Mary Koob    [MKOOB717@HOTMAIL.COM]

 "FIRST SNOW"

      Neil eased himself into bed, trying not to wake his wife, but 
Christy stirred and woke up.  "I'm sorry Lass," he whispered.  "I tried to be 
as quiet as possible."

      "It's all right, love" she sleepily replied.  "Come closer 
Neil."

      "I'm cold, Christy.  I took a quick bath and shaved."

      "I appreciate the thoughtfulness.  Now come here and kiss me.  
It's been two long days my love.  I hope everyone was well in Low Gap."
      "Nothing life threatening" he said as he gathered her into his 
arms and kissed her senseless.

      Hours later the room was filled with an eerie light.  Christy 
got up quietly and looked out the window.  It was snowing!  Her first
impulse was to jump on the bed and wake Neil up.  She loved snow.  It was
always such a magical treat. As a child, whenever it snowed, if there was enough, 
she would flop down and make snow angels.  Then she would build a snowman.  She 
would get so cold! When she came into the house her mother would help her take
off her sodden mittens, hat, scarf and coat.  She would go into the kitchen  
and on the table would be a steaming mug of hot chocolate and freshly baked 
scones or pecan buns.  She looked out the window again and smiled at her 
memories.

      She put on her robe and slippers and quietly left the room.  
Neil needed to sleep.  She fired up the stove, and looked through her 
recipes. Since she didn't have any yeast, pecan rolls were out of the 
question. She did have dried currants, so tea scones would do.  'This will
now be a MacNeill tradition' she thought to herself.  She decided to make some 
tea.

     Neil woke up to scent of something wonderful.  He came into the
kitchen and put his arms around Christy and pulled her close to him.  "Good
morning, Lass!  What's the occasion?"

      "It's snowing!"

      "Something looks and smells delicious."

      "I made scones.  It's tradition, and now it's our tradition.  
When the snow stops, we have to make a snowman."

      Neil laughed with delight.  "You must promise me you'll dress 
warmly. I don't want you or our wee one to catch a chill."

      "I promise.  I can't wait to carry on the tradition with our
children."

      "Children?  The first one hasn't been born yet!"

      "It's important to carry on family traditions."

      "I agree, Lass."  He kissed her gently.  "Now let's get dressed, 
so we can enjoy our first snowfall together."

      And they did!

 The End.
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