The First Snow

It was October 29, 2011. October, barely the peak of autumn. Some of the leaves of deciduous trees haven’t even changed hues, retaining their green luster. The clouds overhead were dark, but they were not too dark, as an ominous thundercloud could be.

It was raining. The noise of gallons of water falling from the sky was unmistakeable. But then it changed. The water became lighter. It became colder.

It became snow.

At first, it was a wet snow. It was a sloppy snow that simply melted away as it hit pavement. Heavy flurries, they were. But then they got lighter still. Not to the point of powder, but they got lighter. Just enough to begin adhering to nooks and crannies. A slushy, wet snow began accumulating where it could, on the cars, on branches and leaves, on roofs.

As I stood outside, fighting against the wind with my umbrella, a warm meal tucked in a bag pressed against my chest to avoid getting it damp, even though it did little to prevent the wayward ice from bypassing the umbrella, I was happy. For the first time in too long, I was happy.

It was a fleeting sensation. Was it because a new book in the Halo series came out, Glasslands, one that was a relative sequel to the Ghosts of Onyx, one that sought to bridge the gap between Halo 3 and 4? Was it because for the first time, I saw in front of me the schedule of my next semester, blank as it was, but filled by my own powers, even if I did not understand all of the ramifications? Was it because the fact that despite I was cold, I felt alive in something that was not so much a masochism, but just the sensation of a non-adrenaline high because it was cold, because I was alive? Did, for that moment and only that moment, all of my inhibitions and fears, my doubts and my weaknesses, melt away with the crystallization of water, snow and ice?

I didn’t know. I don’t know. I’ll never know. But I do know that I was happy. A fleeting sensation. But I was happy.