47

                                    

                                          
            
                          
Currently taking a break from my first round of newspaper edits... Yikes. It's taking a lot of self-restraint to not completely tear the one article apart. I have hiiiiiiigh standards, my friends.






                          
On a more relaxed note, getting in the spirit of this update, here's a video of my puppy (who isn't so much a puppy now) enjoying the snow last March.






                          
*** ***






                          
"It's snowing!" Maeve screams without warning.
                          
Lis flinches at the outburst.
                          
"We need to have a snowball fight!"
                          
"You up to that?" Jamison asks, catching her flailing arms and peeking under the bandages. The briefest wince crosses his face, there one second, gone the next.
                          
My heart sinks.
                          
What the hell was on that blade?
                          
"Yes!" Maeve pulls away from him and runs back to the window.
                          
"I found some first-aid stuff in one of the bathrooms," Ori says to me in an undertone. "Antibiotic ointment and painkillers."
                          
"And what'd you do, give her a double dose?"
                          
"No, I gave her a half-dose. She's just being a kid on Christmas."
                          
I'm not entirely convinced, watching Maeve bounce around like there are springs in her feet, but there's nothing I can do about it anyway.
                          
"Alright, we can go out, but only for a little while, and we have to put more clothes on first." Jamison grabs another Oreo and holds it between his teeth as he ushers Maeve from the room.
                          
"Anyone else in?" Sander asks, getting to his feet and stretching.
                          
"Me." Ori pulls on the hoodie she received from Lis. "Halle? Lis? Beck?"
                          
Beck nods, for once showing something akin to eagerness.
                          
"I'll watch," Lis says, pulling her blanket tighter around her shoulders.
                          
"That means you're in, Halle."
                          
"Great." I've never been a big fan of snowball fights, especially since the time Cass accidentally hit me right between the eyes with a really solidly-packed snowball back in first grade. I woke up flat on my back, snow all over my face, laughingstock of the entire schoolyard.
                          
"Oh, don't be like that, we'll go easy on you." Ori smirks, and I'm sure she's remembering that day back in primary school.
                          
"You say that now. I've seen you throw snowballs, Miss Softball Captain."
                          
She shrugs.



                          
***



                          
"Okay, so here's our game plan." Ori pulls Maeve and I behind our carefully-constructed snow wall. "Halle, sorry, you're not exactly our strongest thrower, so you're on snowball-making duty for the first minute or two. Maeve, you can focus primarily on Jamison, 'cause he's a softie for you. Halle, you get Beck, and I'll take out Sander."
                          
I raise an eyebrow but she ignores me.
                          
"Cool." Maeve continues to vibrate with energy, but I'm thinking now it's from cold rather than excitement. "Can I hit him in the face?"
                          
I cringe. "How about no head shots?"
                          
Her face falls, but only for a moment. "Okay."
                          
"Great. Let's kick some butt, yeah?"