Weather

The blizzard was raging outside, making it nearly impossible to see anything through the already heavily frosted window. Madelyn sighed and drew a frowning face one the pane by steaming it up with her breath and wiping some of it away with her finger. She hated the cold. It kept her inside, and it made her feel alone and cramped. Other people loved the snow, and making snowballs and having fights with them, or building snowmen, or making snow angels, or all kinds of other snow things. But Madelyn couldn't stand any of it. She just wanted the sun to shine and melt it all away.

Her father sat next to her on the couch and handed her a mug of hot cocoa, with two marshmallows and an appropriate sprinkling of chocolate sprinkles. Madelyn took the mug in her mittened hands, feelings its warmth through the thick wool, and held it close to her face so that she might simulate the warmth of the sun on her face.

"You know, Madelyn, I think winter might be my favorite season."

Madelyn looked up at her father with a scowl on her face, nothing but contempt for his statement, despite the great deal of love she had for her father. "Winter is terrible," she spat back at him. "There's no point to it except to make you cold. All the plants die when it comes around, it's so terrible."

Her father smiled at her and brushed aside a stray strand of hair from her face. "Is that so?" he asked. Madelyn nodded angrily. "Is that why all of the animals build themselves little homes before the winter sets, and they fill their tummies, and they sleep through the whole debacle?"

Madelyn nodded again and patted her belly. "I wish I could do that," she said. "That sounds more fun than having to deal with the cold. The cold just makes you wish that you weren't there."

Her father chuckled. "And the summer is better because it's warm?" Madelyn nodded excitedly. "Is that why people around the world despise the heat that comes in the summer, because it dwindles their already small supply of water?"

Madelyn blinked, unsure of how to respond. She had never thought about anything like that. She had never understood why anyone would dislike the summer, but she loved having her three water bottles in the summer whenever she left the house. But if she didn't have that water...

"And all the cute animals come out," her father continued, "as well as all of the dangerous ones, and you can not go to some places anymore because of those animals."

Madelyn frowned. She wasn't sure what to think now. She looked at the frosty window and down at her hot cocoa, and realized that although she loved hot chocolate, she could only have it during the winter because it was too hot to have in the summer.

She looked up at her dad. "Is there any season that is just good or bad?" she asked.

Her father smiled knowingly. "An excellent question," he replied. "What do you think?"