NYC'S Annual Central Park Snowball Fight

[kate]

Cory had mixed emotions about snow in New York City. On the one hand, everything was cold and dark and wet. The wind that carried the snow swirling around the tree trunks was bitter cold and stung your eyes. It was miserable.

On the other hand, it was a perfect opportunity for a city-kid snowball fight.

Cory grinned down at the snowball in his gloved hands, his cheeks red with cold and his lips chapped from the dry winter air. The snow was perfect this time of year for packing--it was wet and heavy, carried well and, when thrown with precision, could be the ultimate fighting weapon. Cory loved those kinds of games, anyhow. The ones where everyone chose sides and fired like crazy at the "enemy" with whatever weaponry was available. Snowball fights, dodge ball, capture the flag (go blue team!) were all games childish Cory could never get enough of.

So though he had mixed emotions about snow, those emotions were predominantly positive. When else in the calender year was it perfectly acceptable to throw frozen bits of water at people? Cory weighed the snowball in his hand, the grin on his face suddenly replaced by a look of intense concentration. "Watch this," he muttered to his left, narrowing his eyes for better visibility. Tongue caught between his teeth, Cory cocked his arm back, took aim, and threw the snowball. Hard.

His elbow lead with surprising force, followed by his arm and wrist, and quickly the snowball was whipped from his fingertips and sent rocketing across the open field. There it sank to the ground and sort of exploded, across the temporary barrier that marked off the red team's throwing point. "All the way across," Cory smirked, "and from back here. We're so winning this year, Sammy." Cory clapped the snow from his gloves and turned toward his friend.

Every year in Central Park, hundreds of locals came for the intense all-ages snowball fight. Cory and Sammy had made it kind of a tradition to be on the blue team, every year since they first met three years ago. Every year, the red team won. Every year. BUT NOT THIS YEAR.

The field was divided in half, and then halved again from there, each quarter roped off by blue or red rope. You weren't allowed to throw beyond that line (except for the little kids, who played in the middle), and once you were hit, you were out. Cory and Sammy usually managed to stay until nearly the game's conclusion, but this year, Cory knew they'd be the last ones standing.

The crowds were starting to swell. It was almost noon, the official starting time of the fight, and the winners would be announced at 4 pm. Yeah, a 4 hour snowball fight. A huge, big-kid snowball fight. Cory was in heaven, and he couldn't stop that grin from making sneaking onto his face again, making the freackles on his cheeks dance.

"So I invited Lucy this year." He added, before he forgot to mention it. Lucy was so a part of Cory's life, he almost never gave thought to her being with him all the time. She was nearly constantly at his side, plotting and playing games, talking, laughing, the usual friend thing. Still, it was worth mentioning to Sammy anyway. "Think she'll actually manage to hit anyone?" He laughed, zipping his jacket up to his chin, and grinning that boyish grin.

[kim1]

Sammy has detested snow for three years now. It was the one season where his human form kept him at disadvantage. He had to act like he was cold, which required wearing a puffy jacket, hat and gloves, all contraptions that kept him roasting. Any human would love this, but for Sammy, being the reincarnation of Gopher, made this lovely heat, unbearable. Gopher’s fur wanted to keep his body from freezing and Sammy had yet to figure out how to shut that internal safeguard off.

However, there was one thing about winter and the snow that Gopher’s internal operations were good for, ducking and weaving. Two skills that proved handy every city-kid snowball fight. It was tradition that Cory and Sammy play on the blue team in the fight. Despite the fact that their team never won, Sammy and Cory were the best on their side.

Cory had great throwing skills, especially distance, while Sammy had the fast reflexes and sensitive hearing and sight that gave him a slight edge, even though his throwing skills were little above par. Sammy was just thinking about how he could improve his aim and distance, when Cory’s voice snapped him to the field. He watched as Cory fired a snowball straight across the field, from about the back boundary, they sure did have a shot this year. If only there was a way to combine both their skills into one person, or even their whole team, then they were sure to win.

Sammy was plotting how to do such a thing, without the use of explosives, his favorite beginning and back-up plan. Gopher had some major issues, but Sammy wasn’t complaining. It gave him a joy to see objects one minute and pieces the next, separated by the playful fire and resounding boom. The first year they lost, Sammy immediately wanted to stuff sticks of TNT into the snowballs come the next fight.

Sammy was just about to ask Cory, what the strategy would be this year, when Cory told him that he had invited Lucy. Sammy had to hold back rolling his eyes and slapping Cory. The boy might as well have stayed 12 back in Never Land when it came to Lucy. Sure, she was a nice enough girl, heck Sammy loved hanging with her and Cory, but she was as bad as Peter. Sammy could never tell if she had figure out who she really was yet, so it was difficult not to call her Tink. She was by Cory’s side, just like Tink was to Peter’s. The three of them where together on mischief, and Sammy just wanted Peter and Tink fully back.

Sammy thought about Cory’s question for the first time, and he knew that Lucy could hit people. If she was anything like Tinkerbell, then the red team should hope not to tick her off. She could be one mean fairy, need be. To bad, Cory hadn’t figured out he was Peter yet, he could up and pelt the red team from the sky, and Tink could blow pixie dust on snowballs and send them flying at the red team. That would be a great snowball fight. Laughing lightly, he finally replied, “Yeah, I think she can hit a few. At least I hop she will. We need help this year. We’re so close to winning, I can taste it.”
He bent down and formed a snowball before turning back to Cory. “So when is Lucy coming? It’s about to start. You ready to win it?” Sammy bounced the ball up and down while the teams formed around them and more kids started packing snow between their fists.