Snowflakes and Snowmen
by jackwabbit

Author’s Note: Written For The Ancient Obsessions Advent Challenge – December 5 (snowflake) and December 4 (snowman).

They say no two snowflakes are exactly alike.

I used to believe that.

Now, I’m not so sure.

I’ve seen too much to believe that things that were once considered impossible can’t happen.

The odds against two flakes being identical are infinitesimally small, but not zero.

I’ve met two duplicates of myself, for cryin’ out loud!

Granted, there were at least a few things that set them apart from me, but still…

We’re a lot more complex than a snowflake.

We’ve got a lot more variables involved in the equation.

So, somewhere out there, the tiny piece of frozen water that touches my face now might have a twin.

Why not?

I’m roused from my thoughts by a chuckle behind me.

For a moment, I’d forgotten I wasn’t alone.

I was lost in my theory.

He knows it.

His voice intrudes on my musings and brings me back to the present.

“Carter, stop thinking so much.”

“How did you know I was thinking?”  I defend myself out of habit.

“Oh, I don’t know… maybe it was the far off look in your eye or your complete immobility.”

He’s got me there.

“Couldn’t help it, sir.”

He smiles.  “Yeah, I know.  But Carter?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s okay to just enjoy the snow.”

I look across the field we’re standing in and see Cassandra building a snowman with Daniel and Teal’c, and I smile.

The Colonel’s not one for coming up with theories.

At least not generally.

But this time, I think he’s got a good one.

A snowball smacks me in the side of the head and I turn to see Janet Fraiser smiling and floundering away from me in the snow.

Yep, I think he’s right this time.

And it just might be time to prove it.

She is so dead.

The End