Written for isilya's Snugglefic Challenge. Title taken from e.e. cummings' excellent poem, "somewhere i have never travelled." The mood, however, was more inspired by Margaret Atwood's "Variations on the Word 'Sleep.'" For Caro for her birthday, and for zahra for my birthday. Extra love to Beth, who helped me hunt down the original backgrounds for this and for "New Fallen." Eliza speed-betaed this one because it's so teeny, but Peach nevertheless gave me the following lovely food comparison: "Green tea flavored shaved ice. It's crisp and fresh and sweet, and it melts just perfectly." Lyra Sena did an absolutely amazing remix of this story, which can be found here.

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She's drowsing late on a Sunday morning when she hears the soft click of her door opening. She turns her head and opens her eyes to see her son smiling at her, wearing his winter coat, gloves, and hat, carefully balancing a teacup in his hands. Pamela is standing just behind him, also dressed for the cold, holding the door open and watching him with an affection she's certain is mirrored on her own face.

"Lex," she says, sitting up and holding her hands out, and his smile breaks into a rare grin as he crosses the room toward her.

"I brought you something, Mom."

He holds out the teacup to her and she looks inside to see it packed with clean snow. Lionel hasn't allowed her to go out when the snow is falling this winter, but Lionel is away on business for the next week. She reaches out to dip her finger in the teacup, then looks up to answer her son's grin.

"It's very cold," she tells him, an obvious phrase that shouldn't make either of them as happy as it does. She reaches out to place her hands on his reddened cheeks, letting her eyes widen dramatically. "So are you."

"He insisted on standing outside and holding the cup up while it fell." Pamela no doubt means that to sound exasperated, but as always, it only sounds pleased and proud.

"Snow is good," Lex says softly, and she recites along with him, "new snow is better, but falling snow is best of all."

Her favorite nanny told her that when she was younger than Lex. She thinks it might have been meant as a proverb, perhaps something to do with beginnings or accepting what life gave you or simply the attitude with which the rich regarded any wonder they couldn't buy. Madeline always was trying to teach her to "think outside the wallet, Lillian."

She hadn't quite understood how rewarding that could be until Lex was born.

She looks at her favorite wonder and smiles again. "Is it still snowing?"

"I'll open the drapes."

But Pamela is already there, pulling the heavy fabric aside so she can see the white, white world her son wanted to bring her. Lex consents to being unbundled and then tucked into the bed beside her, and he lays his white, white head against her shoulder as together they watch the snow fall outside while the snow in the teacup melts.

~END~