She was standing in the snow and listening to the silence. Mitch had gone back to the car for his hat and gloves before they went for a walk.

She could hear his footsteps on the snow as he returned. She turned to look and was rewarded with a snowball to her forehead.

“What the fuck, Mitch?”

She could see his face turn red and he started to stammer. “I thought it would go right over your head–I am so sorry.”

She used her gloves to clear her face. He came closer to help and bumped the tree branch over them. A cascade of snow covered them both.

There was a moment of dead silence as he looked at her through the snow covering his head and, well, everything. As he started to open his mouth for another apology, she started to laugh.

As he was staring at her, she started to laugh even harder. She lost her balance and fell on her butt in the snow, which just made her laugh more. She was gasping for air and holding her stomach, but she couldn’t stop laughing.

Mitch sat next to her and waited. Finally, wiping tears from her eyes and snow from her face, she turned to him. “If you wanted to play in the snow, you could have just said so.” She grabbed a loose handful of snow and tossed it at him.

The snow hit him in the mouth just as he started to respond. He spit out the snow and started laughing with her as she pounced on him. “Let the games begin!”

(268 words)