Blossom in the Snow(Nicole Izmaylov) It was early one morning when Sarah woke up before her parents. Quietly, so as not to disturb her sister, she tiptoed past her sibling’s sleeping form, snuck into the hallway, and crept down the stairs. Finally arriving at the base of the steps, Sarah glanced around until she located the pile of presents, lovingly wrapped and carefully placed just under the Christmas tree by someone. As Sarah knew well, that someone was Santa Claus. Grinning, she was about to burst out in a yelp of glee, surprise, and joy all rolled up in one—until she remembered that her twin sister was still asleep. She remained silent.

Sarah slumped to the floor and took out a well-worn Christmas wishlist from her pajama pocket. Written with five-year-old handwriting, misspellings, and creased too many times to count, it had been written in vain. Swept up in the Christmas season, she had only put one item on her list: a kitten. But that gift would never, ever come true. Mommy and Daddy had explained it to her many, many times. Her sister needed the money for her chemotherapy—a word which Sarah didn’t understand. But it sounded bad, like the bogeyman or her closet monster, and she knew one thing that word meant; they couldn’t afford a kitten. Sarah couldn’t figure out the point of her sister leaving every once in a while and coming back with no hair and too weak to play. Why waste so much money on things that would only make her sister sad?

“I hate my sister! I hate her! Because of her, I won’t get Blossom!” Sarah fumed. “Why does she want to be sad, anyway, and be all shiny on top? She’s ugly, and she can’t play, and I hate her!”

The girl rammed into the pile of presents, searching for all the ones for her sister. Tearing open the packages and throwing the toys around the room, Sarah kept shouting, “I hate her!” Then she saw a pair of large Easter eggs, one addressed to her, and one to her sister. Sarah’s sister’s favorite holiday was Easter, and so, instead of having the best presents wrapped in colorful, glittering paper, they were hidden in two ugly, round-as-her-sister’s-head eggs. “Ugly and round. Just like my sister.” And Sarah’s egg wasn’t just ugly; it also had a bunch of holes in the top. Probably her stupid sister had wanted to make it ‘prettier!’

Still, the girl grabbed her Easter egg and very carefully shook it, then opened the top and gasped.

In large, shaky, hard-to-read letters that Sarah recognized as her sister’s handwriting, a message had been written in red and green finger-paints on a blue piece of construction paper. “For my very bestest friend. I love you,” it read. A hole had been poked in the paper, and threaded through it was a length of string.

And the string was around the neck of a soft, warm kitten.

The little kitty was deep red and orange, just the right color for someone named Blossom. Inside the egg was also a small basket of objects: a little bag of cat food, a pair of dishes, a litter box, and a pair of toys. Sarah was so amazed as she embraced her kitten that she didn’t even hear soft footsteps coming down the stairs. Then she heard her sister breathing and, smiling, looked up.

“Thank you,” Sarah whispered, her throat clogged up with tears.

Her sister nodded and said, “After every time we went to the doctor, even though I was really tired, I asked Mommy if we could look at a pet store or shelter. I knew you wanted a kitty named Blossom, and that was the only kitty in the whole town that looked like a Blossom.” Giggling, she added, “A blossom in the snow.”

“No, you’re the blossom in the snow. Even though you have to have all your hair fall out, and have to sleep a lot, and can’t even play your favorite games anymore, you still love me for being able to do all the things you can’t. I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I hated you before today. Now, I get it. I’m sorry,” Sarah repeated. “I’m sorry.”

“So what will you name her?” her sister pressed.

“Well, I wanted to name her Blossom. Snow Blossom.”

Her sister laughed. “Snow Blossom is such a pretty name!”

“But instead,” Sarah continued, “I’ll name her after the real snow blossom. I’ll name her after you.” As her sister looked on with sparkling eyes, Sarah leaned in to the kitten and said, “Jackie.”

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