Snow by Wheeler Scott Read Free Book Online Page A

back home to wait for the Prince and Princess to summon him, back to what and who he wanted more than anything else.

    ***

    The Princess shook when she announced the King was dead and the Prince had to hold her up, cradling her in his arms. Everyone wept at their grief, at how it had made them lean so strongly on each other. They continued to hold each other as they announced with tear-filled voices that now they'd have to assume the burden their father had worn, that they would rule wisely and justly. They looked fragile standing there, as if their only support was each other, and everyone vowed silently to do anything to help them, anything at all. The Prince folded the Princess more tightly into his arms and let her hair drape over them so no one would see her smile. So no one would see his.

    No one asked about David.

    Joseph arrived home safely. He did not sleep well his first night home. He didn't sleep at all on the second night. His family chalked it up to amazement over the snow finally stopping. They hadn't slept well either. It was hard to since they were in the midst of a miracle. Everyone kept racing outside and staring at the clear sky. The town priest proclaimed a new world had arrived, God returning what was and always should have been to his faithful and a few people even whispered that the snow would melt soon, that soon things would return to how they used to be.

    Joseph no longer wanted to go into the forest. He sat at home instead, sat always watching the door and moving eager-eyed whenever a knock sounded, racing to open the door as if his life depended on it. His eager eyes always faded though, as if every visitor was not the one he was waiting for. His mother made him broth and patted his hand, kissed the top of his head.

    "It's so beautiful now," she said, and strained to look out the window. For the first time in so long there were things to see in the sky besides snow. She didn't want to miss anything. "And they say the snow might melt soon. Can you imagine that? God has truly blessed us. You should go outside. The sky is so blue it's a miracle."

    "It's not a miracle," he muttered. "Why haven't they called for me?"

    "What did you say? I didn't hear you."

    "Nothing," he said. "I'm tired, that's all."

    "Go sleep," his mother said. "You'll feel better once you've rested, I promise."

    Joseph went and lay down on his simple wooden bed. He thought about golden skin and voices whispering his name. He thought about promises.

    He didn't sleep.

    ***
    When it grew dark David knew Joseph wasn't coming back. He opened his bag and looked through it. His nurse's shawl wasn't there. The servant hadn't packed it after all. David knit his fingers together and thought of it sitting faded on a shelf in his room, of how it was there for him to touch whenever he wanted and how whenever he did he thought about her and didn't feel so alone. Around him the snow crackled, crisping into ice. He took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. Clouds were starting to fill it, shading out the stars. He took another deep breath and thought of his nurse's face. He thought about gingerbread and the trees in front of him, watched their scratchy tall shapes move in the wind. He lay down and felt the snow sink around him, welcoming him. Overhead the clouds shifted, drawing back, the stars shining brightly again. He found all the ones his nurse had told him about, watched them grow brighter as the night grew darker, stiller. They seemed so close, like he could just reach out and touch them. He liked that.

    He heard the trees moving, singing a peculiar moaning song as the wind scraped across them. He tried to sing along with it but the song kept changing, becoming new every time the wind shifted.
    He heard other songs too, songs that didn't sound like any he'd heard another person sing, strange wordless cries that he thought sounded like a plea, like how he'd felt when his nurse died. When they grew close he sat up and sang