Mrs. Osnow’s Class

I will wake up, excited on Christmas eve to find puffy, white, snowflakes swirling outside my window. They make detailed, delicate, patterns of frost on the cold, transparent glass. My warm, quick breath fogs up the view and melts the lacy doily of ice. I exuberantly throw back the gauzy, white curtains, open the window and stick my head out to catch some of the lazily drifting flakes on my tongue. The tiny bits of ice land on my face and freeze onto my eyebrows and lashes making my pale cheeks flush a rosy red and my breath freezes in the snowy air.
 Jubilantly, I jump on the springy, quilted bed quietly singing to myself, “It’s snowing, it’s snowing”. Then I throw on my fuzzy slippers and cozy, warm bathrobe and silently tiptoe down the mahogany wood staircase. I leap across the doormat not bothering with a coat and find my way outside. I dance around in the snow, making the first tracks in the undisturbed, white blanket that covers my world. I admire the beauty of the white of the snow against the green of the evergreen trees. I proceed to grab a handful of snow to eat and run back inside before my toes and nose freeze.
 I retreat to the safe haven of my room and crawl back into bed to read my novel before my parents awaken. By the time everyone is groomed and dressed and at least partially awake, it is 10:30 and I am starving. My mother and I prepare a large breakfast of eggs and waffles. I wolf down my breakfast and hurriedly bundle up in hat, gloves, scarf, jacket and boots. Finally, I can dash outside to join my friends.
 By now the snow has accumulated so much that you can’t even see the little blades of dead grass poking out above the white landscape. Luckily, my tracks have been covered up and my mother doesn’t know that I’ve already been outside. I sneak up behind my next door neighbor and hurl a big glop of snow down her neck. She returns the gesture and more children join in. Pretty soon, everyone is involved in a full fledged snow war with forts, back up troops and reserves of snowballs. We battle until we are all soaked and freezing and then creep back to each of our own houses. To thaw myself out, I enjoy a long, hot shower which warms me from the inside out, melting the ice from my red nose.
 To complete the perfect day, my family has a delicious dinner of crisp, perfectly cooked, golden honeyed turkey, with mashed potatoes as fluffy and light as the snow outside, tender, green broccoli that melts in your mouth and garlic bread. Dessert is the best part of the meal. We have peach pie with a flakey, golden brown, buttery, rich crust. The fruit is sweet and juicy.
 After dinner, we retire to the living room and sit by the crackling, hot fire. The smoky scent and the soft, comfortable chairs make me tired but I stay awake, fueled by excitement and anticipation for the day to come. We play a quick round of Monopoly and put out cookies for Santa before going to bed. I lay awake for a few moments before falling into a deep sleep filled with dreams of Christmas.
 At the first signs of light in the morning, I spring out of bed and rouse my parents from their deep sleep by bouncing on their bed. “Wake up, wake up” I cry. They pretend to be awake and getting up but fall back to sleep when I leave. After I have my slippers and robe on, I return to pull them out of bed and down the stairs. My jaw drops when I see our stockings that are hanging from the mantel piece. They are filled to the top, bulging and overflowing with gifts. I pause to admire the Christmas tree, which glows and reflects the white light of the snow outside. Then I make a bee-line, aiming straight for the gifts stacked under the tree. They look so pretty in their brightly colored papers, all perfectly wrapped. They sit there nestled under the green pine boughs that are covered with white lights and tinsel. The glass ornaments reflect the scene in their curved sides. I pull out a giant bow addressed to me. It is neatly wrapped in red paper and has a giant green bow on top. I pull these off and am completely surprised by what I see. My eyes light up, and my mouth curves into an immense grin.