My Two Writing Teachers colleagues and I are hosting the 14th Annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge, in which teachers from around the world participate in posting a story per day.

“Lily! Stay out of the water!” I called.

“I’m going swimming!” she said back to me. She giggled, but I knew she might actually hop in the freezing cold water.

She stopped in her tracks, standing barefoot in the snow, just a few steps from where the water met the shore.

With her hands on her hips she looked at me with a silly, but also defiant face. She already had her pantlegs pushed up, ready to hop in the shallow water, knowing it would get me “riled,” as she would say. (“Mom, I like to get you riled up” she has told me many times.)

When did she become such a middle schooler?

“Lily do not go in that water…” I warned. But I might have let the tiniest hint of a smile slip.

Smiling right back at me, she took an exaggerated step closer to the water. I thought about how cold her feet must be, standing on the snow and river rocks. She didn’t seem to mind at all.

The sun was shining. The snow was melting. It was a the first tee shirt weather day of the year. Spring was on its way.

“Fine. You can wade in. But don’t get your pants wet.”

And just as I turned away, I heard SPLASH.