Sunshine, Alka Seltzer & Hot Soup

All I could see from the window was white.

Four days of confinement with aspirin, cold medicine, a raging bout of bronchitis and hours of restless half sleep had finally made me delusional, I decided and crawled a little deeper beneath the covers. It looked all the world as if the outside world was blanketed in snow. Not to worry, I croaked to the small brown dog through a violent coughing spasm that stole my breath and racked my already sore ribs, It's just the moonlight playing tricks. She whined softly and didn't appear to be convinced, burrowing closer between me and the pillows, shivering slightly. Struggling to breathe through a haze of congestion and a headache that refused to give an inch, I closed my eyes against the brightness and tried to ignore the cries of the cats - they sounded hungry which wasn't possible in the middle of the night, I told myself - and then the dim and muted sounds from the television in the next room began to slowly penetrate my fogged in brain. School closings? Weather advisories? Another coughing fit struck and I pulled myself upright, gasping for air and suddenly feeling blinded - all I could see from every window was white. A television voice was warning of ice on bridges, power outages and the perils of winter driving. It was then I realized it was full morning and I was in hell.

I dragged myself to the kitchen, to the aspirin and alka seltzer and kleenex. The dogs followed anxiously and when I opened the back door, the black dog bolted out, skidding on the snow covered deck and into the yard, joyous and curious at the same time, exhilarated and eager. The entire landscape had altered - everything was covered in snow, shrubs were flattened and tree branches were hanging on the ground with the weight of it. It was still falling and there was that eerie stillness in the air that I remembered from New England storms. The small brown dog took one quick look, sniffed the icy air cautiously, and then scampered back to the safety of the bed. It was a reaction I completely understood.

As the temperature climbed during the day, I listened to the snow sliding off the roof - each miniature avalanche sending the black dog into a frenzy and the brown dog deeper into the bedclothes - and said a small prayer for sunshine, alka seltzer and hot soup.