| Ode to Joy I quietly edged out of the Country Club and ran down the steps of the deck to the beach. The sky was painted with the most beautiful yellows, oranges, pinks, purples and blues I had ever seen. The wind gusted through my long blonde hair and lifted it off of my shoulders. Quickening my pace, I hurried towards my destination. The large pile of rocks was like a black, ugly beacon against the colorful sky yet each rock glistened with the water and foam from the sea. I climbed up them, almost slipping but catching myself just in time. I padded down the old, rickety boardwalk until I reached the edge. I sat down and I dipped my feet into the warm and unusually mild water. With a loud sigh I stared off into space glad that I was finally alone. I�m not sure how long I sat there gazing at the setting sun when I heard Gabriel call my name. �Ashley, Ashley!� He reached the boardwalk and easily scrambled up the rocks carrying a small package wrapped in brown paper from a grocery bag. I was dying to know what was in the package but I said nothing as he took off his shoes and socks and rolled up the legs of his jeans. Slowly, he walked towards the end of the plank and sat down next to me dipping his feet in the water. �Hey,� he said, grinning at me. �Hi,� I answered still eyeing the package. He followed my gaze and gently thrust it into my hands. �This is for you by the way.� Slowly, I ripped off the brown paper and picked up the box. It was a left over Hallmark Christmas ornament box. What kind of present is THAT? I thought. As if he had read my mind Gabe laughed and said, �No, that is not the present.� �Okay, I was getting a little worried about you there,� I said with a wry smile. I opened the box and peered inside. When I saw what the box contained I clapped a hand to my mouth to suppress a gasp and felt my eyes prick with the tears that were quickly gathering there. Slowly I lifted the snow globe out of the box and stared at it unable to believe it was really there and I really held it in my two hands. The skater was still there dressed in her rose petal pink skating dress, her face turned upwards, her arms lifted towards the sky. I turned the handle and a few halting notes from �Ode to Joy� tinkled out softly. Slowly I lifted my head to peer at Gabe who was sitting there watching me with a �Who�s Good� look on his face. �Where did you get this?� I croaked, struggling to hold back my tears. �Well, let�s see.� Gabe answered. �One day, I was sitting in my yard playing with my dog when all of a sudden I heard a blare of trumpets and suddenly out of the clouds this golden dove comes swooping into my yard and the snow globe was on its back, laying on a red velvet cushion-� I shoved him so hard he almost fell into the water. �Gabe, I�m serious.� I said, irritably. He sat up laughing and said, �My sister found it. She comes back from a walk on the beach one day and she�s like �Look at this cool snow globe I found floating in the water� and I�m all �Uh no, that�s Ashley�s� and she�s all �No Gabe, you just want to steal it and go sell it on EBay�� I closed my eyes and two hot tears slowly slid down my cheeks as Gabe prattled on. I gazed down at the china face of the skater in the snow globe and remembered what it felt like when I first received it as a present� �She looks like a princess,� I said to my grandmother. It was Christmas day and I was five. I sat on the carpet of the living room floor all snuggly warm in my fuzzy blue pajamas and waited for her answer. My grandmother sat on the couch her hair white as snow and her sweater a brilliant shade of red like the strawberries my mom was slicing for breakfast. �She is a princess,� my grandmother told me.� The princess of the ice.� �The princess of the ice,� I whispered as I gazed down at the skater in the snow globe who was twirling slowly to the music of �Ode to Joy.� From then on, I never let that snow globe out of my sight. All around town I was know as �The Snow Globe Girl� the cute little tow-headed girl with her mama�s blue eyes and her daddy�s big grin and her grandmother�s snow globe .Other kids had blankies and rubber duckies. I had my snow globe. Naturally as I got older I stopped taking it everywhere. It was one of a kind and I�d hate to lose it. However, every night before I fell asleep I would play the first few tinkling notes of �Ode to Joy� to lull me to sleep. That was one habit I would never grow out of as long as I lived. Then one day a few months ago when I was getting over being dumped by my first real boyfriend my friends came up with an idea to cheer me up. They arranged to take me a dolphin cruise because I love dolphins and try to set me up with this guy from their History class named Gabriel. They told me to bring my snow globe to show him. I had no idea why any fourteen-year-old boy would care about a snow globe but I brought it anyway. Like my friends predicted Gabe was fascinated by the snow globe. When I showed it to him he held it and gazed at it for a while then gave it back to me. �You hold it,� he said. �I wouldn�t want to mess it up.� I placed it on the bench in between us and we continued chatting. Gabe was funny and easy to talk to and I was starting to feel really glad that I decided to come. Then suddenly, while we were talking, Gabe moved his arm to rest it on the rail of the boat and accidentally knocked the snow globe into the water. I begged the Captain to turn around but he refused. I can still remember him glaring at me with those cold grey eyes and barking �I ain�t stoppin� for some ol� snow globe girlie!� I was brokenhearted and Gabe felt terrible. He tried to make me feel better but I was inconsolable. After a while we became friends again but there was still kind of a wall there. And it was still so hard to go to sleep every night without the tinkling music of my snow globe- �Are you even listening to a word I�m saying?� Gabe asked suddenly, interrupting my train of thought. He had said it sharply but his eyes were twinkling with merriment. I smirked. �I left off around EBay,� I said. Gabe rolled his eyes and stood up slowly helping me to my feet. �Never mind. I wasn�t saying anything important. I�m just the biggest windbag in the universe. Are you coming back to the party?� he asked. �Um, in a little bit.� I said. �Okay, I�ll save the last dance for you.� He promised and turned and started walking towards the Country Club taking his shoes with him. I watched him go, holding on to my snow globe tight as if I was afraid I�d lose it again. It still really hadn�t registered in my brain that it was mine again. I was so sure it was gone forever. I turned again to face the setting sun and as I did so, I saw a sight so incredible that so one has believed me. Even Gabe thought I was crazy when I told him about what I saw. But I am absolutely positive that as I gazed out at the sea I saw the skater dancing on the waves and heard those few precious notes from �Ode to Joy� carried on the wind. |