Pye turned into a boy and then a woman, as girls do. On her sixteenth birthday she decided it was time to get on with it. So she took her birthday money to Canadian Tire. She purchased some lumber, some flower pots, some special brackets for securing crossbeams to the interstices of time and some overpriced gauzy curtains. Story by D. F. McCourt Illustration by Stephanie Martin Pye was a girl. We should start with that. Pye was not the same as other girls, but neither was she wholly different. She liked ice cream and lightning and frogs. She liked to sing and play games. She hated being called “precious” and pretended to hate being called “princess.” When asked what she was going to be when she grew up, Pye always answered: “Pye.” And when asked what she was going to do when she grew up, she said: “I’m going to live in a snowflake.” * Pye turned into a boy and then a woman, as girls do. On her sixteenth birthday she decided it was time to get on with it. So she took her birthday money to Canadian Tire. She purchased some lumber, some flower pots, some special brackets for securing crossbeams to the interstices of time and some overpriced gauzy curtains. She bought a mint tea from the coffee kiosk on her way out. In the parking lot she sipped her tea and waited patiently for it to snow. It didn’t rush itself on her account, the snow; but neither did it keep her waiting too unreasonably long. When the first flakes began to skitter across the breeze, Pye was unimpressed. They were far too tentative. She continued to wait. After a few moments, the storm got over its insecurity. Larger and larger flakes fell quickly and engulfed the landscape. Too bullish, thought Pye. It snowed like that for three hours. As far as the eye could see, everything rested safely beneath an even white blanket. The cars in the parking lot were little more than rounded white bumps, the trees beyond giant snowballs on precarious lollipop stems. The large flakes abated and the clouds broke and the sun peeked through, glimmering with amusement at how everything had changed since last it had seen. What a pleasant surprise. For a brief moment it looked as though it would snow no further. But then there came a last few playful flakes. Sure of themselves, never doubting their right to fall as they pleased, they danced the sky in delight, unafraid of the Sun’s crisp rays. Pye held her breath. Though she had been patient for so long, the moment almost overwhelmed her once it was near. Finally, one particular flake caught her eye. It dipped and twirled on a gust of wind that seemed its own. As it blew closer to Pye, it grew larger and truer until it passed between Pye and the Sun just so and its every facet sparkled. Pye closed her eyes,...
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