Somehow, someone jocked a certain part of my memory when he kept mentioning ‘waiting for winter to be over and the snowman to melt’. It’s a little tale I either read or heard about when I was young.
Henry lives with his mother in a small cottage in the middle of a forest. His father is out of the country doing business. Henry’s mother is a teacher. Winter covered the forest with snow and the lake had frozen to ice. Henry spent most of his time playing with his marbles.
Harvey is a friend of Henry and his family runs a grocery store in town. One fine day, Harvey dropped by to deliver some carrots and to play marbles with Henry. Henry’s mother is teaching English to the town children. When the lesson was over, the children’s parents came to fetch their children home. Henry watched them leave. Finally, Harvey’s father came to fetch Harvey home.
Henry sat by the window looking at the snow falling on the old pine tree wondering when his father would be back home. He had so much to tell to his father till tears started dropping from his eyes. His mother saw his tears and looked worried. Suddenly, she smiled.
The next day, Henry woke up and looked at his window. He was surprised to see a white figure standing next to the old pine tree. He ran down to the old pine tree and saw a snowman standing next to it. His mother looked surprised to see a snowman too.
There is something wrong with the snowman. It has no face. Seeing this, Henry’s mother said, “Would be it be nice that Mr Snowman has a face?” Hearing this, Henry looked for a pair of blue marbles and fixed it onto the snowman. “Why did you choose blue marbles?” Henry’s mother asked. “Father has blue eyes, so I want Mr Snowman to have blue eyes too.” Henry answered. Then he looked for a carrot and stuck it in the middle of the snowman’s head. Finally, he collected some pebbles and lined up a mouth on the snowman’s head. Now, the snowman has a smiling face.
But the snowman is not complete. It has no arms. Henry’s mother said, “Hmm…Mr Snowman has no hands. Could you also do something for him?” Henry ran into the house and picked up a couple of firewoods from the fireplace and stuck each at either side of the snowman. Now, the snowman has a pair of arms.
The snowman is still not complete. It has no clothes. Seeing this, Henry took off his gloves and put them onto the snowman’s hands. He also took off his scarf and winded it around the snowman’s neck. Finally, he took a scissor and snipped off the buttons on a jacket. He lined it up on the snowman’s body. Now, the snowman has clothes.
The snowman is finally complete. Henry would spend his time playing with his friends around the snowman and talk to the snowman about what happened in school and how much he missed his father. Mr Snowman was his best friend.
Then it came the time of the winter when the harsh winds blew. Henry and his mother had to leave for shelter. Henry wasn’t willing to leave Mr Snowman alone. “Mr Snowman will wait for your father to be home and tell him that we are safe.” Henry’s mother said. Henry left reluctantly, hoping Mr Snowman to tell his father that they were safe.
Winter was bad that year and the route back home was blocked by snow. Henry and his mother had to wait till spring come to melt the snow away. Spring finally came and the snow went away.
Henry finally went back home with his mother. Mr Snowman was no longer standing next to the old pine tree. All left was a puddle of water and some snow. Henry began to cry in his mother’s embrace. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice. Henry rubbed his eyes and looked at his father emerging out of the house. His father came back home after all. He ran and hugged his father.
Suddenly, Henry’s mother said, “Look, Mr Snowman left a present for Henry!” There was a small rainbow at where Mr Snowman stood. “Oh! I forgot Mr Snowman said that he is going away but he will be back next winter.” Henry’s parents smiled at each other simultaneously.
Henry smiled.
Okay, I confess I’m not a good storyteller but that’s about all I can remember. I did shorten some parts here and there but I hope most will get the story. Actually, there are some relation to life in the story so I shall leave it to the next entry or you can ask me about them. (^^,)>>
