Chapter 23

The following day when they awoke, New York City had been transformed into a winter wonderland. As they'd slept, Jack Frost had coated the city in almost a foot of crisp, white snow, and Kyera could barely contain her excitement when she saw it. "Snow!" she declared, pulling Dusty out of her bed. "Snow!"

"So I see," Dusty replied, sleepily rubbing her eyes.

"We are so having a snowball fight. And making snow angels and snowmen." Kyera was speaking quickly as she pulled on her clothes, steeling herself against the forthcoming cold. Dusty smiled as she watched her. It had been a while since she'd seen her so animated about something. She was brimming with childlike excitement, and it was contagious.

They made their way to Central Park and joined the other winter revelers who were already eagerly throwing balls of snow at one another. There in the famous park, they played together in the snow until the sun drew low in the sky. They lay down side by side and made snow angels, though Kyera would always add horns to her own imprint to transform it into a snow devil. They threw snowballs at each other and ran and laughed until their lungs hurt. It was a day dedicated to complete, carefree abandon. A day without rules, without limits and without the burdens of adulthood.

"That hurt!" Dusty protested as Kyera hurled yet another snowball at her.

"I thought you were going to complain that it was yellow," she teased. Pouting, Dusty quickly scrunched up a ball of snow of her own and tossed it at her, but Kyera was too quick, and her ball landed with a soft thud on the snowy ground. "I'm like a ninja," she yelled playfully.

"You're not masculine enough; you're more like a ballerina," Dusty joked.

"At least one of us is graceful," Kyera declared as her comment was accompanied by yet another snowball that connected with the side of Dusty's head.

"Ow!" she yelled, putting her hand up to her head. "They can really hurt you know. They're like solid ice." As she held her head, she realized how wet her hair was. Through their hours of playing in the snow, she'd become numb in her extremities, but there was no denying that her hair was soaking wet, as were most of her clothes.

"Kyera, we need to go, my clothes are soaked," she called over to her. Kyera raised an eyebrow at her and gave her a mischievous grin.

"So you want me to take you home and get you out of those wet clothes?" she asked.

"Kyera!"

"Sorry, heard that one before." She winked.

"Seriously, I'm soaked."

"Okay, okay." Kyera came over but couldn't resist releasing one final snowball right on top of her head.

"Kyera!" Dusty shrieked as the cold wet snow seeped down the back of her neck.

"I'm done now." She smiled.

"You better be."

They walked arm in arm out of the park as the last few stragglers made the most of the fading light and continued to play. "Thanks for doing this with me today," Kyera said as they came out of the park.

"No problem, it was fun."

"For me, lame as it sounds, it was a dream come true."

"It was?" Dusty asked, surprised.

"Yeah, every kid dreams of spending a snow day in Central Park. So, yeah, thanks for today."

"Glad to be of assistance." Dusty smiled. Then as they walked by a souvenir shop, she spotted something that made her stop. "Since this is a day where dreams come true, we should immortalize it," she declared.

"I'm not getting a tattoo," Kyera quipped.

"No, silly, a picture." Dusty pointed at a photo booth located inside the store.

"Sounds good." Kyera began pulling her over to the booth. They settled inside, put their money in, and posed in front of the digital screen. "You sure you don't mind being photographed looking all drowned in style?" Kyera joked as Dusty positioned herself on her lap.

"I look good. You're just jealous." Dusty laughed.

"Whatever." Kyera pressed the main button to start the booth, and they initially smiled into the camera. Then before the second click came, Kyera licked Dusty's face, causing her to turn to her in protest, and the fourth image was of Kyera laughing madly while Dusty tried to lick her back, but she held her at bay. It was a moment of careless fun caught forever on camera. As they waited for the photographs to print, Kyera looked sad. "I can't believe I'm leaving tomorrow."

"I know." Dusty felt her own euphoria drain from her and pool upon the floor around them.

"But we've still got one more night!" Kyera said.

"That we have." Dusty nodded.

"And the activity tonight is my choice." "How about the movies again?" Kyera suggested. "But this time, you can pick what we see."

"Really? You'd let me choose?" Dusty gasped in dramatic surprise.

"I decided your taste can't be that bad. After all, you did pick me once." Kyera grinned at her. A short whirring noise alerted them to their forthcoming pictures, which dropped out of the machine in a clean solid line. Dusty picked them up, they were still warm, and looked down at the images of her and Kyera, smiling and messing about. "They don't look so bad," Kyera commented from over her shoulder.

"I like them." Dusty smiled at the images.

"Will you keep them under your pillow and kiss me every night?" Kyera teased.

"Actually I was thinking of throwing darts at your picture." Dusty stuck her tongue out at her.

"Sounds about right." Kyera laughed, putting her arm around Dusty as they walked out of the shop, back out into the cold air outside. "So I'm thinking you should dry off before we go to the movies," Kyera suggested, giving her a once-over.

"You know, I was thinking the same thing." Dusty laughed.

"I don't want to be escorting a drowned rat around the city on my last night," Kyera teased.

"Now you know how I feel." Dusty nudged her playfully, and she smiled.