel that cold anymore.” She smiled. “Well, I better hurry before another chill wind blasts me in the face.”

As she rushed down the street, Terry didn’t notice the ice starting to form on her fingers. “It’s odd. I am really starting to feel warm. I hope that isn’t a bad thing. Don’t you feel warm before frostbite set’s in or something?” She wiped at her forehead, feeling the snow on her hand.

“Oh no! I am freezing up.”

Terry looked at her hands to see them covered in snow. “It’s worse than I thought!” She clasped her hands together only to see one hand go through the other. “What in the world?” She blinked her eyes. “What is going on?” She watched as the snow-covered her arms, consuming her jacket. “What is happening to me?”

A young man on the other side of the street gulped as he stared at Terry. “Um. . .”

He took a few steps back. “What is wrong with this storm?”

Terry waved at him. “Hey. Can you please help me?” She took a step towards him. “Something is very wrong with me. Look at my arms. They are not just covered with snow. They are snow inside and out.”

He shook his head. “No, thank you. I need to get out of this weather before I freeze myself.” He turned around. “Good luck, lady.”

“Hey!” She raised her arm. “You can’t just leave me.” Terry sighed.

“What kind of nonsense is this?” She shook her snowy arms. “I didn’t ask for this. Hughh. But how can I stop this?” She tapped at her chest. “As it is, this is spreading to my chest.” She winced as her jacket slowly vanished. “Stop it! This jacket was expensive.”

Terry formed her snowy hands into a fist. “Well, I will not let this stop me from making my date with Markus.” She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t care if I am completely made of snow; I am going to get out of this blizzard!”

As she rushed through the falling snow, more and more of her body became one with the frozen falling water around her. Not only that, but she could feel her body growing from the inside. “Hugh. This is getting worse by the minute.” She shook her head. “Why is this happening?”

Terry suddenly tripped, her snow-covered face landing in the snow. “Ughh.”

She groaned as she pushed herself up, her soft white fingers leaving no marks on the ground below. “What happened?” She looked at the icy sidewalk to see her feet were melding together into a rounded bottom. “Oh no, no, no.” Terry shook her head. “This can’t be real.” She ran her hands along her icy body. “How can this be real. My feet. My legs. What happened to them?” She laughed. “I am just hallucinating. That is right. I am not really made out of snow. That isn’t possible. No one can really look like a snowman.” She walked forward, or as much as someone with a massive snowball for legs could. “I will snap out of this soon and be inside my warm truck. Yes, that is it.”

She closed her eyes as the snow covered her cheeks, and she could feel her face rounding out. “I hope I snap out of it.”

***

Markus paced back and forth as the fire roared in the background. “Where the hell is she?” He stared at the cell phone in his hands. “And now she isn’t returning my calls? I am going to call 911.”

He raised the phone to his ear and tapped his boot on the ground as the phone rang. “That is strange. Since when does it take this long to get through on the emergence line?”

“Hello, sir or madam. Due to a significant influx of calls, we are unable to help you at this moment. We are terribly sorry, but please wait on the line. A trained professional will answer your call as soon as possible. So please don’t hang up. And if you are here to prank us, you will be hunted down. You hear me. There are lives on the line.”

Markus rolled his eyes. “Well, that is a first. I have never heard the 911 answering machine before. And I didn’t expect it to be so hostile.” As he tapped his fingers on the back of his phone, he heard a strange tapping at the front door. “What in the world?” He narrowed his eyes. “It sounds like some kind of bird or loose tree limb.” Markus winced as the sound intensified. “Ugh, if it doesn’t stop, that is going to drive me nuts.” Setting his phone on speaker, he rushed for the front door.

He formed his hands into fists as he neared the door. “Look, whoever or whatever is out there. I want you to just go away.” His hand gripped the door handle. “I have a crucial call I am waiting on and. . .” He thrust the door open to see the craziest snowman he had ever seen, though snowwoman would be a better description. A round bottom like most snowmen, but the top had a more feminine curve, large snowy breasts, and a face that seemed familiar. “Who the hell put you at my doorstep?” Markus crossed his arms as he shivered. “Ugh, I better push you away, so you don’t keep tapping at my door all night.”

“Please don’t.” The snowwoman suddenly spoke. “I have walked through this blizzard all night long.” She suddenly wobbled inside. “Oh, it’s soo good to see you. You won’t believe the night I have had.”

“What are you talking about? I don’t know any snowmen or snowwomen.” As he put his hand on her snowy shoulder, he found it to be warm to the touch. “Even if your face is so very familiar. Why do I feel like I have seen you before?”

“Because it’s me. Terry.”

His eyes widened. “Terry?” Markus shook his head and took a few steps back. “That isn’t possible. My girlfriend isn’t some creature of. . .” He examined her body from top to bottom. “Of some Christmas holiday’s snowman’s fantasy.”

She ran her hands along her body. “I don’t know what happened to me. I just knew I had to make it here to spend the holiday with you despite what perils and icy cold burdens.” She smiled. “And give you, my gift.”

“Gift? We need to get you to a hospital.”

She giggled. “No way. I am perfectly fine. I was a bit worried initially, but I feel okay in my new snowy body.” She spun around, bits of snow landing on the furniture around them. “Even nice and warm.”

Markus winced as he watched the snow cover the pictures of his mother. “Ughh.

Look, can you not get so. . . jubilant?” He sighed. “What is this gift you have for me?”

Terry tapped the black top hat on her head. “Why this, of course.” She giggled. “Isn’t it wonderful?”

He shrugged. “I guess so.”

“Well then. Why don’t you try it on?” The moment she pulled it from her head, her body ceased all movement.

Markus laughed. “Ok, very funny. You can stop with the Frosty the Snowman impression.” He tapped his fingers on his arm as the seconds rolled by. “Terry, this isn’t funny.” He walked right up to her face and pressed his fingers against her snowy cheeks, his finger piercing her body. “Hey! What is wrong with you.” He took the hat out of her hand and hit her across the head. “Terry! Stop it. You are scaring me!”

When she didn’t respond, he ran his hands through his hair. “Oh no.

What am I going to do? She came here only to fully turn into a snowman in my house. This is great. Just great.” He set the hat on top of her head without thinking. “I am just screwed. Screwed.”

Terry blinked her eyes. “Hey, why aren’t you wearing the hat I got you?”

Markus smiled and hugged Terry. “You are alive. Oh yes, you are alive.”

She gently patted him on the back. “Of course, I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”

He pushed himself away and sighed. “The moment you took that hat off; you stopped moving. The life went out of your eyes.” Trembling, he put his hand on her shoulder. “I can’t have you take that thing off again. Please. I almost lost you to the blizzard, and I won’t lose you to becoming a real snowwoman. You hear me.”

Terry blushed. “Oh my. Markus.” She giggled. “I can’t believe you. . .” Terry looked at the ground while a smile formed on her face. “I can’t believe you would give up your Christmas gift for me. Especially since it has been the only one, I have been able to find.”

He took her frozen hand into his. “My gift is you being here with me. Even if you are a bit frosty. The holidays are about being together.”

Terry ran her finger along his chest. “Well then. What do you say we spend some quality time together while I am trapped in this body?”

His cheeks turned red, and he pulled at the collar of his sweater. “Umm.. . .”

Markus laughed. “That sounds interesting. I never thought of cozying up with a snowwoman.”

Terry smiled. “Well then.” She pulled him close. “Let’s say we enjoy this stary night, shall we?” She rubbed his face. “And see what other presents come in the morning.”

“I can’t wait."