He lights stick matches. Tosses them at his body. The flames die quick against the wind and snow.
It's early evening. Dark. Cold. I'm on my way back from food shopping, weighted down with bags. Of food. Home with heat is near. A snowman is in distress. Can I turn my back?
***************************************
I'm 6 years old. I build a snowman in front of my house. Takes me all afternoon. It's not perfect. It's got lumps. And looks a little like the Elephant Man. But it is borne of my sweat. And, of course, the snow on the ground. And it is good. To complete my creation I reach up and christen its' nose with a stubby carrot. Just as I let go of the carrot my creation shivers and topples on me. Snow gets in my mouth, eyes, nose. I'm crushed. And crushed. Why? I ask the snow at my feet formerly known as The Snowman. Why? I never made another snowman that winter or any winter since.
****************************************
I call 911. "What's your emergency?" "A snowman is committing suicide," I say. There is a long pause. "I'll send the Easter Bunny out right away," the dispatcher says and hangs up. The Easter Bunny? The snowman doesn't need eggs. He needs help. I could inform the family upon whose lawn the snowman sits. What if the kid sees his creation in such deep despair and becomes traumatized? I don't want that on my conscience. Only one thing to do.
"Hey," I say.
The snowman doesn't answer. Just continues striking matches and tossing them at his body.
"What're you doing?" I say.
"I'm sequencing DNA. What the fuck d'ya think?" he says.
"You're trying to kill yourself," I say.
"Move to the top of the class, Einstein," he says.
"Any reason?"
"None. My life is great. I sit out here all day getting whipped by the wind, smacked by snowballs from spoiled little brats, and pissed on by dogs. I've never heard a Mozart concerto, seen anything by Van Gogh, or..."
"What?"
"...felt the cold touch of a snowwoman." The snowman's head slumps forward. I catch it and put it back on.
"You have no genitalia."
"Really sensitive. Genitalia does not define gender. They're there. You just have to dig."
"I'll take your word for it," I say.
"In a few days some local brat'll knock me down. My life will be over. Maybe-. Maybe you can help," he says.
"This isn't what I'm thinking is it?"
The snowman looks at me with those big button eyes.
"Geezus." I start pacing. "You want me to pimp for you."
"Think of it as matchmaking."
"You want me to build a snowwoman."
"Right up against me. So I can feel every lump," he says.
"You don't understand. The last time I did this-" I say.
"I know."
"How?"
"Snowmen talk," he says. "Listen, however she turns out she will be beautiful. And she will be loved."
"Geezus, Maroon 5?"
"That's all the mother plays," he says.
"I really don't think I can do it."
"You can. You must. For both of us."
"Hey, Deepak Chopra. I need time."
"Not too long. Sunrise is coming."
I walk. End up at Aroma in Forest Hill Village. Warm up inside. 'She Will Be Loved' by Maroon 5 comes on. Tap on my window knock on my door/I want to make you feel beautiful. Isn't this all the snowman wants aside from snowsex? To make the other feel beautiful? To know the feeling of making the other feel beautiful? To give. With love. Even if it's snowlove. I slip on my gloves. It'll be a long night.
****************************************
A few days later I walked by the house. Even though the cold weather hadn't changed, the snowman and snowwoman were no longer standing. They had somehow melted into a frozen puddle on the ground.
