Sea of Diamonds

One girl waited every year to see the snow that is so beautiful to her. Yet, when her snow is slowly taken away from her, a small miracle may help save that precious moment.

Sea of Diamonds
by omegax45



They say after a heavy snowfall the night before, the light of dawn makes the snow glimmer and shine. Some had described it like the thick icing upon gingerbread houses. Others had described it as thick clouds taking a rest from their long journey in the sky. Even some children would described it as piles of sugar that was deposited onto the earth after someone opened up countless bags and left it there.
To one young girl, it looked like the heavens had covered the world in a sea of diamonds as far as the eye can see.
Every winter, as far as she could remember, she would wake up early to see the sun rise after a heavy snowfall the night before. The dark world outside her window would suddenly become brighter, the darkness that made the stars shine brighter changing slowly to blue and the stars fading away. Soon after, the golden rays of the sun peeked over the horizon and slowly descended from the tops of the houses and trees to the ground below. The snow would then glimmer and sparkle in the golden light, as if there was a pile of small diamonds on her front yard. One can only truly enjoy such a beautiful and majestic scenery by being there to actually see it in person. There was no way to truly described it, painted it, or even photographed it.
A few hours later, her father went outside to shovel the sidewalk leading to their house and driveway, ruining the scene as he used the shovel to throw the snow onto the lawn. She then waited for another snowfall to see the sea of diamonds once again. And when spring came to melt the snow away, she used her memories to keep her satisfied until winter came again.
The young girl couldn’t understand why everyone else but her and other children hated the snow. The adults don’t want to drive through it or shovel it off their sidewalks. The older children don’t want to walk in it or do the shoveling instead of their parents. The young children like her loved to play in it, having snowball fights and making snow forts and sculptures out of now. They aren’t bothered by the cold like those older than them. So why? Was it because the older one got, the less one appreciate things? How could anyone hate something so beautiful, so fun to play in?
As she grew older, she began to understand their hatred. The games she once played with the young children no longer interested her, nor did she had any fun playing them. She began to notice the cold more, the annoyance of melted snow in her boots and gloves. She then realized why her father hated it as she took over shoveling the sidewalk and driveway. Driving after a heavy snowfall was, in fact, much harder than she had originally thought, and was actually grateful that her parents were so careful driving when she was younger. She had skid, slid, and even spun her car. Holiday rush was the worse, the other drivers in such a hurry that they either didn't care they got into an accident, or getting into an accident was far from their minds. She would’ve swore off driving in winter had she not need a car to get to work.
Still, she loved winter. That was the one thing that did not change with time. She still got up early to see her sea of diamonds on her front lawn, memorized what she saw, and waited for the next chance to see it again.
However, all things must come to an end.
Upon her adult years, the winters became warmer and warmer. Climate changes prevented the temperature from getting cold enough for snow. If there was snow, it didn't stayed long enough for her to enjoy the sea of diamonds in the morning, as she had a hard time waking early enough to see it before it melted away. Rain and ice became norm for everyone during winter. The winter holidays didn't feel like the holidays of her childhood. Worse, being an environmentalist, the changes in climate caused an unbalance in nature and trying to find a solution was difficult. Grass and daffodils were growing early only to die shortly in the late winter frost. Insects that had normally died in the early winter were living longer and causing damage to the plants in hibernation. Less birds were surviving childhood due to the insects being born earlier and being more difficult for the adult birds to catch. She and her fellow co workers were busy every day trying to restore the lost balance.
The young girl, now a woman, wanted to weep in sorrow for the loss of the best time in her childhood. Her memories of those early winter mornings were all she had left, and those precious few were fading with each year that passed. She wanted to move further north to see her sea of diamonds, but the northern areas were mainly wilderness. Even if she could afford to buy land and had a house built there, it would be a hassle to drive the long hours to work and back, including grocery shopping or visiting friends and family. She also didn't want to take her children away from their friends or all what they had known. That would’ve been unfair to them. She had tried once to explain the sea of diamonds to her children when they heard her mumbling about it one day, but they simply couldn’t picture it in her minds. They only saw snow as something to play in when there was enough of it outside. It made her give up on ever seeing it again.
Upon one Christmas morning, her family was opening presents when she came across a single present in the corner of the Christmas tree. She had no memory of putting it there, the white and gold gift wrap making it stand out amongst the other gifts. The simple tag tied to the golden bow had her name on it, but she didn’t recognized the handwriting. She asked her husband and children about the present, but they did not know where it came from.
“Maybe it’s from Santa,” her youngest child suggested happily.
The woman thought it to be silly. Santa Claus only gave gifts to children. It was unheard of that he would give gifts to adults. Sure, she and her husband bought gifts and pretended they’re from Santa to each other, but since he had claimed that he knew nothing of the present….then who?
Curious, the woman ripped off the gift wrap and opened the box within to gasp quietly. She pulled out a large snow globe with a golden base that had indents of ivy and flowers. Inside the globe was a simple yellow house on a hill with tall bushes at each corner. She shook the snow globe a bit, sparkling snow swirling around and settling upon the house. The sunlight from outside land on the snow globe, and the woman was almost in tears as the snow shimmers like diamonds, bringing back so many memories of her youth.
The sea of diamonds. Returned to her in all of its glory…
“So pretty,” her children awed, everyone looking at the snow globe.
“Yes,” the woman mutters happily, “Yes it is.”


THE END

Author's Note

Happy Holidays to all. As you guessed, I am a big supporter of environmentalists working so hard to ensure that the wonders of nature and the world can be shared for generations to come. These warm winters are starting to worry me. All in all, I hope you enjoy the story and you have a wonderful day.