Frosty

one: winter park

one: winter park

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀My warm breath fogs the window as I stare out at the snow capped mountains. Giant white flakes slowly make their way to the ground creating a winter wonderland. As the view of the mountains disappear, I focus on the familiar road my dad is driving on.

Every Christmas for the past three years my family visits Winter Park for the holidays. We end up staying for a week enjoying the the fun festivities. My family enjoys skiing down the slopes while I stay inside curled up with a book. Trust me, if I were to attempt to ski, I'd end up a giant snowball at the base of the mountain.

The familiar sign comes into my line of sight. The wooden evergreen trees carved into the sign are barely visible due to the snow. The words "Winter Park" etched between the wooden trees.

"Andrew, do stop and let me take a picture of the sign," my mother asks my father to pull over. "Blakley, darling, hand me my bag please."

As my father pulls over onto the side of the road, I hand my mother her purse that was sitting in the back of the car.

"Thank you, darling," my mother thanks both myself and my father. She grabs her old iPhone and quickly pulls up the camera app. She clicks the little circle several times in order to guarantee a quality photo.

Once mother's phone is put away, my dad pulls onto the road and into the gated resort. I stare at the lights that are strung on every branch of trees that align the road. Winter Park never fails to make their resort feel magical and Christmas-y, if that's a word.

"Look, Andrew!" The excitement in my mother's voice evident. "The lights are as extravagant as I remember," my mother sighs in contentment.

"Yes, they are, Jules," my father smiles at my mother. I think it's cute how he uses her nickname. My parents met in high school—my mother a sophomore and my father a senior. They instantly fell in love and have been together since. Mother always told me he would call her Jules and nobody else was allowed to call her that. I chuckled when she told me because that sounded just like dad.

"What time did Samuel say he would be arriving at the resort?" Sam is my older brother who is currently a sophomore in college. He wasn't able to make it down for thanksgiving, but my mother was delighted to hear that he could make it for Christmas.

"He won't be arriving till late tonight. Around eleven or so, I believe." My father replies as he pulls into the parking lot to the main building. "Y'all stay here as I go check in. I won't be too long."

My father exits the vehicle and runs through the chilling snow and into the building. The building looks like a giant log cabin as trees from this area were used to build Winter Park  back in 1978. The whole cabin feel adds to the winter-y and Christmas-y feel. I love it.

"Blakley," my mother's voice breaks me from my thoughts.

"Yes, mom?"

"Wake your brother, please. Your father won't be much longer."

I turn to look at my sleeping younger brother. If he were ten years older he would be Sam's twin. His blonde hair rakes over his eyes as he sleeps peacefully.

I slightly shake his arm. "Xavier, wake up. We're here." His eyes flutter for a bit before they open. His brown eyes squint from the light but soon adjust. "Morning, sleepyhead." I smile at my ten year old brother.

I receive a groan in response. Xavier's never been a morning person even if it isn't the morning. "Did I sleep the whole time?"

"Yep," I reply popping the 'p'. "The whole three hours." The drive to Winter Park was long, but worth it. I always look forward to curling up on the comfortable couch in front of the fireplace in the lodge with a good book. My family will try to get me to ski, but I will reject just like every year.

"When's Sam gonna get here, mom?" Xavier absolutely loves Sam. He looks up to Sam with such admiration.

"Not until late tonight, Hun," my mother turns in her seat. "And, no, you cannot stay up and wait for him. It'll be too late for you." Xavier's face falters. My mother knew exactly what he was going to ask.

"Why not?" Xavier whines.

"I already told you why." My mother turns back in her seat as my dad enters our vehicle once more.

"Look who decided to join us," dad teases Xavier before driving to our cabin. The cabin is also built from logs that were extracted from this land. The roof was also lined with lights. Winter Park always goes above and beyond with decorating.

My dad parks in the garage that sits under the cabin. We all unbuckle and stumble out of the car to stretch our legs. I've been sitting in a cramped car for three hours, my legs need a break.

Grabbing my backpack and blanket from my seat, I make my way up the stairs and into the living room of the cabin. The inside is just as beautiful as the outside, just like I remember. A large, lighted, seven-foot Christmas tree sits in front of a huge window for the whole resort to see. Every cabin has one.

I walk up the next flight of stairs and make my way to the room I always stay in. We've been so many times that we each have our own room and we could navigate through the house blindfolded. Though, I'd probably end up tripping as I tend to be quite clumsy.

I enter into the snowflake themed room. Every room had its own unique theme according to the season. Snowflakes, reindeer, snowmen, and Christmas trees. I've never come for any other season, but I bet that Christmas is the best season to be here.

"Blakley," my mother's voice calls me from downstairs. I place my backpack and Peter Pan blanket on the bed before exiting the room and descending the stairs. "There you are, darling. Dad has brought in your duffle bag. Also, dinner will be here in about forty-five minutes. We won't be doing the pajama and movie night tonight as Samuel isn't here yet. We'll save that for tomorrow night." Usually on the first night we arrive we eat pizza in our pajamas while watching elf and all the Santa Claus movies. It's our tradition.

"Sounds good," I say over my shoulder as I pick up my duffle bag. We're only staying a week, but I tend to under pack which is why I intentionally packed more than I needed. Let's just hope my 'overpacking' isn't under packed. I've done that before. I thought I overpacked, but no, I still managed to under pack.

Later that night, I find myself sitting on the window sill in my room. It's nearly ten thirty and the cabin is silent except for the hush sounds of the television downstairs. Mom and dad are waiting up for Samuel. I watch the heavier snow flakes flurry down the sky and to the ground. I tend to find two and mentally have them race, but once they're closer to the ground, I can no longer see them as they blend in with the white background. Sometimes I wonder why I have them race when I never truly know the outcome.

Once it's eleven, I make my way into the soft bed that sits in the middle of my room. I crawl under the comforter that is decorated with—you guessed it—snowflakes. As soon as my head hits the pillow, my eyes flutter shut as it has been a long day of traveling. Now, tomorrow is when all the fun happens—books, couches, fireplaces, hot chocolate,...

And soon enough I fall asleep dreaming of my day tomorrow.

author's note

Surprise! I'm writing a short story for the holiday season! I'll be posting a chapter a day all the way up until Christmas. Woo! I was feeling Christmas-y and really wanted to write this short story! Plus, it will force me to write. I will be working some on MPLS, but the priority is Frosty right now as this is the Christmas season and that's what this book is centered around.

I hope you enjoy this surprise. I know this first chapter doesn't give much, but I promise it'll be an interesting story (or I hope so). (: Hold on until tomorrow's chapter as that is where the fun begins.

Pictured: the oh-so-lovely, Blakley Adams; played by unknown girl found on Pinterest.

Tell me what you think.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas season.

Christmas Countdown: 7 days.

.j