Snow

"But, what is it?"

The large man stood staring at the wrapper, and bold lettering which read 'Snowball'. He glanced at the young woman standing at his side, who showed no answers but her typical slanted grin.

"How is it that a ball of snow may keep its form in this temperature? For that matter, what is it that gives it this hue? I've spent many a winter in countless lands and never have I come upon pink snow. Indeed, the closest must have been on the battlefield, but that color was more a deep red."

The large man brought the objects closer and squinted hard at them, as if trying to decipher the secrets of their creation. In the man's hand they looked ridiculously small, and the muscular build of him, gave his lady friend the mental picture of what a caveman must have once looked like upon their first discoveries. Then again, she didn't have to leave much to the imagining.

The duo decided to take that, and a small supply of other items for their journey. The lady paid while the big man continued to play with his newly found balls. The light ding of two bells hung just over the doorway announced their departure from the small gas station. The clerk, a young red headed boy felt a mixture of emotions for an instant. First was relief over the gargantuan man leaving the store. He had made him uneasy from the start, not only due to his enormous frame and gruff appearance in general, but of the strange clothing he was wearing. However he was also somewhat saddened of the lady's connection to the first stranger. He stared on after her until finally the two were out of sight, all the while somewhat glad that when she had paid, there was a waist high counter between them.

The lady glanced over her shoulder, seeing the boy watch them through the window, until they were out of sight.

"Poor boy. Didn't even realize that the counter was glass. He should've stayed sitting down."

When she looked to her right side, to her companion, she laughed to herself seeing that the man was now squeezing one of the pink balls gently, and remarking on its resilience and how it came back to form after each squeeze.

"You know, it may be awful intriguing and all, but in the end, those are food."

"These are food?" The man asked confusedly.

"Well…of a sorts."

"What does it taste like?"

"Like nothing you've ever tasted before, I can guarantee you that."

"I see…"

No longer was her laughter silent.

"Why do you laugh Evelyn?"

"Don't call me that. My name is Angelique now remember?"

"I apologize. It is simply that, I was always rather fond of Evelyn. It was your first name after all. And you've had so many since then, that sometimes I forget which is the current."

"Well, it's Angelique. Please try and remember it. You could do with a name change soon too you know. It's been a while since your last."

"Do you not approve of it?"

"Well, no. As usual I do believe your names do suit you. Cassius is certainly not a bad name, it just sounds too…old Greek."

"Roman."

"Big difference."

"What is wrong with the name?"

"Well, it's a little…odd."

"Is not Angelique a peculiar name, even for this time?"

"It is somewhat, but it's ok for women to have mysterious or exotic names like that."

"Is it? That seems…odd somehow."

"It's the way things are Cas…hey! How about Casey? That's not bad right?"

The man made the type of face that one would normally see on one with a bad case of hemorrhoids, then shook his head in disapproval.

"Fine. Look I know that the past and all things in it is who you are, but you could at least try for something more modern. You've been doing Greek for a very long time now."

"Roman."

"Whatever. Don't you have any other ideas as far as more modern than that? I mean, that name is from the time of Christ for God's sake."

"Well, I have thought about it some prior to now. It is a name I was fond of when I first heard it, much more modern than Cassius."

"Yes?"

"Hero."

"Hero? What the hell kind of name is that? That's still a weird name."

"Not entirely. It was a very popular name for its time."

"What was its time?"

"A good number of decades after that fiasco with the crucifixion of the Jew."

"Whole decades huh?"

"Yes! Very much more modern than Cassius if you'd like."

Angelique, as she was now called, simply shook her head in annoyance.

"Just eat your snowballs Cass."

Cassius, noticing her disappointment, looked down at the Snowballs in his hand, and slowly opened them. If she had bothered looking over at him at that moment, she would notice that he looked very much like a pet dog who had just taken a newspaper to the nose for making a mess of the carpet, or shoes.

He finally held the first snowball in between his forefinger and thumb, and squeezed just slightly, testing its durability once more. The texture was nothing like snow, he noticed. He tried sniffing it, but found no particular odor to it that he recognized. With a deep breath for courage, he flung the entire ball into his mouth and began to chew. One, two, three…on the fourth grind between his teeth, he stopped for a moment as if not entirely sure what to make of it.

A fit of laughter from Angelique brought him from his trance. She had been interested in his reaction, and having looked over in time to catch him with the final chew, his cheeks extended to their maximum elasticity, and one eyebrow arched high into his forehead, had little option but the current outburst open to her. Cassius, still looked confused all the while feeling delighted, though left out, that he had done something to cause the lady joy. With a smile hidden beneath the snowball, he continued chewing until he felt it time to swallow.

"So…do…you like it?" Angelique managed to ask, coming out of her fit of hysteria.

"I'm…not entirely sure actually. You're sure they are supposed to taste this way?"

"Yeah."

"It's very…interesting."

"That's about as much of a reaction it gets from most people Cass."

The man smiled at hearing this, finally feeling as though there was at least one thing in the present's world that he did not find himself the outsider. He offered the lady the remaining treat, but she waved it away, leaving him to devour the remaining sweet. The two continued to walk alongside the road heading east, neither of the two entirely sure as to whom it was that the constant honks from passing cars were directed at. A moment later of silence, and Cassius suddenly wondered something again.

"Why do they refer to those foods as snowballs if they aren't made of snow? Nor do they really in any way resemble snow, or bear the taste."

"Not sure. I think that they ended up round, and they sorta look frosty…you know…like the snowman, so somehow they made the connection on that. You'd probably have to ask the makers or something."

Their was a short pause between the two of them, as they both stared at each other walking along the road. Finally another car ripped past them, with their horn blaring for seconds after leaving the two in its wake of dust. Then a puzzled look entered the large man's face.

"A man of snow?"

"Forget it for now Cass."

The two walked on for several miles more. Cassius pondering eternally over the nature of snowballs, as well as all things past, as was his nature to do, while Angelique was more focused on the road before them.

By the end of the day, Angelique had learned few things. That young boys are easily excitable, and that Cassius had taken a not so painful step into her world. By the end of the day, Cassius also learned some things. That snow does not always have to come in white. That snow that isn't snow can be fairly tasty. That every car they pass seems to have a malfunction that causes them to make some of the most annoying racket he'd ever heard. He learned that apparently, there were men made of snow in some parts of the world. Finally, he learned one very important lesson. Cassius learned that he was allergic to coconut.