(Snow falls gently from overhead, slowly joining the two inches already covering the ground. A pristine layer of white glitters with reflected light across a field, save for the places where six women of varying ages have already left their boot prints.)

Ivy (The Companion): Goodness it’s cold! Does it have to be so cold?

Bloom (The Survivor): It couldn’t snow otherwise. Besides, this isn’t bad at all!

Aura (The Professional): Says the girl who walked half an hour to school every day. You were out in weather like this all the time; the only time Ivy or I had to walk through this kind of snow was walking to and from our car.

Lark (The Dreamer): Oh nonsense. We walked around the city plenty in the winter. It’s not like the train drops people off right at their destination.

Libra (The Friend): Regardless, this snow kind of feels like wishful thinking. It hardly snowed at all this year.

Mom (Me): It has been unseasonably warm this winter. Fortunately, we don’t have to rely on nature to bring *us* snow. I have plenty I can draw from across the years.

Bloom (excited): Oooh, whose memory is this? It feels like one of mine…

Me: Much of this is drawn from your memories, yes. I remember walking through weather like this a lot at your age, either walking to school and back as Aura pointed out, or walking around our suburban home. We spent a lot of time in the snow every winter.

Libra (content): I admit it feels nice to stand in this weather, watching the flakes drift slowly towards the ground.

Lark (smiling): It’s nice to be hanging out as a family. Thanks for inviting us out here with you.

Mom (happy): You’re welcome, Lark. I agree; it’s nice to gather together like this. Happy Winter, girls.

(We all stand silently, enjoying the falling snow. After a bit, Libra breaks the pristine silence.)

Libra: So what are we unpacking today, Mom?

Mom: I didn’t have anything in particular in mind… Just time with my family.

Ivy: We didn’t have anything to ponder when we celebrated Autumn either. Isn’t that the norm for these seasonal gatherings?

Lark: We shared our hopes for the season back in the Summer… I don’t know if I’d call that unpacking anything, though. It was just nice to be on the beach.

Bloom: We worked hard on ourselves when we celebrated Spring… Though it was also nice to sit under the little pavilion we put up and enjoy each other’s company. It was just the four of us back then.

Mom: This is our fourth seasonal celebration, meaning we’ve been all the way around the year at this point. It’s worth reflecting on just how far we’ve come as a family — we’ve grown, if nothing else.

Libra: Weren’t you in fairy form for that Spring celebration, Bloom? I haven’t seen you change much recently.

Bloom: I change when the mood strikes me. Though I’m not sure this is fairy weather exactly…

Lark: Nonsense, this is *glorious* fairy weather.

(In a poof and a flash of light, Lark transforms into her fairy form and stands shining, a pair of brilliant blue wings extending from her back. They glitter with reflected light, just like the snow. Meanwhile, Bloom has shifted into her fox form and is peering around mischievously.)

Fairy Lark (glowing): See? I look incredible like this.

Fox Bloom: Sure, but this weather feels more like…

(With a glint in her eye, Bloom turns away from the group and freezes. A moment later she crouches down and leaps high into the air, tucking herself into a dive and landing head first in the show. Her momentum carries her down until she’s buried in snow up to her navel.)

Ivy (alarmed): How deep is this snow again?

Mom: I had to adjust the depth just there for Bloom’s leap. Don’t worry, she’s fine.

Libra (loudly): Very funny Bloom!

Fox Bloom (muffled): Mrrf!

Aura (irritated): It’s nice to chat as a family, the scenery is lovely, but it’s *cold* out here and I’d rather be inside. Is there something we need to be doing or can we…

(Aura is cut short by a snowball bursting against her long wool jacket. She turns quickly to see Bloom packing more snow into another tight ball.)

Fox Bloom (sly): I have an idea…

(Bloom whips another snowball at Aura, but Aura ducks deftly under it and quickly backs away from the group, swiping a handful of sticky snow up as she goes.)

Aura (challenging): Oh, it’s *on* little girl!

(A moment later, Aura’s snowball whizzes back through the group, passing within a hand’s length of Bloom’s head. An involuntary “eep!” squeaks out of her before turning into a giggle as she hurls a snowball at Libra, who bats it out of the air with her gloved hand.)

Fairy Lark (cheering): Yeah, snowball fight!

(I focus for a moment and watch as great walls of snow rise up out of the ground, forming a large snow arena replete with cover. Libra quickly ducks behind a wall while Ivy and Lark dash off to find their own hiding spots.)

Libra (shouting): No more summoning snow, Mom! It’s not fair!

Mom (smirking): Oh, I won’t need my powers in order to…

(I’m suddenly silenced by a snowball bursting in my face. I quickly shake off the snow to see Aura standing halfway behind a wall, gathering another snowball.)

Aura (taunting): Less chat, more of that!

(Aura flings another snowball at me, but I’ve already taken refuge behind a nearby obstacle and started gathering a snowball of my own.)

Mom (lightly): This isn’t exactly what I had in mind, but it’s nice to cut loose once in a while too.

(Fully alert and armed with a snowball, I smile to myself as I stalk through the arena, searching for daughters to attack.)