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“Eurydice, wake up. It’s snowing!”
Eurydice rolled over in bed to greet her husband. Orpheus’s eager face came into view, grinning with excitement as he gently brushed her hair out from in front of her eyes. She sat up in bed, tucking the sheets in on herself to savor the warmth as she turned to look out the window of their little house above the bar. Outside, snow was falling, blanketing the world in white. Lacy snowflakes softly fluttered to the ground below, and clung to twigs and branches like winter stars.
Eurydice couldn’t help but let out a little gasp. “It’s beautiful.”
Being safe and secure, no matter the season, was a new feeling. In the past, winter had always meant struggle: a struggle to stay warm, a struggle to not starve. She would always pack her things and move on to the next town before the snow and the cold could set in and make things even more difficult. Now, having experienced the small wonders of spring and fall for the first time in what seems like forever, she is even more grateful for her second chance at life. The spring brings flowers, peeking through the snow as a promise of prosperity to come. The fall harvest brings a last feast of plenty, and enough food to stretch through the long, cold days ahead without so much as a day spent scavenging like she’d had to before. Now she's free to enjoy the wonders of winter, too.
Orpheus seemed to have the same idea. “Let’s go outside!” He’s already pulling on a thick sweater.
Eurydice raised an eyebrow. “In the snow?”
“Yes!” Orpheus laughs, before realization dawns on him. “Have you...never played in the snow before?”
She shook her head. Maybe once or twice, when she was very young, but those days seemed like a lifetime ago. Perhaps because they were. She’d been a runaway so long, she’d almost forgotten. Snow and ice quickly became an obstacle to avoid, one more thing that could be the end of her if she wasn’t careful. One more thing to survive, one day at a time.
It’s strange, realizing she doesn’t have to think about survival anymore. She didn’t know what to do with that before. She knows how to survive, but not how to live.
Maybe Orpheus can show her how.
“You’ll love it—make sure you have a lot on to stay warm, though—it’s great.”
As he gathers their meager collection of clothes, he looks at her a bit sadly, as he always seemed to do whenever her past showed up—apparently she’s been missing out on a lot. But his body thrummed with excitement all the same, eager to make up for lost time with her.
Eurydice put on her new coat—it was patched and worn, but warm and soft all the same. Much better than the one she'd lost to the relentless winds.
When they’re both bundled up enough, Orpheus opens the door and steps outside, sinking into the snow up to his ankles. A blast of cold air hits her face, but it doesn’t chill her to the bone the way it used to—she has warmer clothes, more meat on her bones, and fire in her chest. Orpheus is grinning at her from a few feet out in the snow. Taking a deep breath, she walks out to him, closing the door behind her. The snow crunches beneath her feet. Looking up to the sky, the softly falling snowflakes stick to her eyelashes. Her nose is cold, but the rest of her is warm and safe. Even her shoes aren’t filling with melted snow like before. It’s a strange, yet wonderful feeling.
“So? What do you think?” Orpheus is smiling at her in anticipation.
She can’t help but grin back. “This is amazing!”
Orpheus rises up on his toes, flapping his gloved hands at his sides with happiness. “I knew you’d like it!”
“I do!” She does a little twirl where she stands. Orpheus throws his head back with his tongue out, catching snowflakes on his tongue and making her laugh. He looks so joyful that she does the same.
When they’ve stamped out a sizable depression in the snow, Orpheus steps outside of it, crunching through the top layer. “Here, let me show you something.”
”What?” she asks excitedly.
“Snow angels!” And Orpheus, to her surprise, falls backwards gracefully in the snow, moving his limbs up and down. He gets up and looks back at his creation. “See?”
“Ohh!” Eurydice looked, too. It really did look like an angel. “I get it now! It’s pretty!”
Orpheus carefully stands, trying not to mar the snow. “Want to try it?”
She shrugs. Laying down in the cold snow didn’t seem like something she’d like. But then again, it had looked like fun.
“Why not?” She’s never really had the opportunity to do things on a whim before.
Staking out her own patch of snow, she sits down unceremoniously and gears herself up for laying her head down in the snow. It’s definitely cold, but once she’s pulled her hat down low around her neck it subsides a bit. It’s strangely relaxing, lying in the soft snow and looking up at the white, cloudy sky as snowflakes lightly brush her face. The effect is almost dizzying. Once she’s on the ground, arms and legs spread out, she moves them like she saw Orpheus do. Something in her chest flutters to life, like a little bird, and she giggles despite herself. Orpheus stands above her and off to the side. She can’t see his face clearly, but she can hear him smiling. “That’s it! You’re doing great!”
She stands up, trying to keep her balance. Orpheus catches her before she can flop into the snow. Turning around, she takes a look at her angel.
“They look so nice together!” They hold each other and stand in a comfortable silence for a while, taking in the two angels side by side.
Orpheus presses a kiss to the top of her head. “Eurydice?”
“Yes?”
“I’m so glad you’re here.”
She holds him closer. “Me too.”
After a while, Orpheus decides to show her more things to do in the snow. Taking a small clump of snow in his hands, he squeezes and shapes it into a ball.
“If we can make one big enough, we can make a snowman!”
Eurydice was intrigued. Together, they gathered enough snow. Orpheus took up the task of finding rocks and stones and sticks for the features. Eurydice watched as he stacked one big ball on top of the other, then beckoned her over to help.
At first, she was worried it might all fall apart if she so much as touched it. But Orpheus had faith in her, inviting her to decorate the snowman as she saw fit. And she had to admit, once they had finished, that she had done well for someone who’d gone out of her way to avoid snow for most of her life.
Then, bending down to make another snowball, Orpheus asks, “Do you want to have a snowball fight?”
“Sure.” Now that she’s more comfortable, Eurydice wants everything Orpheus can share with her.
Orpheus grins and lobs a snowball towards her in an arc, so that it hits her coat and crumbles with a gentle poff.
Eurydice grins back, and makes a snowball of her own. Whipping her arm back, she throws it at him. She’s aiming for his chest, but it hits his leg instead, and he smiles. As he bends over to make more, another snowball pegs him in the stomach.
“H-H-Hey!” For a second she thinks he sounds indignant, but his eyes are bright, and he’s laughing. “You sure you’ve never done this before?”
She grins. “What can I say,” she says, making another snowball. “I’ve learned from the best!”
Orpheus bounces on the balls of his feet.
“Well then—“ he lobs another snowball, and manages to land it on her head— “Ha Ha!” He laughs triumphantly. “I should teach you more often—ah!” He yells as her snowball hits him and snow flies into his face. “That’s it!”
They fling snow back and forth, ducking in and out from behind snowdrifts, and Eurydice can’t remember the last time she had this much fun, or was this relaxed. After everything they’d gone through, it was nice to not have to think about how they’d make it through the winter.
A while later, Eurydice realizes how late it’s gotten. The snow has long since stopped, and in its place is a cold wind, dark and chill. She shivers, remembering that awful night when she thought she’d lost Orpheus for good. She doesn’t realize she’s been standing still and staring into space until Orpheus comes up and wraps his arms around her.
“It’s all right,” he says, gently taking her hands. “I’m here. We’re here.”
He looks up at the sky, as the wind picks up. It’s nothing compared to the storms that used to rage while Hades and Persephone were still fighting, but she can’t help but think of those times, all the same.
Orpheus moves in front of her, shielding her from the winds.
“It’s getting cold out. Do you want to go inside?” She nods.
They walk back through the path they’ve made in the snow to their home. When their wet things are hung up to dry by the fire, Orpheus has her sit down while he busies himself at their small cookstove making tea. The melted snow provides all the water they need.
Reassuring her that he’ll be back within a minute (neither of them want to leave each other’s side for very long—the ordeal to and from Hadestown was enough), he dashes outside to the cellar. When he returns, it’s with a pitcher of milk and a small bar of chocolate, both left over from Persephone’s generous offerings in the summer. Since spring had come again, she’d had more time to deliver her precious imports among the people. When she had to leave, Hermes was more than willing to continue her work into the fall.
Eurydice watches Orpheus from her perch near the fire.Turning off the now-boiled water on the stove, he then starts making a drink for her. He slowly heats up the milk and melts the chocolate into it, stirring carefully so as not to let it scald.
Plopping a teabag in a mug, he hands the other one to Eurydice. She stares into the cup, taking in the rich scent of chocolate.
“You know, I had a lot of fun today.” She smiles as she looks up to her husband.
Orpheus seems to relax at that. “Oh, good. Are you still cold? I know you hate being cold, but winter doesn’t last forever, not anymore anyway, and—“
“It was wonderful.” And she means it. “I might hate the cold, but I don’t hate the snow anymore.”
He smiles. “I’m glad.”
Together, they curl up under a blanket and drink their tea and cocoa, protected from the cold winds outside.
For the first time in a long time, Eurydice is living.