3

I washed the couple of dirty dishes I had made then went upstairs. I pushed the dark green curtains open and then smoothed up the quilts on the bed. Across the room, I walked through the french doors into the walk in closet. Big enough to be a small bedroom, the closet was divided in half: His and hers. Designing the closet, had been fun. We were able to put exactly what types of storage our wardrobes would use. This closet was much more efficient than any of the closets in the apartments we had rented where the most you got was a rod and a couple shelves. This closet had double rows, one over the other, of hanging rods on each side. The rods were bisected with drawers that went from the floor to the ceiling. Against the far wall, opposite the doors was a vanity with a bench seat. Anchored in the wall was an enormous mirror, big enough to be able to see an entire outfit. One of my favorite parts besides the closet itself were the tiles around the edge of the mirror. The tiles were light blue-green squares with slightly rounded corners.  I had found them at a yard sale a couple days before moving in. A whole box for two dollars! I had turned around to show him at the same time he had turned to show me a bolt of fabric for five dollars; it was the exact same shade of green.  We had laughed.  I had spent the next afternoon sewing curtains, the bolt of fabric had been the perfect amount for the living room and bedroom curtains. A beautiful shade of green that went with the paint we had on the walls. The tiles we had glued onto the mirror together a few days after moving in. 
Resisting glancing at the right half of the closet, I grabbed jeans and a dark green sweater from the drawers and pulled them on. Running the brush through my hair quickly and glanced in the mirror. Putting the brush down and running a hand over the bulge, it seemed bigger today, some days it didn't look different from the last but others seemed drastic, though I knew it was gradual. I had seen my doctor a few days before and all was progressing as it should. I turned sideways, my breasts were bigger but it was less noticeable in contrast to the giant belly below. I ran her hand over her stomach, smoothing the sweater over the rounded contours, feeling a small tremor and smiled; the baby was awake. Much less active in the morning, the baby settled quickly and I pulled on a pair of thick wool socks in preparation for the expedition outdoors.
Downstair I lost no time, grabbing the  snow boots, jacket, hat, scarf and gloves from the front hall and went to sit at the kitchen table to put it all on. All layered up  with house keys and phone tucked in the inside jacket pocket, I headed out the slider door.
The air was cold, a stark contrast to the kitchen, but welcome in its freshness. I walked off the deck, feet crunching in the snow at the bottom of the stairs. Closing my eyes I raised my face to the sun, absorbing what heat it gave. Suddenly eyes open I turned back around. The deck was clear of snow. It had snowed at least five inches last night but the deck was only slightly damp, already drying in the sun. Someone had shoveled my deck. Thinking through the possibilities, I walked through the gate to the front of the house. Front steps were shoveled. My car had been cleared. And the walk way between the steps and the car too. Who had shoveled and when? Sure that someone shoveling would have been heard. Could I have slept through it? And who would shovel around my house in the middle of the night. The noise. Remembering the noise from last night, the one I had decided was a dream when I found myself on the couch. Could the noise have been someone shoveling? It seemed more ominous than just shoveling last night but in the light if day, someone shoveling was the logical explanation. Maybe I had heard it while sleeping on the couch and my dreaming brain had adapted the dreams around the sound. It was plausible but the main question was: who? The closest neighbors were a mile or so down the road, one a family with two young children and a father who traveled for work and the other an elderly couple who had both retired years ago and seldom left the house. Neither seemed likely to be the shoveling culprit. Most of my family as well as his family lived a couple states away and were not likely here for a visit in the middle of the night. My sister was closest, but still two hours away. Though Finley was the most likely as she was closest, I wasn't convinced, it just didn't make any sense. Finley would have called. I would more reasonably believe I had shoveled it in my sleep or that there was a shoveling angel, going house to house anonymously. I sighed and laughed a little, I had no explanation for this bizarre, yet helpful, turn of events. While I  liked to shovel, with extra baby weight, it usually left me with a back ache. A shoveling angel was just what was needed.
Deciding not to waste the day with wondering that would get me know where, I walked back to the back yard and through the gate at the far end. About fifteen feet after the gate the trees began, the branching blocking some of the sun. Confident I could follow my footprints back, I just walked.

Snow shimmered everywhere, bright sparkles interspersed with the brown stripes of the tree branches. It was beautiful. Quiet and serene,  alone, the last moving being in this world of glass. After a while I crunched into a small hollow, about ten feet across, the clearing was pristine, untouched. Sunlight shining down. Walking slowly to the center I lay down. The sun was almost directly over head, a bright orb surrounded by a circle branches. My eyes were full of sun and sky, bright and demanding. My nose was full of clean crisp air, snow with the hint of evergreens. My ears filled with silence that wasn't, a quiet calmness at the same time loud and harsh. Every inch of my back could feel the cold, seeping through the many layers, a reminder to get up. A reminder I didn't belong in this frozen world, it was only a visit.  
The sigh was loud in the air around me as I sat up, wishing to stay forever in a spot that seemed timeless. I had created a snow angel that had no wings.  Moving to stand up but dropping back down before getting too far, my belly unbalanced me.  I tried again and then lay back down laughing at her predicament. I still forgot sometimes how hard it was to get up. I stared upwards while catching my breath, when a shadow fell over me. Blinking up I saw a person in shadow, the sun directly behind their head.