"Come on Phyllis!" I yelled behind me as I ran outside. A cold breeze stung my nose and I felt the pecking grains of snow on my face. I loved snow. It had to be the purist substance on earth, especially after a fresh fall. My sister marched out stiffly, covered in her winter skirt and cloak.

"Charity, you know I hate winter." Phyllis grumbled angrily. I picked up fresh snow, molded a snowball, and whipped it at her. Hitting her squarely in the chest I saw a smile tug at her mouth.

"Charity Ludington!" she yelled at me as I dashed around and throwing more snowballs. She was an object of attack; but my sister was not stupid. I saw a slew of soft white cannon balls aimed for me coming from behind our family wagon.

My younger brother Ethan, named after the notorious Ethan Allen, stepped out in his winter wear to grab water for our mother. He saw us playing and dropped the buckets which rolled around to and fro and helped my sister.

"Traitor!" I screamed playfully pointing at Ethan. As more snowballs bombarded me I found it hard to keep up. A crew of neighborhood boys passed by and stopped to watch. I ducked behind a mountain of snow and called to them, "What you standing there for? Help me!"

One laughed, Tommy Braxton, and rushed over to me. He had quite the arm, turning out snowballs as fast as a musket could be loaded. Soon all boys joined. As there were four in the squad, two joined my sister and brother and another joined Tommy and I. It turned into a full out snow war. A play off of the REAL war which was among us this year.

A horseman passed by and yelled out, "VICTORY! VICTORY!" His voice bounced off the evergreen trees as he rode down the snow covered lane. My father jogged behind and retained a large grin.

We called a truce and went to see why a horseman called such.

"What happened father?" Phyllis asked. "My girls and boy... George Washington gained a victory for this new nation. He crossed the river Delaware and attacked Trenton this morning." He smiled even larger. My father was a loyal Patriot.

Glancing around I saw my mother stand in the doorway with her shawl. Running over I gave her a large hug, "Momma, George Washington won a battle! Isn't that great news?!"

My mother nodded and beckoned us all in for coffee and some ginger cakes. THAT is the way I want to remember today: December 26, 1776

Author Note: historically accurate