When Debbie and I left the restaurant, snowflakes were flying on the streets of Chinatown.
I was longing for the shade of white to cover the vices of the city, but the snow was so timid, so ephemeral, that, upon fallen on the ground, it simply succumbed to the prey of this urban jungle. It melted without any resistance, and eventually became indistinguishably part of the city, leaving the wetness as the only reminiscence of its existence. But soon the wetness would be gone too, by then, would anyone sill remember it ever existed?
The first snow in the season is always special. Well, snow is always special for someone like me, who grew up in warm climates. But there's something about the first snow: its freshness, its symbolic value, its being the first in the season… I can recall many memorable moments of first snows in the past, among which, the most beautiful one was from 2 years ago in Granada. It was Chinese New Year's Eve, and I was in La Alhambra with my parents for a special night visit. The Chinese believe that snow on New Year's is a good omen, and it indeed brought a very magical flair for our trip. However, that year turned out to be the beginning of the most difficult period in my life…Well, those years of reading and taking significance into the signs of happenings in life have already passed, and now I've learned to not dwell on symbolism of events that fall upon me. I will simply savor the beauty of each moment, and let my memory decide if the moment shall stay or be forgotten.
But tonight, luckily, will be remembered – at least until you read about it – because I so very much want to share these beautiful moments with you.
I'm sure Debbie would've also liked to share this moment with Sanjay, her fiancé, as well. However, we were lucky to still have each other this night. I convinced her to take a walk with me towards City Hall, for a better snow-viewing spot. Albeit our differences, we do share a lot of memories in common, and our fondest ones are the Christmas choral competitions in high school. It was a tradition that each class (there were 15 classes per grade) had to form a choir and compete in Christmas songs. Therefore, we learned many Christmas songs together. During our walk, I challenged her to sing those songs with me, and we also searched for other songs that were related to snow, but could only come up with bits and pieces…
We got a little lost. Debbie always relied on me for directions, and I was too lazy to take out my map. But that was fine with us, we just walked wherever and however we liked, sang, and let snowflakes fall on our faces.
Suddenly, something caught my eye: it was a tree shimmering in fog, its branches covered with a thin layer of snow that reflected the warm gold tone of the street lamp. I pointed it to Debbie, then we both paused in front of the tree, lifting our heads up to watch the snowflakes circling between the branches. When we finally decided to move on, I caught a glimpse of a security guard nearby. He was smiling at us from his little house. Did he think we were foolish tourists that were fascinated by just about anything in New York? Well, why not?! I'll let him keep his fantasy. And I smiled back.
We finally reached the plaza of City Hall. Brooklyn Bridge stood afar with its lonely lights, like a gate to a mystical kingdom (that's called Brooklyn!). I thought about going on the bridge, but Debbie didn't appreciate the idea. Instead, we entered the garden of City Hall and discovered a beautiful fountain - devoid of water but decorated with real gas lamps! Fire flickered in flurry snow, what a surreal view in New York City! Debbie and I recounted the first time we met, at the age of 12, in that little broadcasting room of the elementary school in Kaohsiung… We wouldn't have imagined that, after all these years, many journeys and detours, some misunderstandings and negligence, we would still be standing here together, sharing the first snow in such a night, in such a city.  
It was time to go home. After sending Debbie off, I took the same path that you and I took several days before. I passed by the Chase ATM, and could remember vividly your frustration of having no money in your account. The memory of you warmed my heart in this frozen night…
Outside Century 21, a fire truck parked diagonally, blocking the entire street. Its light was blinking, casting a red spell over everything around it. Steams hovered among the redness, swirling upwards in a duet with the diminishing snow. A star on the street lamp glared magnificently in mid air. "Ah!" I said to myself, "It is the steams and the lights that brought nuance and mystery to this city." I can almost see the nymphs coming out from their urban hideaways to celebrate the truce between nature and artificiality at a night like this…
 
I continued my path home, and entered the plaza with tree lights, where I demanded a kiss from you just several days before. The streets were extremely quiet, and I realized I was completely alone in this forest of light. But I didn't feel lonely, because I knew you would also be there when you read this.  
 

(圖片: 2008/12/6 - Gas lamp with fire in City Hall Plaza, NYC)