Jessie's Snowman

Jessie wanted to make a snowman, but first had to endure a long day at school.

Jessie loved to build snowmen.  Here is a fictionalized account of a typical snowy day when she wanted to build a snowman. 

The forecast called for snow; as a child of eight, Jessie eagerly awaited those first flakes of the season to fall. Waking up at 7:00 am, she rushed to the window to check for snow. “It snowed, it snowed,” she cried! It wasn't a lot of snow, by Michigan standards, but it was enough to make a snowman.

The only problem was the wait, it hadn't snowed enough to cancel school.  She wanted so desperately to build a snowman, but first, she would have to endure a whole day at school!

The school bus was abuzz with talk about the snow, as she endured the long ride to school.  She was assailed with a cacophony of sound, lockers slamming, exclamations to friends, children coughing, books slamming as she pushed her way down the school hallway. 

In the classroom, children scurried to complete homework assignments due within minutes.  As she stood and recited The Pledge of Allegiance, hand over her heart, her mind wandered.  Her eyes couldn't stop looking out the window when she was supposed to be doing her math.  Then at recess, she had a snowball smashed in her face by some older boys.  She stuttered over words she should have known when she read aloud in reading class.  

She threw half of her lunch in the garbage, she was just too excited to eat.  The minutes seemed to tick by so slowly. She couldn't concentrate on school work. She gazed outside.  Only a few stray flakes of snow still fell, but the snow hadn't melted. Realizing the teacher was speaking to her, Jessie looked up blankly.  She hadn't been listening and her face flamed with embarrassment.  Finally, the hands on the clock read 3:30!

Rushing to her locker, she pulled on her coat, slipped her feet into her boots and grabbed her backpack, not even bothering to put her gloves on. The air was brisk as she walked to her school bus.

Climbing the steps up into the bus, she smiled at the bus driver.  Thoughts on how she would build her snowman were circling in her head. She didn't even hear the usual rambunctious noise on the thirty-minute ride home, she was so deep in thought.  Jim said something to her, but she just ignored her brother.  Her thoughts were all for her snowman!

She hopped off the bus and raced home. She dropped her backpack by the door. Frantically, she tried to take off her coat, doing a potty dance, when her brother beat her to the bathroom. With barely a word to me, she scrambled into snow pants, coat, boots, hat, scarf, and mittens and raced outside.

Finally, outside, she squealed with delight! Making a small ball with her mittened hands, she started rolling it around the front yard. When it started getting too hard to push the ball around, she deemed it big enough. Repeating the process, she made another, slightly smaller ball. Lifting the second ball on top of the first ball was hard, but she finally did it. Next, she made an even smaller ball and lifted it up on top of the second ball.

Now, to find something to use for the face and arms. The face would be the hardest part; digging under the snow in the driveway, she searched for just the right stones to use for eyes and a mouth. Running back to her stacked snowballs, she carefully placed the stones on the upper snowball, creating two eyes and a wide mouth. Then, going to the forsythia bush, at the corner of the house, she broke off some branches to use for arms. Sticking the branches into the sides of the middle snowball, she gave her snowman arms.

Her snowman was almost complete! Rushing inside, her cheeks all rosy from the cold, she asked me if she could have a carrot, an old hat, and a scarf. She rummaged through the vegetable bin of the refrigerator, while I searched the closet for an old hat and scarf that wouldn't be missed.

Back outside, she placed the nose on the snowman's face. She tied the blue scarf around the snowman's neck with a knot, she didn't want the wind to blow it away. Lastly, she placed the old hat on the snowman's head and stepped back to admire him. He didn't have a fancy top hat like Frosty the Snowman, his was a blue and gray knit hat, but she loved him just the same.

As soon as I saw that the snowman was finished, I went outside with a camera, capturing forever the image of Jessie and her beloved snowman. She played around outside until it was almost time for supper. She made a snow angel and tried to slide down the tiny hill formed by the ditch and the plowed snow.

Afterward, sipping hot cocoa inside, she thought about her day; playing around in the snow had been fun, but the best part was her snowman!