A Lesson Frozen in Time

Micky gains perspective she might have been happier without

Micky jumped up and down in front of the window, bouncing her tight black curls. "It's snowing again!"

I groaned.

"But snow's funnnnn, Daddy!" she crooned.

As I helped Micky put on her mittens and coat, we heard a car skidding on the ice, and we looked up just in time to see a gray Nissan nose-dive into the tree-lined ditch across the street

Micky stopped. "Are they okay, Daddy?"

"I don't know honey..." I called 911, then crossed the street. The young lady in the crumpled mess did need help, but there was little I could do— the door was jammed shut. I just stood next to her in the freezing cold, listening to the sirens getting closer.

Micky stepped out on our front porch and watched the scene with sober surprise. She looked like she might cry as the driver sobbed over and over about how much this would cost and how she couldn't afford winter anymore.

It was all very efficient. Within twenty minutes, the woman was on her way to the hospital, the car had been towed, and there was nothing in the street to hint at the accident but a chip of the plastic bumper.

Back inside, Micky was no longer bouncing, just staring out the window. When she spoke, she sounded like she had matured ten years in the past half hour.

She looked at me. "Winter's not so much fun when you get older, is it Daddy?"

I shook my head. "A lot of things aren't, honey."

She sat down at the table with a coloring book, working on it with a serious expression on her face. I read the cover and felt an ache in my heart for my baby girl:

Picture Exercises - Year Seven:
Because Now You're Getting
Older!

NOTES: ▶︎

Word Count: 298
Submitted for "Daily Flash Fiction Challenge" 
Prompt: Use the phrase "It's snowing again"