His heart raced as he pressed his fingers to the glass. 

He couldn't remember the last time he saw snow. All he knew was that it was special. It was the first snowfall of the year.

Snow was said to bring a sense of joy to people. It filled children with excitement. Kids would rush outside to enjoy their day off from school by playing in the endless white powder. Some would sled, some would make snow families, and others would throw snowballs. Dogs would hop around in the white powder and carolers would sing! 

Meanwhile, other people simply stayed indoors, cozy by the fireplace while holding a warm drink, wrapped in fuzzy blankets. 

There was a magic that seemed to fill the air whenever snow days came, or so Dimentio was told. 

There were no children out yet. It was still far too early for anyone else to be awake. The sun had not risen, but Dimentio was up. He wasn't sure why he awoke so early. Perhaps it was the snow. It was quiet, so it couldn't have actually woken him, but he sensed it. It was hard to describe, but the second his eyes opened, the flakes started to fall from the sky, fluttering past his window, like they had been waiting for him. 

They were on winter vacation. Count Bleck had taken Nastasia, Mimi, O'Chunks, and Dimentio out to some remote town for the holiday season. Apparently, it was the perfect place to spend the holidays. They were each given their own little cabin to stay in, which was quite nice. The cabins were close to the woods, but also near the small little town. The village was perfect for Christmas time. 

They had a few weeks to enjoy the town. Then, winter vacation would be over and they'd all have to go back to work. That was more than enough time, though. Dimentio wasn't sure what he was even going to do with all his spare time. He supposed he could read. It might be nice to catch up on some novels. Or, maybe he didn't have to plan anything. He could just wait for something to happen. After all, he was on vacation. There was no need for him to strategize his every move. That's what vacation was all about! Going with the flow and seeing what happens. 

The inside of his cabin was quite cute, just like the rest of the town. The walls were made from the wood of cedar trees. They still smelled of them, too. Still, it was insulated enough for him to stay warm. There was a rocking chair by the fireplace, enough windows for the natural lighting to generally keep the place bright (even though it was still quite dark out at the moment,) and a small kitchen so he could make meals, although he usually walked out to town or ate with his teammates instead of cooking. The bed was nice, far softer and warmer than any Dimentio had ever slept in. The bookshelf had very few selections that he was interested in, but there was also a library just a few blocks down, so that wouldn't be a problem for him. The floors creaked slightly beneath his weight whenever he walked, but not in an eerie way. It was rather charming, like the cabin was singing to him. Oversized armchairs were situated by each window and soft, fluffy blankets were scattered about. Usually, Dimentio wasn't a fan of disorganization, but the blankets felt like they belonged, so he didn't move them. 

He let out a sigh and flicked the nearest lamp off as the sun began to peak over the mountain pass. The ground was not yet covered in snow, but it had started to turn that pure white color. With each minute that passed, the ground became whiter and whiter until a few inches of powder had formed. 

O'Chunks was the first one outside. The large man wore an even larger winter coat with a red scarf wrapped around his neck. He waved at Dimentio from his porch. Dimentio nodded in return, surprised that O'Chunks could see him through his slightly foggy window. 

The jester held in a quiet laugh as O'Chunks stepped into the snow and started smiling like a toddler. It didn't take long for him to start practically frolicking. Soon after, Mimi came out from her cabin, dressed in one of her red winter dresses. She had to have spent at least an hour getting ready based on her face alone. Her blush was a bright rosy color, her eyeshadow was maroon, and she was wearing fake eyelashes. Dimentio had no idea who she was trying to impress by looking like that. Probably the count. Or Nastasia. Maybe even him.

Knowing Mimi, she was probably trying to impress everyone. She was solidifying her role as "the pretty, mysterious stranger," to the townsfolk. (Her words, not his.) It was the kind of thing she'd fantasize about and write in her diary. She was the kind of girl who believed in the magic of Hallmark movies.

Mimi ran over to O'Chunks and gave him the biggest hug.

Dimentio rolled his eyes as the small girl grabbed his big hands and spun around. It looked like that childlike sense of wonder hadn't faded from either of them yet.

For a while, it was just the two of them out there. Unlike O'Chunks, Mimi hadn't noticed Dimenito. Or maybe she did, but she didn't bother to wave, not that Dimentio minded. If anything, he preferred to sit back and watch from the safety of his cabin. O'Chunks was dressed for the weather, bearing big snow boots and a large jacket. Mimi on the other hand was wearing heels. Literal heels. She did like to say "Beauty is pain," but this felt excessive. How was she even walking in the snow?! She was quite resilient, Dimentio gave her that.

Nastasia eventually came out onto her porch, but she didn't go out. She simply sat on the deck and watched O'Chunks and Mimi kick around forming piles of snow. It had almost stopped snowing by then, but there was at least a foot of powder. Dimentio couldn't quite hear, but it looked like Mimi was calling for her to join them. In response, Nastasia held her hands up and shook her head, refusing. 

The small girl was persistent, though. Before long, Mimi was grasping Nastasia's arm and dragging her out.

This was why Dimentio was watching from the inside of his cabin. He didn't want to be pulled into the action. He let out a chuckle as Nastasia tripped over her own feet and fell face-first onto the ground. Lucky for her, the snow broke her fall. O'Chunks ran over to help her up, laughing. Everyone seemed to find this funny except for Nastasia, who seemed both annoyed and embarrassed as she brushed the snow off her face and cleaned off her glasses.

The three of them messed around for a while while Dimentio went back to bed. He definitely could feel the sleep he missed due to waking up early start to get to him, so he opted to lay down and rest his eyes. He knew falling back asleep wasn't going to happen, but relaxing would suffice just fine.

Or, it might have had Count Bleck not thrown his door open without warning.

"Dimentio, are you awake?!" the count frantically asked.

"I'm on vacation," Dimentio answered.

"Wonderful! Mimi suggested we do a team snowball fight, and I need you out there," he explained quickly. "Otherwise Nastasia's going to want to be on my team, and that's going to get awkward. I don't want-"

"Say no more," Dimentio yawned while sitting up and grabbing the deep violet cloak situated on the corner of his bed. 

Count Bleck looked practically the same as he always did, only instead of a tophat, he wore earmuffs. He barely gave Dimentio enough time to slip the cloak on before grasping his arm and dragging him outside.

"We have our teams," the count declared. "The three of you against us."

Mimi snorted and covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking with delight. "Ha, you guys are screwed. We've got Chunky on our side."

"And I've got Dimentio," Count Bleck laughed, as if having Dimentio on his team could compare. The jester rolled his eyes, not having the heart to tell him how terrible at snowball fights he really was.

"Exactly-" Dimentio started, pretending to play along when he was suddenly met with a snowball to the face. He stumbled slightly before falling onto his back. He would have no way of knowing who hit him had O'Chunks not yelled "Nice shot, Nassy," loud enough for all of town to hear. Before the clown could even pick himself up, there were snowballs flying over his head at different speeds, and war had broken out.

"Dimentio, get up!" Count Bleck laughed, running up behind him and helping him to his feet. He held his white cloak up to shield them both, then ran back behind a few rocks. "Okay, this is our base. They may have us beat in strength, so we'll have to be strategic about this."

"Strategic? Count, it's a snowball fight," Dimentio pointed out.

"Exactly. Forget everything else and keep your mind on the game. We need someone to be offense, and someone else to be defense," Count Bleck grinned, rubbing his gloved hands together as flakes of snow fell onto his messy blue hair. "How about this, I create a diversion, then you annihilate O'Chunks. Hit their strongest player first. Then, while their team is wounded and retreating, we hide in the bushes until they pass us and ambush them!"

"I think you're overestimating my skills," Dimentio chuckled.

"You're right. You can't throw a snowball for the life of you. New plan! We utilize your natural mysterious and secretive nature. You spy on the other team, then report back to me. THEN we hide in the bushes and ambush them!"

"You're a little tall," Dimentio pointed out. "I think they'll see you-"

"They won't see me."

"Want to bet?"

"You're on! Three sugar cookies."

"Sugar cookies? You can do better than that."

"Fine. Snickerdoodles. A whole batch of snickerdoodles. Do we have a deal?" the count asked, holding his hand out and grinning.

Dimentio shook his head at the ridiculousness of the entire situation, then took Count Bleck's hand. The deal was set. 

Nastasia's team had set up camp just by the edge of the woods. Not all the trees were completely bare yet, but most were aside from the evergreens. Count Bleck's plan would have probably worked better if he used the trees and Dimentio stuck to the bushes. Then again, Count Bleck didn't really seem like much of a climber. In fact, he didn't seem athletic at all. It was surprising how immersed in the snowball fight he was getting. 

Dimentio went left and Count Bleck went right, that way they could attack the other team from both sides. The jester found himself a fairly full shrub to hide behind. His smaller size made it easy to avoid the other teams' eyes.

Count Bleck on the other hand was spotted before he could even find a hiding place. Mimi let out a shrill shriek (she called it her war cry) and started attacking. O'Chunks followed in her lead while Nastasia kept shouting "Wait, where's Dimentio? Guys! Pay attention!"

Dimentio let out a breath. It looked like this snowball fight was up to him now. He gathered the snow beneath his knees and started packing it into small balls. He wasn't the best when it came to throwing hard or fast, but his aim was decent. 

While staying hidden, he squinted his eyes and caught sight of the bun secured at the top of Nastasia's head. Perfect target. Afterward, maybe he could aim for Mimi's pigtails. Then O'Chunks'.... well, O'Chunks didn't really have hair on the top of his head. Maybe he could aim for the beard. That would work. 

With one swift motion, Dimentio stood up and threw his snowball as hard as he could. 

It soared like a comet, quickly zooming across the snowy landscape.

Until it landed just five feet in front of the jester with a soft thump.

"Uh oh," Dimentio muttered. He really overestimated his own strength there. 

Not five seconds later, he too was being pummeled with snowballs, and the game was over. He and Count Bleck waved their metaphorical white flags in surrender, and everyone went inside their cabins to warm up. 

Count Bleck tried convincing everyone that he and Dimentio simply let the other team win, but that was obviously a big lie. Not that Dimentio really cared. It didn't matter who won or lost. 

What mattered was the free batch of snickerdoodles Count Bleck now owed him. That was the real victory.