Charlie, Snowed In

Charlie and I got snowed in on campus
Christmas break of our freshman year

We were the only two people
Who got permission to stay on-campus
Because I was doing some work for the Dean
And Charlie lied and said he was doing a special project
When he really just didn't want to go home
And see his family

We spent most of the break
Watching Christmas cartoons like 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'
And 'Santa Clause is Comin' to Town'

Then we stole the dying plant from the common room
And decorated it
With Cheerios
Strung up on dental floss

On Christmas, we exchanged gifts

I gave Charlie a popsicle
And he gave me a box of mac and cheese

Everyday we'd go outside
And have snowball fights
Make snowmen
Build snow forts
And then tear everything down
And start all over again
The next day

On New Year's Eve
We got drunk
On a bottle of champagne
I'd managed to smuggle into the dorms

And we fell asleep next to each other
On the couch in the common room

We exchanged cheek pecks
When the ball dropped
But that was the extent of our affection

Charlie and I were just friends
And I was happy
Not to have the burden
Of feelings
Put upon either of us

I transferred the next year
And when I told him
He said he was sad
That we wouldn't get another holiday season together

'That was the best Christmas of my life,' he said
And I was sad
Because I knew he meant it

It was the best Christmas of my life too
But I knew that there would be other
Better Christmases

Like my first one with husband
And then our son
And then our daughter
And our other son
And a few years ago
Our grandson

But it was a good Christmas
And I can still make a damn good snow fort
And that's because of Charlie

The world never looked more innocent
Then when it was all white
With nothing but Charlie and me
Right in the middle of it