by Chris Colfer
“The shards of glass fell back toward the earth like rain. Most of them were smaller than a grain of sand, so the falling shards were hardly visible. The glass landed in people’s eyes and hearts, cursing them to see and feel only the worst of the world.”
“Grandmother, why would you tell us a story like that?” Kay asked.
“So the next time you’re feeling sad or can only focus on the bad in the world, you remember to check for a shard of the demon’s magic mirror that may be lingering in your eyes or heart,” his grandmother said.
With the story complete, she kissed her grandson on the forehead and blew a kiss to Gerda. When she went to shut the window, she noticed that a layer of frost had appeared on the glass.
“Looks like winter is coming,” the grandmother said. “That, or the Snow Queen has been visiting you.”
“Who’s the Snow Queen?” Gerda asked from her house.
“Who’s the Snow Queen?” the grandmother asked playfully. “You mean to tell me you don’t know who the Snow Queen is? What are they teaching you in those schools these days?”
Both the children shrugged, but the grandmother had caught their attention.
“Haven’t you ever wondered why they tell children to stay out of the cold or not to play in the snow for too long?” she asked.
“Why?” Kay and Gerda asked together.
“It’s because the Snow Queen will get you!” she said and made gestures like a terrifying monster. “She’s a weather witch and drives a massive sled through the clouds that’s pulled by polar bears! She sends blizzards of vicious snow bees to attack her victims! And when little children disobey their parents and stay out in the cold by themselves, she flies by and snatches them up!”
Hearing about the Snow Queen made Kay and Gerda hold their covers close to their eyes.
“That’s so scary!” Kay said.
“It’s supposed to be scary,” his grandmother said. “If it were a happy story, you wouldn’t learn anything. Now, that’s enough storytelling for one night. You both get some rest, and I’ll see you in the morning.”
The grandmother reached out to shut Gerda’s window and then shut Kay’s. The children went to sleep, but both had nightmares that the Snow Queen was watching them.
Since winter was on its way, Kay and Gerda spent less and less time on their rooftops. As soon as the first snow fell, the roof would become too slippery to stand on and their parents would make them stay inside or play in the woods. They always missed the view of the city during this time, but rather than pouting about it, the children spoke of all the winter activities they were looking forward to.
“I can’t wait to build a snowman in the street,” said Gerda.
“I can’t wait to go sledding in the woods,” Kay said.
They were excited by their winter plans. Kay looked up, hoping to see the first snowflake of the season fall from the sky. As fate would have it, just at that moment a small shard of glass from the demon’s magic mirror floated through the air and landed in the boy’s eye.
Although he didn’t understand why, Kay’s cheerful attitude suddenly went sour. He frowned, and there wasn’t a single thing in the entire world that made him happy.
“Kay, what’s the matter?” Gerda asked.
“Nothing,” Kay said. “I hate winter.”
“No you don’t, silly,” Gerda said. “You just said you couldn’t wait to go sledding.”
“I know what I said, but a person can change his mind!” he snapped. “You forget the winter also makes all the plants die and the wind freezing cold! Maybe it isn’t such a good thing after all!”
He swiftly left Gerda alone on the roof and went inside his house, slamming the door behind him. Gerda had never seen Kay so upset and didn’t know what to do. She never expected his bad mood to carry into the next day, but when she went next door to check on him, he stayed in his bedroom.
“Go away!” Kay yelled through the door. “I don’t want to see you!”
“Kay, please tell me what’s wrong,” Gerda said. “Did I say something to upset you?”
“You’re upsetting me right now by not leaving me alone!” Kay replied.
It was heartbreaking for the poor girl to be treated like this, and sadly, it only got worse. For weeks Kay stayed locked in his room and refused to come out and play with her. Eventually, his parents forced him to go outside and get some fresh air. So he grudgingly dragged his sleigh into the woods.
“Would you like a friend to come along?” Gerda asked. “I would love to go sledding with you.”
Kay ignored her and didn’t say a word. This sent the poor girl running back home in tears. She knew something was wrong with him but couldn’t figure out what it was.
The troubled boy went sledding by himself, but he didn’t enjoy a single second of it. He had become so miserable, he wondered if he would ever enjoy anything again. There were other children playing nearby in the woods who laughed and cheered as they frolicked in the snow. Kay resented these children for being so joyful.
He walked farther into the woods to get away from them. Nightfall came much sooner than he expected, and Kay found himself lost in the cold. Exhausted, he sat on his sled by the side of the path, expecting someone to come along and help him home.
It was very late, and Kay dozed off while waiting to be found. When he opened his eyes, he was startled to see that he was moving. His sled was being pulled behind a massive white sleigh, and they were traveling over the snowy hills at lightning speed.
Amazingly, there was nothing holding the sleigh and the sled together. They simply traveled along as if connected by an invisible rope.
Kay looked down and saw that the sleigh was traveling not on a road but on top of a river, magically freezing the water below as it went. He screamed at the top of his lungs, and the sleigh came to a sudden stop. The driver stood and turned to face him.
She was the tallest woman he had ever seen. She had bright white skin and blue lips. She wore a snowflake crown and a large coat of white fur. He didn’t need an introduction to know he was staring up at the Snow Queen.
“Poor dear, you must be freezing,” she said. “Come sit with me and keep warm under my coat.”
The Snow Queen lifted Kay out of the sled and set him down beside her.
Pulling the sleigh were two enormous polar bears, just as his grandmother’s story had described. The Snow Queen whipped the polar bears, and the sleigh charged ahead. Kay’s sled parted from the sleigh and sank into the river.
The Snow Queen wrapped her coat around his shoulders, but no warmth came from it. On the contrary, the coat made him feel even colder, and he shivered under it.
“Please let me go home,” Kay said. “My family will be worried about me.”
“But I am taking you home, child,” she said. “To your new home with me.”
The Snow Queen kissed Kay’s cheek, and his heart was covered in ice. The spell made the cold much more bearable, and he sat perfectly content in the freezing air.
“My family is going to miss me,” Kay said. “Especially Gerda.”
“Now, now, let’s not talk of the past,” the Snow Queen said. “You won’t need your memories where we’re going.”
The Snow Queen kissed his cheek again, and Kay lost all his memories. All thoughts about his parents, grandmother, and Gerda were erased from his mind.
The Snow Queen looked upward, and an ear-shattering whistle erupted from between her lips. Large snowy birds with feathers made from snowflakes descended from the sky and surrounded the sleigh. They lifted it high above the clouds, and the Snow Queen disappeared from the woods with Kay at her side.
When Kay didn’t return home that night, his family assumed the worst. They gathered a group and went into the woods looking for him. After searching all night, they found no trace of the young boy.
It was the coldest night of the winter so far, and many said it was unlikely he would have survived on his own. The following morning, after his sled was found
in the river, the townspeople believed that the boy had died.
Despite what the adults in her city were saying, Gerda refused to believe Kay was dead. She still felt him in her heart; she knew he must be alive somewhere.
She decided to continue the search for her friend by herself and retrace what she thought would have been his steps through the woods. Her search soon led her to a freezing river.
“This must be the river where they found his sled,” Gerda said. “Perhaps he lost his sled while trying to cross. I’ll search the other bank.”
The little girl found a boat on the riverbank and tried to row it to the other side. Once she was in, she realized what a bad idea this was. The river’s current was much too strong for her tiny arms to row against, and it sent the boat down the stream at a frightful pace.
Gerda traveled farther and farther down the river, far beyond her city and the parts of the woods she knew. At the end of the river, the boat stopped at a truly bizarre place.
In the middle of the snowy forest, there was a sunny clearing filled with bright green grass and beautiful flowers. There were birds flying through the air, and all the trees still had their leaves. It was as if a patch of the woods had not surrendered to the winter and remained in a state of summer.
In the center of the clearing was a small cottage. Gerda carefully climbed out of the boat and knocked on the cottage door. The clearing was so pleasant, she was able to take off her coat and scarf. A little old lady wearing a colorful dress and a large hat answered the door.
“Hello, child,” the old lady said. “What can I help you with? Are you lost?”
“I was wondering if you’ve seen my friend,” Gerda said. “His name is Kay and he’s a little boy my age.”
“I haven’t seen a child in these parts for a very long time,” she said. “But why don’t you come inside and we’ll figure out where he may have run off to.”
Gerda happily accepted her invitation and went inside. She had a seat at a table, and the old lady made her a cup of tea. Gerda looked around the cottage and noticed that the windows were different from all the windows in the city. They were oddly shaped and made of colorful glass.
“Your home has strange windows,” Gerda said.
“You can never be too careful, with all that glass from the demon’s magic mirror floating around,” the old lady said. “Personally, I like looking at the world through my own point of view.”
“You mean like the story?” Gerda asked. “The magic mirror and the demons existed?”
“Oh, my dear girl, it’s not a story,” she said. “They only say it’s a story so children like you aren’t frightened.”
Gerda thought back to the story and recalled the part about the shards raining down upon the earth.
“I wonder if that’s why Kay was so unhappy before he disappeared,” Gerda said. “A shard of glass must have fallen in his eye.”
“Then he’d better get it out as soon as possible,” the old lady said. “The winter feels twice as cold if there’s no happiness in your heart.”
“If only I knew what happened last night,” Gerda said. “He went into the woods to go sledding and never returned. He was so unhappy when he left—I’m worried sick about him!”
“It’s dangerous for a little boy to be wandering in the woods alone at night, especially in the winter,” the old lady said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he was captured by the Snow Queen.”
“You know about the Snow Queen?” Gerda asked.
“Most certainly,” she said. “She’s my sister.”
Gerda couldn’t believe how foolish she had been. Obviously the sunny clearing in the woods had to have been created by magic. She had wandered right into the home of another witch!
“Are you a witch too?” Gerda asked fearfully.
“I am,” the old lady said. “But you have nothing to fear, darling girl. I am a witch of the summer and a sorceress of the sun. I will not harm you. However, just like every witch, I too get lonely from time to time, so I do hope you’ll stay with me a while longer.”
The summer witch kissed Gerda’s cheek, and the little girl lost her memory. She forgot all about her home in the city, her search for Kay, and how she had found the witch’s cottage. The witch kissed her again, and Gerda felt only warmth and happiness coming from her heart.
Gerda lived with the summer witch for quite some time. She helped the witch garden and look after all the forest animals who wandered into the clearing to escape the cold.
One day, as she was helping the witch water the flowers, Gerda uncovered a small rosebush. It was just like the rosebush in her and Kay’s rooftop garden. Suddenly, all of Gerda’s memories came rushing back as fast as the river that had brought her there. She remembered her family, how Kay had gone missing, and how desperately she wanted to find him.
“Oh my goodness,” Gerda said. “Kay! I need to find him!”
The summer witch had underestimated how much the little girl loved the boy. Only true love could break a witch’s spell.
Gerda ran away from the clearing and back into the harsh winter. She continued her search for Kay all over the woods, but she never found a sign of him or his kidnapping by the Snow Queen.
The only thing the little girl found in the woods was a crow, because its black feathers stuck out against the snow. She knew it must have been injured because it flapped around the ground without gaining any height.
When she stepped closer to the bird, she saw a large thorn piercing its wing. She kneeled down and removed the thorn from the poor bird’s wing.
“Thank you, my lady,” the crow squawked.
Gerda was surprised that the crow could talk, but after everything she had seen in the forest, it wasn’t as much of a shock as it would have been before her journey.
“Please, Mr. Crow, I’m looking for my friend Kay,” Gerda said. “Have you seen a lost little boy in the woods?”
“Indeed,” the crow said. “I saw a lost little boy not too long ago dragging a sled through these parts.”
Gerda clapped her hands. “That must have been him,” she said. “Can you point me in the direction he went?”
“Afraid not,” the crow said. “I’m afraid your friend was taken by the Snow Queen.”
The little girl burst into tears. If the Snow Queen had taken Kay, she might never see him again.
“Don’t cry, little girl,” the crow said. “Not all is lost, for I know where the Snow Queen lives. I can take you there if you’re serious about finding your friend.”
Gerda nodded so fast, the tears flew off her face. She followed the crow for miles and miles through the woods, traveling far beyond any place she had heard of.
Finally, on top of a large frozen lake, Gerda discovered a tall palace made of ice. It looked like the coldest place on earth, and just the sight of it sent shivers down her spine. However, if Kay was inside, Gerda was determined to get him out.
“This is as far as I can take you,” the crow said. “Be careful, little one, and best of luck rescuing your friend.”
Gerda thanked the crow and then carefully crossed the frozen lake to the palace. The Snow Queen’s polar bears were sleeping by the entrance, and the little girl carefully tiptoed around them.
Once inside, Gerda checked all the rooms for Kay. Eventually, she found him in a large throne room with the Snow Queen herself. Kay was so cold, his lips were blue and his skin had turned white as snow. They were in the middle of a discussion, so Gerda quietly spied on them from the doorway.
“Please, Your Majesty, let me go home,” Kay said. “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in this cold and dark place.”
“If you don’t wish to spend eternity with me, then you must spell eternity with these ice cubes,” the Snow Queen said.
She threw a handful of ice cubes on the floor and left the throne room. Kay quickly tried to arrange them into the word, but there were far too few to do so. It seemed he’d be with the Snow Queen forever, and even wit
hout a shard of glass in his eye, it would have been a miserable future.
While the Snow Queen was gone, Gerda ran to Kay and wrapped her arms around him. She was overjoyed to be reunited with her long-lost friend.
“Kay, I’ve missed you so much!” she said.
“Well, I haven’t missed you!” Kay snapped. “I don’t know why you won’t leave me alone!”
He struggled to free himself from her embrace, but she knew now that it was only the shard of glass making him act this way, so she held on to him even tighter. Tears of joy rolled down her face and over the boy’s chest, warming his heart and melting the ice the Snow Queen had placed around it.
Suddenly, color returned to Kay’s skin and memories resurfaced in his mind. He realized just how much he had missed Gerda, and tears of his own came to his eyes. They dribbled down his face, and the shard of glass went with them.
Kay had finally returned to his normal self. He took Gerda’s hands, and they danced for joy around the Snow Queen’s throne room. Their feet crushed the ice cubes on the floor into hundreds of pieces—enough to make several words now.
Much later, when the Snow Queen returned to check on the boy, she didn’t find a single soul in the throne room. All she found was the word eternity spelled out on the floor.
Kay and Gerda traveled through the snowy woods back to the city. By the time they arrived home, winter had been replaced by spring. They stepped inside Kay’s house and found his grandmother sitting in a chair by the fire.
She was thrilled to see they were alive and well. She leaped out of her seat and hugged the children so tightly, it knocked the air out of them.
“We’ve been worried sick!” Kay’s grandmother said. “Where in heaven have you been?”
Gerda and Kay shared a smile.
“Grandmother, we have a story for you!”
The End
THE FROG PRINCE
ADAPTED FROM THE BROTHERS GRIMM
Once upon a time, there lived two princesses in a stunning castle. Even though they shared the same parents, the same home, and led similar lives, the sisters couldn’t have been more different.
