there was this one winter two years ago where it snowed so much that it formed 3 foot mountains up and down the inclined streets of our town, and the sidewalks became icy rivers in between wide snowbanks blocking the doors of local businesses and stretching out into the street. it was impossible to walk anywhere, so we did. in skate shoes we trekked through the neighborhood, cold and exhausted, but set on the goal of returning to my friend’s house across town, deep within the confines of the community for the wealthy; a section cut off from the rest of us by dense forest. the city upon a hill that this subsection was, the hike was long and arduous without the obstacle of the ever-growing crags of snow. i remember walking up the hill with our party of four, my two friends and my girlfriend at the time. we would, every so often, abandon the water-logged sidewalks for the presumably solid and safe looking snow banks, only to find, minutes later, ourselves trapped by frosty hands pulling us down from below. sleet fell onto our hat-less heads as we fought upward, screaming at each other words of attempted encouragement, eventually kicking our way out and falling back to the burning salt marsh of the sidewalk. we vowed never to be tempted with the soft white ice to our lefts or rights again. however, when the chemical burn of sodium chloride set into our snow-soaked canvas, the wide white traps seemed like a godsend, and our cycle repeated up the hill. eventually, the trap-banks separated our party in two, my girlfriend and best friend finding their way up the hill-turned-mountain together. my other friend and I were significantly further behind, and I watched, eyes obscured by sleet, two figures speak and laugh and bump each other, the way that lovers do. i spoke to my climbing partner about it, and he said there was nothing to worry about. they reached the top of the mountain and disappeared from sight. when we finally got to my friend’s house, having made the journey through the labyrinthine roads of his community of wealthy isolation, i took off my jacket and my salt-soaked shoes, and hearing the other three laughing in triumph, laid on the bathroom floor to thaw.