Dark Surprise

The starlit sky was crisp and cold. From our cozy car, we watched as people exited their cars. They were bundled head to toe with snow pants, hats and gloves as if they were headed out for a day on the slopes not slope-side fireworks. These were experienced winter fire works watchers, which clearly, huddled in our car, we were not. I hoped we hadn’t made a poor decision to watch from our car.

We had a fabulous day skiing under bluebird skies. I was admittedly nervous with the predicted temperatures being a low of 5 and a high of 15. With those temperatures, I envisioned my day peppered with trips to the car to warm up. My vision was adjusted within the first two runs. The blue sky, sun, and a little radiant heat goes a long way on a mid February day. It was turning out to be a near perfect. If only Hannah could have joined us, but work was calling louder than the mountain.

The car clock read 6:53, 7 minutes and counting. Fresh air tired, I was beginning to zone out as we waited for the first firework. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, there was movement coming towards the car. I jerked my head to the right to see someone running towards our car. My heart jumped, I snapped out of my tired trance when I realized who was running towards us. The door flew open and in an instant I was hugging my girl. “HANNAH!” Billy yelled. Megan cackled and giggled in the backseat. “I was texting her all night!” She squealed, proud of her undercover work. “We are not watching fireworks from the car!” Hannah declared at 6:58! “Let’s go.” So, unprepared, out into that crisp cold night we went to watch the fireworks, together.