rewrite of:

on her way to visiting a high school friend Yours Truly

-----

There was snow, but not like she remembered growing up. Her memories of Decembers were whiter than Decembers today. Her mind pictured weeks, sometimes months, of total whiteness enveloping all of town except the salted, plowed streets.

A blanket of

snow

was like a sprinkling of magic. There was a grounded, excitement in driving on black roads surrounded by four foot tall snow banks. Ordinary events became special: catching up with old friends, scheming with new. A party at 5:30 in the evening would feel especially late.

Back then McKayla fell in love each winter. It had been easier to feel and live because there was always something new to learn. A new ingredient in a new dish at a restaurant with white tablecloth. Aged wine in candle-lit cellars feeling like she was part of the French Resistance. Countless cozy corners where she would try a hot beverage for the first time.

Ginger Dragon

,

rooibos

tea, a

cappuccino

with properly frothed whole milk ontop decent espresso.

This never happened anymore. Decorations and new ingredients felt like frills. And the snow never fell as it once did.

It was the day after

Christmas

, and already the gray concrete, black asphalt, and grass that were reclaiming the surface. What remained resembled slush more than the brightness that peers into your retinae you peered out to it for the first time in the morning after a heavy nightfall.

The lack of snow made driving easier. McKayla was on route to visit a friend she hadn't seen in five years. The friend now lived in a town only thirty minutes from where they'd gone to high school. McKayla had never been here before although she had heard the town name mentioned countless times in the news. It didn't appear much different than the town they had grown up in. Driving down the main strip, everything felt a bit familiar. McKayla thought of how much nicer it would feel with more snow.

She passed a guy and a girl walking the opposite way wearing only vests and running shoes. McKayla was much more over dressed. Down winter goat, Blundstone boots, and a beanie. She would make sure to take off at least the beanie before going into her friend's house.