Well...This Is New - 23

We walked to where an upside down pot sat on top of the snow.
"There's one!" Paul cried, running over to it and lifting it up.
A baby pine tree poked out of the snow.
"It grew a little!" Paul announced excitedly.
"It's so little," I cooed, breathless still.
"Here, help me find the other one," Paul said. "Sally, you go over there. Em, help me."
But I was breathing heavily, and just sat on the ground, panting.
I heard a footstep behind me, and gasped, closing my eyes.
Paul chuckled. "Help me find it, Em."
I turned around and looked at him. He knelt on the ground, smiling at me.
"Okay," I said dumbly. I was too out of breath to think.
We dug in the snow, smiling.
Sally watched us from where she was searching, and gave me a little smile.
Finally, Paul uncovered a little piece of blue plastic.
"Here!" He cried.
I helped him dig up the rest of the collander that was shielding the second pine tree.
He lifted it up.
"It grew, too!" He cried, touching it. "It's so cute."
"It is cute," I agreed, about ready to go inside.
He covered the tree with the collander and stood up.
I followed him to where Sally was.
"Ready to go inside?" He asked.
I was practically wheezing.
"Yup," Sally and I said.
"M-my feet are literally numb," I complained.
I wasn't exaggerating, and was a little freaked out about the sensation my feet were feeling.
One last time, Paul tackled me to the ground.
I looked up at him, panting, and he smiled.
"No more," I pleaded, and he nodded as I got up.
Then, he looked at me.
"Em, are you okay?" He asked.
I had been breathing heavily for a while now.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I chuckled.
"Alright, but you're breathing really hard...are you going to die?"
"Yes, Paul, I am definitely going to die."
We climbed the giant mound of snow and I fell through it, crying out. It went up to my waist.
"Em!" Sally yelled. "My gosh, I need to help you!"
"I'm fine!" I cried. "Really!"
I pulled myself out of the snow.
One of Paul's neighbors was at the house, outside, and he saw us as he was about to get into his car.
I was pretty embarrassed about the state I was in, but smiled at the man, still panting like a dog.
He and Paul had a quick back and forth which gave me the chance to pull myself completely out of the snow.
He said goodbye and the man drove away.
"Here," Paul said. "Put your wet things on the rack over there. Em, are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine," I said stubbornly, unzipping the coat he'd given me and putting it on the rack. "My feet are really numb...that's all."
"Um, that's not good," Paul said, a bit worriedly, but I knew I'd be fine in the end.
I peeled off my snowpants and put them on the rack.
"Ow," I hissed as I put my weight on one foot. "I can't really stand..."
"Okay, you need to get your boots off," Sally said. "Come on, Em."
I looked down and noticed that the bottoms of my jeans were frozen with snow that had gotten into my boots.
"Crap!" I gasped. "No wonder I'm so cold!"
I ripped off my boots and stared at my socks. They were completely drenched with melted snow. I started to shiver.
"Get those socks off, now," Paul urged. He looked at my face, and I smiled at him, trying to let him know things were okay.
Because they really actually were, you know. I didn't die or anything!