Merry Christmas, A mother and son go for a winter vacation in a cozy cabin, When I looked out of the car window and saw the snow, it was really quite a beautiful thing to behold. Some of it stuck to the limbs of the trees that lined this lonely stretch of road. It was everywhere; on the side of the road, all over and around the trees, and some was even on the hood of the SUV, contrasting heavily against the red shade of it.
The seat warmer and the heated air blowing into my face was making it hard to stay awake. Luckily I didn’t have to, as my mother, Deborah, was driving us to the family cabin for a break before Christmas. Mom looked over at me, smiling. She probably thought it was amusing that I was about to fall asleep so close to the cabin.
“You know, I think your Dad was right. This trip will be good for us. We haven’t had any real time to bond just you and me.”
I think she felt the need to convince herself and me, that this trip would be just fine without Dad. I sat up and tried my best to look alert.
“You’re right. Besides, who would take care of the dog?” I quipped.
She turned her head to glare at me before arguing, “That dog has a name, you know.”
Her right arm left the steering wheel and flicked toward me while she talked, as if to strengthen her point. It didn’t do much for that, but it did cause her breasts to shake behind her sweater. I couldn’t help but stare.
“I know, I know. I tease,” I said jokingly, smirking back at her.
We were only a few moments from the cabin. We turned off the main road onto some snow covered dirt path. We wouldn’t have seen it, if not for the clearing in the trees and the spray-painted speed limit sign that marked its entrance.
As we rolled into the path, Mom stopped the car, put it into four-wheel drive and pushed through the path toward our cozy abode. We drove through a clearing in the forest and in the spotlight, our winter cabin. There really wasn’t much to it, but I’ll be damned if it wasn’t comfy as all hell.
As we pulled up to the driveway, Mom’s face lit up, “We’re here!” her voice lingered for a moment.
She pulled me in and kissed my forehead. We got out of the car, the biting cold was fairly shocking after sitting in the toasty car for so long. I trod carefully to the trunk of the car, making sure not to slip on any ice and popped it open. We grabbed our luggage, closed and locked the car and made our way to the cabin.
The soft crunches of snow under my feet subsided as we got to the porch. Mom set her luggage down and fumbled with her keys for a moment.
“Ah, here we go!” she exclaimed, holding out a single key and inserting it into the keyhole.
As we entered the cabin, memories started flooding my head. Everything was the way we left it. As I walked past the living room and kitchen, the family picture hung to the right of the hallway caught my attention. I always loved that picture. It was me, my dad, and my mom at the beach. Pretty unfitting for the cabin, but I loved it all the same. Under it, it read, “The Lawrence Family”