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Snow Glow (15) : On especially cold nights, strange puffs of light rise from the snow like warm steam--only this 'steam' glows in soft, sparkling colors and moves in slow, liquid shapes, like wax escaped a lava lamp and is rising towards the sky. Scientists insist it’s an unusual, but natural, phenomenon caused by pressure and temperature changes, but that doesn’t explain how the lights react when you reach for them--swirling around your fingers like playful, weightless ribbons. Sometimes, around these strange pockets, the snow beneath your feet glimmers when you step near the lights, and coming into contact with the glow results in it clinging to your skin or clothes in faint, shimmering patches. The luminescent residue fades after a few hours and has no lasting effects.
Oh wow, Del thought as she stood for a moment in the snow and watched the sparkling puffs of colored light languidly rising into the sky. Wow. She hadn’t entirely believed the whispers she’d been hearing. Stupid of her given all the oddball things that seemed to happen in this town, but still. Who wouldn’t hear stories of lava lamp-like blobs and not be a little sceptical? But now that she was here and witnessing it, it was one of the prettiest things she’d ever seen. It was magical in the truest and most wholesome sense of the word.
Now, she was thrilled that she’d brought her camera equipment out for this little assumed wild goose chase. Seeing this was worth having lugged everything out here through the snow.
Watching for a moment longer, Del finally gave herself a shake and began to move. She carefully set up her tripod and camera to aim everything directly at the dancing blobs of light. Muttering a little to herself as she worked, she set up a series of timers on the camera, made sure of her placement and then moved into the shot and approached the lights. Behind her, she knew that her camera was clicking away. She would have preferred to use actual film for this since she thought it looked better overall, but traditional cameras didn't have the same level of control if you wanted to be in the shot and not have a stupid cable in the shot. Oh well, this would still be awesome, digital or not.
As she got closer tot he light, she grinned as it seemed to react to her presence, dancing gently in the air as she reached out for it. The light writhed and danced around her outstretched fingers and she began to dance with it. Under her feet, patches of snow seemed to light up as well. Twirling along with the drifting blobs of light, Del felt a brush against her hand and saw a little streak of color on the skin. Since it didn't hurt or seem to be causing any harm, she ignored it in favor of getting as many shots of this phenomena as possible.
Besides, it felt a little like a fairy tale. Or like the way little her had thought living in a fancy snow globe would feel. She spun and pirouetted through the snow, laughing a little as the lights followed her movements. From where she stood, it looked like ribbons dancing on a breeze. Only ribbons didn't leave tiny traces of luminescence behind when they were touched.
By the time the lights faded, Del was laughing breathlessly, covered in splotches of faintly glowing color. She was tired, but it was the best sort of tired in the world. And, as she stumbled back to her camera and carefully flicked through the captured shots, her grin only widened. Oh, these were getting turned into a show exhibit. Or maybe entered into a contest. Or maybe she'd just be greedy with them and hoard them away like dragon treasure. Either way, she was never going to forget this.
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