Page 10 of Magically Generated
She heated up leftovers for dinner (she was definitely #teamleftovers), did a few chores, and watched a show.Nothing unusual, although she was eating a bit later than usual thanks to her earlier excursion.
When she climbed into bed, she couldn’t help wishing there was somebody next to her under the covers, and that somebody looked like…
No one in particular.
Nope, she certainly didn’t have anyone on her mind.
Her thoughts turned to the snow sculptures.Hopefully, the weather would remain cold enough so the snow didn’t melt, and hopefully, there would be a third one soon.
Chapter 5
Whileeatingherlunchon Friday, Nora came across an article about the snow sculptures.
Toronto Enthralled by Mysterious Sculptures
Apparently, a third one had appeared overnight, in a park close to where she lived.She scrolled to the picture: a hippo wearing a Santa hat and holding a bag of toys.
She might not be a Christmas person, but like the other sculptures, it made her smile.
Nobody knew who was making the sculptures or how they managed to pull them off so quickly.Based on the locations of the first two sculptures, a few people had camped out at a nearby park in the west end, thinking it might be next and hoping to figure out who was behind it all.But they’d been wrong about the location, and no one had seen anything at the latest park.
Nora couldn’t imagine being that dedicated to such a mystery.
She continued reading the article.The author had interviewed a snow sculpture expert—how did one become an expert in such things?—who made it sound like it was impossible for one or two people to do it all in a single night.He was mystified by the sculptures, but he admired the skill it had taken to make them.
Yes, it had to be a coordinated effort, and presumably, whoever was behind these would want credit at some point, but until then, Nora would simply enjoy them.There weren’t enough things to enjoy in this hellscape of a world, and so she’d do what she could.
Perhaps, after she finished work for the day, she’d go to see this one in person.
City Captivated by Snow Banksy
Snow Banksy!Ha!
Everett couldn’t help the burst of laughter that escaped his lips.His stunt was capturing people’s fancy just liked he’d hoped it would.
Then, of course, he had to ruin his good mood by reading a diatribe from someone who thought it was stupid and represented everything that was wrong with Toronto.
To cheer himself up, he put aside his phone and recalled when he’d come across Nora at Trinity Bellwoods.He’d made the trip down because he wanted to see people’s reactions in person.His neighbor might scoff at snow angels and sleigh rides, but she’d gone to see his sculptures, and if nothing else, the delight on her face had been worth it.
And then he’d watched her drink hot chocolate.She hadn’t asked the barista to hold the whipped cream, as he’d thought she might do; no, she’d licked the foamy peak and gotten a little on her lower lip.
It was fun to watch Nora indulge herself.He had the sense that it wasn’t a common occurrence, even if she claimed she didn’t need the excuse of Christmas to enjoy sweets.Sure, she might not have eaten gingerbread ice cream loaded with chocolate and pretzel bits and other things, but Everett could appreciate that it wasn’t for everyone.
He wanted to know everything she liked.
Just before four o’clock, he knocked on her door and hoped he wasn’t being too presumptuous.She answered half a minute later, wearing yoga pants and a hoodie.Her light brown hair was loose around her shoulders.
“If you’re finished work for the day,” he said, “would you like to see the latest sculpture together?”He, on the other hand, hadn’t done any work—it was one of the days he’d scheduled off so he could conduct his plan without running himself ragged.“But if you don’t—”
“No, no, that sounds good.I was thinking of going anyway.Give me another twenty minutes to finish up, and I’ll meet you in the hall.”
Twenty minutes later, she emerged from her apartment.He refrained from saying she looked cute in that knit hat with its white pompom, but she did.Verycute.
“Where did your wreath go?”She gestured to his door.
“It’s against the Ontario Fire Code, apparently.”
“I’m sorry,” she said.
