*****
Leftover from the Holidays
A Snowman’s Wish
It was the first snowfall of the season in the little town of Tater Hill. The white glitter diamond chips of snow blanketed the little community. Everyone was excited, having fun and playing in the snow. The air was filled with the magic of the holiday. It was Christmas! The children had waited all year for it. But, down on Jolly Creek Road, where the road dead ended, lived a little boy; he was sad, even though it was Christmas. His name was Willie Crabtree and he sat all alone in front of the snowman he had made all by himself. As he stared at the snowman, small tears beaded in his eyes; they fell from his face and disappeared into the snow.
“I wish I had someone to play with,” he said. “It’s just not fair. I don’t ever have anyone to play with,” he grumbled. “I live too far from town. Nobody wants to come way out here.”
The wind drove its way through the giant trees and whistled through the snow covered limbs.
“Ooh-wee,” he said. “It’s getting awfully cold. I wish, snowman, you could play with me. That would be neat.”
The snowman just sat snuggled in the frozen snow.
“That’s a silly idea,” he said. “Who ever heard of such a thing? Oh, well, it was a thought!”
Willie reached down, picked up a handful of snow and patted it about the snowman.
“All you need are a few minor adjustments,” he said, “down here and there. Now, Mr. Snowman, you are officially done. Oh, wait a minute; I don’t need to call you Mr. Snowman. Everyone already knows that you are a snowman. But, what can I name you?” he asked as he looked out across the yard.
“I know!” he yelled. “I know the perfect name for you. I’ll call you Snowdrift because that’s what you are made out of. Good morning, Snowdrift,” he said as he held his hand out in front of the snowman. “My name is Willie and you, I believe, are Snowdrift. Glad to meet you, sir.” Then he paused a bit. “Just what I thought, you don’t have much to say.”
If Willie only knew, the snowman wanted to play just as much as he did. But, he couldn’t. He wished he could be a little boy just like Willie. He wanted to run and play, sled through snow and make snow angels too. Unfortunately, he was frozen to the ground and packed with snow from the inside out. Willie, I wish I could play with you, thought Snowdrift when he saw Willie’s sad face.
“This is no fun,” Willie mumbled as he jumped up, brushed the snow off his pants and went inside. “What kind of Christmas is this going to be?”
Willie disappeared into the house and left Snowdrift all alone in the cool morning weather. Tears filled Snowdrift’s eyes, but they quickly turned to ice crystals and froze when they hit his face. Huh, I can’t even cry a tear, he said to himself. That magical misty morning, as Snowdrift sat out in the yard, something strange started happening; it was unbelievable. The wind left the trees and swirled at Snowdrift’s feet. The wind swirled the snow and formed it into a twist. The swirling snow rose so high that it created a snow funnel. Once the wind settled down, the snow funnel collapsed to the ground and created a snow angel.
“Whew,” said the angel as he appeared in the midst.
Snowdrift watched in amazement; he couldn’t believe his eyes. He didn’t know if he should be scared or mot. He really didn’t know what to do.
“Oh me, oh my,” exclaimed Snowdrift.
“My friend, don’t be afraid,” said the angel. “Uh oh, I believe I have a little bit of a snowflake in my eye. Oh yes, my friend, oh yes indeed. Here, look in my eyes and see if you can see it.”
“Why, yes, you do, sir,” he said.
“Oh, I knew it,” replied the angel.
With a quick wink and a slight tilt of his head the snow angel said, “Oh, yes, indeed. It’s gone. And yes, yes, yes,” he said, “thank you so much for your help.”
“Who are you?” asked Snowdrift.
“Oh, I’m glad you asked that,” he replied. “I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Mr. Woloszyn. All my friends call me Jerome for short. I am a snow angel.”
“A snow angel,” replied Snowdrift. “I’ve never heard of a real life snow angel.”
“You haven’t,” said Jerome.
“The ones I see are not like you,” responded Snowdrift.
“Let me explain,” he replied. “Snow angels are created by the first seasonal snowfall of each year. Only in the first seasonal snowfall do we live.”
“Is that right?” questioned Snowdrift.
“Yes, yes, yes, it’s true. Yes, yes, yes, indeed,” said Jerome.
“But, what do you do?” cried Snowdrift.
“Oh, you ask, what do we do,” he said before he paused for a minute. “Each snow angel grants a one day one wish to the year’s first snowman.”
“A wish,” said Snowdrift. “What kind of a wish?”
“Well, let’s see,” said Jerome. “It would be a wish like becoming a little boy for one day and playing with Willie.”
“Really,” cried Snowdrift. “Are you kidding me?”
“I wouldn’t kid you,” replied Jerome. “You can wish to be a little boy for one day.”
“What do I have to do?” asked Snowdrift.
“Nothing,” replied Jerome. “I’ll take care of everything if that’s your wish,” said Jerome.
“You bet!” shouted Snowdrift.
“Now, there’s one thing you must keep in mind,” stated Jerome.
“What’s that?” replied Snowdrift.
“At the end of the day you go back to being a snowman,” chuckled Jerome.
“Oh,” replied Snowdrift.
“Also, there’s one more thing. You will need a little boy’s name,” explained Jerome. “I believe I have the perfect name for you.” Jerome leaned over and whispered in Snowdrift’s ear, “Dusty. We’ll call you Dusty, okay!” yelled Jerome. “Close your eyes, Dusty, and believe,” instructed Jerome.
Jerome flew up and around Snowdrift, sprinkling him with a dusting of snow.
“Wee,” laughed Jerome, “this is always the fun part.”
Suddenly, a gust of wind hit and scattered snow everywhere. When the snow settled and the air was clear, there stood a bright little boy. Dusty!
“Gee, this is awesome,” he exclaimed as he looked himself over and felt his hair and face. “And I feel so warm inside, too,” he stated as he looked around the yard. “Thank you, Jerome,” he cried.
But, Jerome was gone.
“This is unbelievable!” he yelled as he took off running in the yard and kicking the snow. “This is the greatest,” he cried as he fell to the ground and rolled in the snow.
Willie just happened to glance out the window and saw Dusty playing in the snow.
“Whoopee!” he cried. “I have somebody to play with. My wish has finally come true.”
Quickly, he grabbed his coat and dashed out of the house.
“Hi, my name is Willie,” he said. “Do you want to play?”
“Sure,” replied Dusty. “Hi, my name is Dusty.”
“Are you from around here?” asked Willie.
“In a way,” replied Dusty, “you could say that.”
“I didn’t know,” said Willie. “I have never seen you in school.”
“I’m from the North,” he replied, “and I haven’t been here long.”
“Who cares,” laughed Willie. “Let’s have some fun.”
The two boys ran through the snow-covered yard whooping and hollering. They jumped, rolled and wrestled in the snow. They also threw snowballs, made snow angels, sledded and skated on the pond.
“This is what it’s all about,” laughed Dusty. “I have never had so much fun.”
“Me either,” chuckled Willie. “You’re the best friend I have ever had. You sure know how to have fun.”
Then, suddenly, splat! Dusty hit Willie with a snowball; the snowball fight was on again. After a while, the wild
twosome started wearing down.
“Hey, Dusty, do you want to come in and drink some hot chocolate?” asked Willie.
“Sure, I guess I’d like some hot chocolate,” he replied.
Dusty didn’t know what hot chocolate was. But, he didn’t want Willie to know that.
“Come on,” cried Willie.
The two boys left the frozen, torn up battlefield and headed into the house. When Dusty entered the house, he looked around in amazement. He couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Here you go, Dusty, try this,” said Willie. “Do you like candy bars?”
“Sure,” replied Dusty as he took a bite. “Mmmm, that’s good and sweet.”
The boys snacked on the candy bars while they waited for the hot chocolate to get done. Once it was ready, the chilly twosome slowly sipped it down.
“This is awesome,” said Dusty. “What are these little white things floating around in the hot chocolate?”
“Those are marshmallows,” replied Willie. “Try them, they’re pretty good.”
“Mmmm, they are good,” he replied. “Can I have some more?”
“You sure can,” said Willie. “Here, take the whole bag. Come on, Dusty, let’s go back outside.”
When the boys went back outside, Willie noticed that Snowdrift had fallen over. He had been so busy playing with Dusty that he hadn’t noticed the snowman had fallen to the ground.
“Come on, Dusty,” said Willie. “Let’s build Snowdrift back.”
“Okay,” he replied hastily.
Then Dusty remembered his wish and became sad. He looked about him and the evening sky was starting to get dark. His wish would soon be over.
“Come on, Dusty, we can still have fun. Maybe you can spend the night. Can you?” pleaded Willie.
“I don’t know about that,” replied Dusty.
“What’s the matter?” asked Willie. “Why are you so sad? Have I done something wrong?”
“Oh, no,” replied Dusty, “it’s not you.”
“We are still friends, aren’t we? Cheer up!” shouted Willie. “Let’s get Snowdrift done.”
“You’re right,” said Dusty. “Let’s go for it!”
“Hooray!” yelled Willie as both boys giggled and laughed.
As the final hours passed, Dusty started getting cold. That warm feeling inside him slowly turned to a chill. Dusty knew his wish was getting close to being over. As the evening sun began to set, Dusty’s voice started changing. About that time, Willie’s mama came to the door and told him it was time to come inside.
“Well, Dusty,” he said, “I guess I have to go. I don’t want to leave you. I sure wish you could spend the night. I had a lot of fun today.”
“You go on,” replied Dusty. “I’ll be all right. I’ve got to get going myself. Just so you know I had the best time of my life today.”
“Will I see you tomorrow?” asked Willie.
“If you don’t, I’ll be close by,” replied Dusty. “Willie, you’ll always be my best friend.”
“You’ll be mine, too,” replied Willie.
About that time, a tear beaded up in Dusty’s eye and it froze as soon as it his face. Willie couldn’t believe it. Dusty knew his wish was over. Willie’s mother came to the door again and yelled for him to come inside.
“Willie, it’s time to come inside. I’m not telling you again,” she demanded.
“Okay, Mama,” he cried, “I’m coming. Goodbye, Dusty,” said Willie.
“Goodbye, Willie,” replied Dusty.
As Willie turned and headed into the house, he looked back and Dusty was gone. All he saw was Snowdrift the snowman.
“Merry Christmas, Dusty,” he said. “I’m sorry I forgot to tell you before you left.”