Getting her way

Note: This was a piece submitted as an assignment as part of a creative writing course. The remit was to "show", not "tell"

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Gilly’s warm woolly mittens came off for the third time since she and her dad had left home a few minutes ago. Her breath, visible like steam from a kettle, floated then disappeared into the freezing air. Brandon looked down at his daughter whose hands were now bare and turning blue. “Sweetheart, please put your mittens back on. Look over there.” He pointed towards a tiny wild flower with its scarlet petals just peeping through the snow. “See how that little flower is frozen stiff? That’ll happen to you if you get too cold.”

Gilly wasn’t in the mood for talking. She put her mittens slowly back on but reluctantly and without saying a word. Her head hung down and she watched bits and pieces: leaves, twigs, a candy wrapper, disappear behind her as the wind blew them along the crisp icy surface. As they headed on towards the slopes that would be filled with other kids having fun she thought back to the conversation with her mum and dad this morning. “Why can’t I have a puppy though?” she’d whimpered – her bottom lip looking much more plump than normal. Her mum and dad had both sighed – that familiar sigh of parents tired of going over this subject. As usual she had tried her very best pout but nothing had worked and, as usual, dad had told her to get her hat and coat on so that they could go sledding. It was a plot to take her mind off puppies. She knew it. They all knew it.

“… but we can do that when we get home, huh?” Gilly’s dad must have been talking but she was far too deep in thought to notice. Her dad stopped. “Have you heard a word I’ve said?” he asked, the signs of anger etched on his brow. She muttered something inaudible and kicked at the snow sending little pieces of it flying up and coating her dad’s boots. There was that sigh again. Brandon took Gilly’s hand in his and led her gently towards a bench at the side of the road. They sat together; his feet planted firmly on the ground, hers dangling mid air and swinging back and forth. He was going to have to cheer her up somehow.

“Darling, I know, I really do, that you’re disappointed about the puppy but your mummy and I think you’re just a little young. Maybe in another year we can discuss it again but, for now, let’s try to forget it. Okay?” Gilly shrugged her shoulders and didn’t look convinced. It broke his heart to see her so upset but their decision had to be final and his daughter would just have to come to terms with that.

The slope was only a few yards away now. The sounds of laughter, mingled with the occasional fun-induced scream floated on the air and Gilly looked towards the kids and their sleds. ‘Maybe,’ she thought, ‘maybe it would be fun to sled for a little while.’ She looked up at her dad, the pout a little less obvious now. She opened her mouth to speak but a noise behind her made her turn around instead. Brandon heard it too and stood up to walk around the bench. In the undergrowth a few feet away from them, something was stirring. “Gilly, you stay there honey, Daddy’s going to take a look.” But Gilly was way ahead of him. In a flash she jumped down from the seat and ran towards the sound. “Gilly!” he called after her but it was too late.

There in the snow, half buried, half frozen and only half alive was a tiny white puppy, its fur blending with the snow and with only its shivering to disturb the roots and leaves. Gilly gently took the pup in her arms, holding it close to give it warmth. Her hands may have been blue but her little face was lit up like the warm glow from a fire. She turned to her dad. “Daddy, I think we were meant to be here. If we hadn’t come, this poor little thing would have died.” Her eyes pleaded and her dad’s heart melted. “We can’t leave him here to die, can we Daddy?”

Brandon knew he’d lost. All he had to do now was to convince his wife...