Chapter One: Deadly Beautiful
As the first snowflakes settled, they whispered secrets of a winter tale to unfold. I wondered what it would be this year. I smiled ruefully as I approached the windowpane and pressed my face against the cold glass, using the back of my hand to wipe it clean for better visibility. Three children were chasing each other past my view, their smiles evident as they ran. Winter holds a unique charm. Although it’s a season not so favourable to the elderly, it’s a beautiful time sport lovers anticipate, especially people like my brother who enjoys competing in cross-country racing, while we girls enjoy downhill skiing just for the fun of it. But regardless of the activity, be it cross-country or straight skiing, my mother would have none of it; to her, it’s dangerous to wander in the cold. I smiled again as I recalled her warnings. “You know that I hate this deadly sport,” my mother would say, and my father, with a mischievous smile and a wink to my brother, would reassure her, “It’s a beautiful sport, and we’ll be careful,” while my brother, with his boyish smile, would add, “I doff my cap to the deadly Beautiful game.”
