Page 41 of A Curvy Carol

“Are you okay, Whitney?” the same kid asked me.

“Yeah,” I replied halfheartedly, giving up on correcting him.

I wasn’t, really, but I wasn’t about to explain the train wreck that was my love life to an eight-year-old.

His little brother came up to me. “My dad says it’s okay to kick snow if you’re upset. Just don’t kick people. Or something someone built.”

“Sounds like good advice,” I said.

“Are you mad at somebody? Like your best friend?” he asked me.

“Just myself,” I replied, and we continued working on our snow girl.

After a while, their parents called them in so they could go get lunch. They said goodbye, and I waved back before heading inside myself.

It was freezing cold outside, and my fingers were numb even through my gloves, so I had to give up on being busy and go inside to warm up.

As I walked through the lobby, an older woman came in, and I immediately recognized her. It was the lady from The Nutcracker.

To my surprise, she spotted me and waved. I stopped in my tracks as she made her way over to me.

“Oh, I’m glad I ran into you, young man,” she said. She had to be a full foot shorter than me. She kind of reminded me of my grandma.

“Your snow globe is ready,” she said, pulling a small box out of a large bag. She handed it to me, and I took it, mostly puzzled before realizing this was the snow globe I had ordered for Carolynn and me.

“I already gave Carolynn hers yesterday. She loved it,” she told me.

“Good,” I said quietly. “I hoped she would. Thank you.”

Her eyes lingered on me for a moment, and she looked like she wanted to say something. Instead, she patted my back and was off again. It seemed she had several orders to deliver to the lodge because she headed over to my mom, who stood at the front desk.

Meanwhile, I studied the snow globe. It was perfect.

A tiny, curvy figure with blonde hair stood next to a taller figure with short dark hair. It was us. With a snowman behind us and snow all around. I shook the globe and watched the snow fall around us.

It was magical, just like the last several days with Carolynn.

Staring at this globe, I knew one thing. I had to find a way to get her back.

I hadn’t thought of anything yet, but there had to be something I could do.

I walked back home and placed the snow globe carefully on my dresser.

As I had some lunch, I thought things over. I was pretty sure I needed some sort of grand gesture, just like in those cheesy movies my mom liked to watch this time of year. And maybe some flannel. The guys were always wearing flannel in those movies.

After I finished eating, I got back into my coat and gloves. Then I pulled my boots on and headed into town.

I had an idea, and I needed to get back to The Nutcracker. When I walked through the heavy wooden doors, I spotted what I was looking for on the shelf. I’d seen this before but hadn’t thought much of it.

Now, it might be the answer to getting Carolynn back.

I grabbed the box off the shelf and headed to the register.

Ms. Merriweather was there, and she smiled wide when she saw me. “Hello again!”

“Hi,” I replied.

“Hello.” She took the box and scanned it. “Starting a new project, I see.”

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