So, one day, I was getting ready for school when I looked out the window and saw something that made me freeze.
It was snowing.
Not a little.
Not a few random flakes.
It was absolutely dumping snow.
And it was the third week of June.
I stared out the window for a few seconds.
Then I calculated the approximate depth in my head.
Three and a half feet.
Three and a half feet of snow.
In June.
That's insane.
June in my town was usually sunshine, barbecues, and mosquitoes buzzing around like tiny helicopters.
Not this.
The snowflakes were huge and fluffy, piling up so quickly that the streets were already disappearing beneath them. Our backyard looked less like a backyard and more like a frozen wasteland.
I rubbed my eyes.
Maybe I was hallucinating.
Maybe I'd eaten too much sugary cereal.
Or maybe…
No.
I checked again.
Still snow.
"Okay," I muttered. "That's weird."
I quickly got dressed.
Well… I tried to.
My clothes were soaking wet.
I mean drenched.
My shirt clung to my skin, and my pants felt like I'd filled them with bricks.
"Why are my clothes wet?!"
I didn't have time to investigate.
School started in twenty minutes.
So I grabbed the hairdryer and started blasting my clothes with hot air like some kind of desperate scientist.
After a few minutes, I remembered something.
The oven.
I put the clothes inside on a very low heat for a few minutes.
Yes, I know.
Bad idea.
Don't try it.
Fortunately, they came out dry.
And slightly smoky.
"Good enough."
I put them on and headed downstairs.
Then I reached the front door.
I grabbed the handle.
Pulled.
Nothing.
I pulled harder.
Still nothing.
"Seriously?"
The door was completely stuck.
Probably because of the snow outside.
Or rust.
Or both.
I checked the clock.
Twenty minutes.
I didn't have time for this.
So I did what any perfectly reasonable fourteen-year-old genius would do.
I grabbed my dad's screwdriver.
Five minutes later, I'd removed the hinges.
The door fell forward.
And so did an enormous pile of snow.
BOOM!
Snow exploded into the living room.
It covered the rug, soaked the carpet, and started melting into a giant puddle.
I stared at the mess.
My mom was going to kill me.
Future Tom could deal with that.
Present Tom had school.
I stepped outside.
Or at least, I tried to.
My boots immediately sank into the snow almost up to my knees.
The air was freezing.
My breath came out in white clouds.
Trees were bent beneath the weight of the snow.
Cars had practically disappeared.
And there wasn't a single person outside.
No children.
No cars moving.
No neighbors shouting.
Nothing.
Just silence.
Way too much silence.
I looked around.
Yesterday, this had been my village.
Now it looked like the North Pole.
I kicked a little snowball.
It exploded into powder.
"Weirdest day ever."
I started walking toward school.
The journey took almost an hour.
By the time I reached the school gates, my cheeks were numb and my boots were soaked.
But something was wrong.
There were no students.
No teachers.
Not even a single car in the parking lot.
I pulled out my phone and checked the notice again.
I stared at it.
Then stared at it again.
"Oh."
I had completely missed the important part.
It wasn't just the buses that were cancelled.
School was cancelled.
The entire day.
Because of the snowstorm.
I stood there in the middle of the snow.
Silent.
Then I slowly looked up at the sky.
"You have got to be kidding me."
For most kids, this would have been the greatest news ever.
"No school! Let's build snowmen! Let's have snowball fights!"
Not me.
For me, it meant chores.
A lot of chores.
Cleaning the house.
Vacuuming the carpets.
Wiping the counters.
Scrubbing the floors.
Fixing that annoying kitchen faucet that had been dripping for days.
Fixing the loose shelf in the garage.
Shoveling the driveway.
Clearing the walkway.
Cleaning the snow off the car.
And probably helping my parents with groceries.
A snow day wasn't a holiday.
It was basically a free labor day.
I kicked the snow in frustration.
"Why can't I just have one normal day?"
I turned around and started walking home.
As I trudged through the snow, I started imagining what I'd do if I could control the weather.
Turn the snow into sunshine.
Turn the freezing wind into a warm breeze.
Maybe even turn the entire village into a beach.
Now that would be a proper day off.
Unfortunately, I couldn't control the weather.
At least…
I didn't think I could.
And as I walked home, I had no idea that the strange snowfall wasn't the only strange thing that had happened that morning.
Something had changed.
Something that would eventually change my entire life.