The Snowstorm

Once upon a time there was an old and very wicked witch who had a magic snowglobe and whenever she shook up the snowglobe and little snowflakes fell within it there would be a real snowstorm outside her cabin.
And one Christmas Eve, looking in the snowglobe like a crystal ball she saw a little boy and girl making their way back home from their school house, along a country road through the snow.
Their rosy cheeked faces both looked so cheerful because they knew that their mother had prepared a wonderful Christmas dinner and their father had put up the tree and bought lots of presents for them and best of all the children had made a christmas fairy at school out of paper and tinsel and they couldn't wait to see what it looked like upon the tree.
But their cheerfulness irked the witch because, being very wicked, she hated Christmas and all things merry so she shook up the snowglobe and caused a terrible snowstorm.
"Those children will never reach home", cackled the witch with an icy grin , "Not if I have anything to do with it. They'll get lost in my blizzard and walk into the icy lake then they'll both fall in and drown in its freezing waters".
And the snowflakes of the witch's blizzard were so thick that the children couldn't see more than a few inches infront of them  and they did get lost in it but they were both brave little children.
"We have to keep walking", Joe said to Jessica, "Just keep walking in a straight line and we'll get through the storm".
And their parents, looking out of the windows of their house and seeing the snowstorm began to worry too.
"Perhaps you should go out and look for them", their mother said to their father, "Anything might happen to them in such a terrible storm".
So their father set out into the blizzard aswell, calling out their names and hoping they might hear him.
But the children couldn't hear anything because the witch had made the wind howl so loudly and then the witch, to make sure the children would lose their way and stumble into the frozen lake, made a ghostly light shine above the lake and the poor children, seeing it as a guiding light started to follow it.
Fortunately, overlooking the lake was a tree in which a little robin had his nest and seeing the children walking in the direction of the frozen lake, the robin flew down to warn them.
"Stop children", said the Robin, "You're walking into danger. The way you're heading leads to the frozen lake and if you go that way you will die".
"But we're following the light", said Jessica pointing towards the witch's strange ghostly light.
The robin looked at the light suspiciously.
"I do not know where it came from but it looks like something very peculiar to me", said the robin, "As if someone put it there to trick you into walking into the water. Perhaps the old witch that lives near here".
"Old witch?", asked Jessica.
"Yes. She's a terrible, mean old woman whose always causing problems for people", said the Robin, "Why, I bet she's the one who made this blizzard".
"But if we can't follow the light", said Joe, "How will we find our way through the storm?".
"Oh don't worry about that. You can follow me", said the Robin, "We birds have a natural sense of direction".
Then the Robin flew ahead of them  and, because of his bright red breast, they had no trouble following him through the snow.
But the Witch, seeing in her snowglobe what had happened, got very angry.
"That meddling robin is ruining everything", she said, "If they follow him they're bound to find their way back home".
So then, turning herself into a big black crow, the witch flew through the blizzard and she chased the robin away and though the robin managed to escape the crow, because the blizzard was so thick he couldn't find his way back to the children.
"What will we do now?", Jessica asked her brother, "We were following the robin but now he's gone".
"We've just got to keep going in the direction he was flying", said Joe, "Have faith and I'm sure we'll find our way home".
Fortunately, though the Robin couldn't find his way back to the children, he realized that he was near the home of the Snow Fairy, a good fairy that lived in the forest and he flew to see her and when he found her and told her about the two children, she looked in her magic snowflake mirror and asked it to show her where the children were.
To their dismay however, the Snow Fairy and the Robin saw the two children lying face down in the snow where they had collapsed from cold and exhaustion.
"Oh no", said the robin, tiny tears running from its eyes and down over its robins breast, "I'm too late. There's no way of helping them".
And they heard the cackling of the evil witch like thunder and lightning, echo overhead.
But then the Fairy noticed the little Christmas tree fairy that the children had made which was still clutched in Jessicas mittened hand and she had an idea.
Waving her fairy wand she became the little fairy and then, crawling out of Jessicas hand, she shouted into the ears of the two children,
"Wake up, children! Wakeup!".
And hearing the fairy, the children opened their eyes.
"What happened?", asked Joe.
"You and your sister had fallen asleep", said the little fairy, "Fortunately I saw you before it was too late".
Joe and Jessica were amazed to see that the little fairy they had made at school had come to life and was talking.
"Are you a real fairy?", asked Jessica.
"Yes, I'm the Snow Fairy", she replied, "Your friend the little robin went to get my help and I saw you through my magic mirror".
But then they heard the sound of the witch cackling in the sky again and the Snow Fairy began to worry.
"We should hurry now children", said the fairy, "There is no telling what that evil witch will do next".
Then, the fairy's little wand lightning up, it flew ahead of them guiding their way.
But as they were following the little Christmas tree fairy, suddenly, a strong icy wind blew across them and because the fairy was made of paper it was blown away by the wind.
"Snow fairy, come back", shouted Jessica.
"Keep going, children", they heard the little fairy say as her voice became more distant, "Don't ever give up".
But then they heard the witch cackle again.
"I'm afraid", said Jessica, "What will we do now that the fairy isn't here to guide us?".
Joe took his sisters hand.
"Well when you're afraid, a good thing to do is sing", said Joe, "Because then you don't hear your worries anymore".
And so the brother and sister, as they walked forward through the blizzard, sang a song that their mother had taught them.
"You will come through the storm
to your home safe and warm
if you follow the light in your heart.

 

Though the cold wind may blow
and may pelt you with snow
you must follow the light in your heart.

 

Though, so dark, it may seem
it will fade like a dream
if you follow the light in your heart.

 

And, before you know, then
you will be home again
if you follow the light in your heart".

 

But just then, as they were singing, Jessica and Joe heard their father calling to them.

 

"Jessica! Joe!", he was shouting, "Is that you?".

 

Then, suddenly, through the thick curtain of snowflakes they saw their father appear and as soon as he saw them he threw his large arms around both of them and hugged them both tightly.

 

And it was not long after that that they came through the blizzard together and saw the lights of their house beyond and when they came in and their mother saw them she hugged Joe and Jessica tightly too and, bursting with excitement, they told their parents all about what had happened, about the robin and the snowfairy and the witch.

 

"The only sad thing", said Jessica, frowning, "Is that the fairy we made in school to put on the Christmas tree blew away".

 

But then, entering their living room again, Joe pointed to their Christmas tree and, gasping, said, "Look, Jessica. There it is".

 

And it was true. Somehow, maybe fairy magic, the fairy that had blow away was sitting ontop of the tree and, looking out of the window, they even saw the little robin sitting and chirping in a nearby tree for he had come to wish them a Merry Christmas.

 

And they did have a Merry Christmas; Jessica, Joe, their Mother and Father, though it made the wicked old witch shriek with anger, had a very merry Christmas indeed.