Snowflake Freezes Up

by Joan Holub

  For this bunny’s own good, she needed to find him a new caretaker — and fast. Tomorrow, she would ask around again. Even though it would break her heart to give him away.

  When something cold brushed Snowflake’s nose the next morning, she opened her eyes to see a bunny face barely an inch away from her own. She was lying on her side in bed, and the bunny was sitting on her pillow, staring at her. He was also munching on the end of the green hair ribbon she was wearing.

  “Hey, little Kai,” she said. “I mean, little guy.” She’d accidentally called him the name of the boy who was Gerda’s best friend in “The Snow Queen.” The bunny’s ears perked up.

  “Oh, you like that name?” she asked him. It was a cute name and kind of suited this critter. Still, ugh, she didn’t want to think about that fairy tale right now. It was the cause of all her troubles! Besides, this was Saturday. No school. She should try to forget about being an evil character for a while and just have fun.

  She pushed herself up on one elbow and pulled the ribbon from her hair. Looping it around the bunny’s neck, she tied it in a loose bow. “You are grimmadorable!” she told him. As if to say he agreed, the bunny did some cute nose twitches and ear wiggles, which sent her into giggles.

  When she started to sit up, she bumped the top of her head. “Ouch! Hey! Our room is smaller today. About half normal size, don’t you think?”

  Snowflake knew that the library could expand or shrink whenever it wanted to, but this was the first time she’d seen it this small. She slid out of bed and set the bunny on the floor. It was hard to squeeze around the bed and get dressed with so little floor space in the room.

  Since the bunny seemed eager to go exploring, she took him along to Section C and got breakfast for them both there. She found carrots and clover for him and cereal for herself. Then she ate sitting in a chair while the bunny ate on a small carpet at her feet. She also grabbed a cloak to wear in case she went over to Ice Island later.

  “Ms. Hagscorch is scary, but her food is way better than this boring stuff in the library,” she remarked to the bunny as they ate. (He was an excellent listener.) “But we can’t go back to the Hall. The more I hang around with other kids, the more chance I might do evil to them. Or befriend them and get my heart broken when it doesn’t work out and they start to not like me.” Exactly what had happened at her last school after the albino bees episode. She sighed. “So this is how it has to be. For me, anyway. We’ll find you a good home soon, though, I promise.”

  Noticing movement out of the corner of her eye, she straightened. Something was flying up the C aisle toward them. The snowflake wand! Jack Frost was following right behind it. He executed a few flips in midair and landed on a shelf across the aisle from her on top of a box labeled CRUMBS. Yeah, that was perfect, she thought. Because it was totally crummy that he had come around again!

  As for the wand, it got so overexcited at finding her again that it accidentally dunked itself in her cereal bowl before it could put on its flake brakes. Startled and damp now, it pulled back out and shook off the droplets of milk that clung to it.

  Snowflake tossed the wand onto the shelf beside Jack Frost. She didn’t want any part of an evil wand. When she didn’t acknowledge his existence, Jack Frost picked up the wand and started marching up and down the shelf, twirling it in one hand like it was a baton and he was a majorette. When she ignored him some more, he straddled the wand like a horse and began riding around and around her.

  Spotting the bunny, he flew to eye him curiously. “Who’s this?” he asked.

  Uh-oh! She shrugged as if the bunny meant nothing to her. Because if she showed she cared about him, Jack might try to find a way to use that information to help himself.

  “Just some random bunny,” she said. “He hopped over from the B section, so I gave him a carrot.” Unfortunately, the bunny chose that moment to leap into her lap and nudge her hand to ask for a pat.

  “Seems rather fond of you,” Jack Frost observed. He leaned forward. “Hey! What’s around his neck? Isn’t that your hair ribbon?”

  Oops! He’d caught her. It was her ribbon, of course. “Yes, the ribbon’s mine, but he’s not my bunny,” she insisted. “I’m only trying to find a home for him is all.”

  “Mm-hmm.” Jack cocked his head so the tassels on his cap dangled sideways. She couldn’t tell if he believed her or not.

  Meanwhile, the wand was acting restless. It bucked up and down till Jack tumbled off. After righting himself in midair, he managed to grab hold of it. Then, without warning, he flipped it toward Snowflake. It plummeted dizzily end over end until it landed in her cereal bowl again.

  Milk splashed everywhere this time, splattering both Snowflake and the bunny. As she hopped up and set the bowl on a shelf, the bunny leaped off her lap. “Would you please just … chill!” she yelled at Jack, her voice going up on the last word.

  Oh, no! She’d gotten upset, and now that thing that had happened in the principal’s office was happening again. The bunny froze in midleap! And a pair of geese that had been flying by overhead carrying net bags full of artifacts froze as well in midair. Unfortunately, Jack Frost was unaffected.

  Looking pleased with her, he bounded closer. “You’ve got talent! Good thing your ‘chill’ magic doesn’t affect me, since I’m already naturally frosty.”

  “You made me mad on purpose, didn’t you?” Snowflake accused.

  He snickered. “Just a little test. And you passed with flying colors. As I suspected, you’re very much like the GA principal. Your talent is strongest when you get all riled up. Look at what you were able to do!” He gestured toward the geese poised in stillness above them.

  “How do I control my ‘talent,’ though?” she asked desperately.

  “Why would you want to? It’s frostastic!”

  Just then, the chill started to wear off. Still half-frozen, the geese began to plummet.

  “No!” she shouted in horror. Seeming to sense her need, the wand zipped into her hand. She waved it at the two geese overhead. “You will unchill!”

  In the nick of time, the geese unfroze completely. They flapped their wings, soared higher, and continued on their way. Having avoided one disaster, Snowflake turned to check on the bunny. Unchilled now, it executed one of its weird fruit-loopy hopposite corkscrew jumps, and then shot off down the library aisle heading higher in the alphabet.

  “Wait! Come back here, bunny!” she yelled, sprinting after him. Good thing the library was way smaller today because that made the aisles shorter. She was way up in the alphabet, in the L section, lickety split.

  There were lots of students in the L aisles today. Most seemed to be looking for long johns. And when she got to Section S, there were students looking for scarfs and sleds. Probably hoping to have a last bit of fun over on Ice Island. Now that the sleet storm was over, the island would be safe — until it melted.

  She asked everyone she passed, but no one had seen the bunny. Eventually, she reversed direction and ran back to the Bs in case he had filed himself there. No such luck.

  The library had shrunk enough that she could see all the way to the front of it from the B aisle where she stood. Given the number of students going in and out, she wondered if her bunny could have hopped out the library door when it was open. It would be grimmawful if she lost him, even though she knew she couldn’t continue to keep him forever. What if he got hungry later or wanted his chin rubbed? Would whoever found him know that he didn’t like having his ears messed with? Or that when he wiggled his whiskers, it meant he was hungry?

  While heading through the B section, Snowflake almost bumped into Prince Dragonbreath. He was in the process of demonstrating his fiery breath for some other boys. Startled at the sudden blast of fire, she gave a shriek and backed away, shaking.

  “Don’t act like that,” he pleaded, his green eyes earnest. “I have feelings, you know. And I swear I won’t hurt you or anybody else around here. I might be in the B section, but I’m not a bad
person.”

  Not a bad person. Unlike her, if Jack Frost was right. “Sorry, but I can’t help it,” she blurted. “I’m scared of fire!”

  He looked surprised. “Why?”

  “It’s dangerous. That’s why!” she exclaimed.

  “Anything’s dangerous if you misuse it. Like, if someone’s not careful they could slip on your ice,” Dragonbreath countered. “But ice is also fun, right? Just like fire can be a good thing, useful for cooking and heating.”

  He had a point.

  “And anyway, fire is something I do. Like you do ice and snow. I can’t change that. It’s part of who I am. Like I said, it doesn’t make me a bad person. So don’t be afraid of me, okay?”

  Suddenly, and without warning, a great sadness filled her. “Well, maybe you should be scared of me. Because I really am a bad person.”

  His eyebrows rose. “What? I don’t believe that.”

  “Well, you should!” Snowflake’s lower lip began to tremble, and she had to blink back tears. Feelings of frustration welled up in her until finally, unable to control them, she yelled, “I think I’m the Snow Queen!”

  Dead silence fell around them. At first, she thought she’d frozen everyone again. But then a goose flew by overhead, and she realized the other students in the library had all gone still of their own accord, flabbergasted at her admission. Ms. Goose glanced up from her tall desk near the door and sent her a look of sympathy. Or was it pity? Whatever it was, Snowflake didn’t want it. Embarrassed by her ill-timed outburst, she dashed out of the library.

  She couldn’t do anything to take back her words, but maybe she could find her bunny. Worry grew in her as she scoured the school halls and classrooms for him without success. Eventually, she took her search outside, thinking he might have gone back to munch flowers in the Bouquet Garden. She hoped Mary Mary hadn’t caught him and taken him to those hunters!

  Once in the garden, she beckoned softly, “Little Kai, where are you?” The first time she’d called him that name had been a mistake but he’d perked up, so maybe he would come if he heard it now. When the bunny didn’t appear, she stood in the sunshine and heaved a discouraged sigh. “This day is really going downhill. First, losing Kai, and now my island is probably melting away under this bright sun.”

  She heard footsteps coming up behind her and ducked down. She didn’t want to talk to anyone. But it was too late. Mary Mary had found her.

  “What are you and your magic charm doing in my garden?” the contrary girl demanded, frowning suspiciously.

  “Charm?” echoed Snowflake, getting to her feet and glancing around. She hadn’t brought her wand.

  Mary Mary pointed toward a flower bush nearby, and Snowflake saw that it was loaded with bouquets of chrysanthemums. And something else, too! Her wand had found her and stuck itself in the bush, trying to blend in and pretend its snowflake tip was a blue-white mum.

  Giggling a little, Snowflake went over and reached for it. Just in time, she remembered it was probably evil and snatched her hand back. Too bad, because she had enjoyed doing magic with it and had been starting to like having it around.

  “I suppose you think you’re better than me just because you have a charm now,” Mary Mary griped. “It’s not like you found it or anything. Rumor is that it found you. Which is so not fair. There are lots of us — lots of us — here at GA who should have gotten our charms before you.” The glaze-eyed girl swiped her hand in the air and whacked a few blossoms off the bush closest to her.

  Whoa! Mary Mary was acting super mad! Snowflake was seized by her usual desire to flee from all this drama, but she also wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on here. Because, though she’d only known Mary Mary for a week, this didn’t seem like ordinary contrariness.

  Ignoring the urge to bolt, Snowflake leaned toward the garden girl and set a hand on her arm. “Do you feel okay?”

  Mary Mary brushed her off. “I’m fine! And so is your dumb Ice Island for your information. I heard it hasn’t melted a drop. Which is really weird if you ask me!” With that, Mary Mary stomped off toward the Once Upon River.

  Snowflake followed her to the riverbank and looked across to her island. It was covered with students all having fun. What Mary Mary had said was true! Even though the sun was blazing overhead, the ice castle and the island it stood upon looked as strong and sturdy as they had yesterday when she’d made them. Why weren’t they melting at least a little?

  Then she noticed something under the toe of her slipper, and gasped. It was her hair ribbon, lying on the riverbank.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Mary Mary, watching her pick it up.

  Snowflake held out the green ribbon. “That bunny was wearing this a little while ago in the library. So he must have come this way. Have you seen him?”

  With an irritated shake of her head, Mary Mary said, “He’s not in my garden. I watered everything a little bit ago, and he would’ve come out.” She studied the ribbon in Snowflake’s hand more closely. “Why is that thing all glittery? Looks like it’s covered with sugar.”

  “Huh?” Snowflake brushed the ribbon with a fingertip. “No, it’s frost.” An icy tingle ran down her spine. Had Jack Frost taken her pet to the island? And maybe left this as a clue so she’d follow? What was he up to?

  She looked at Mary Mary. “I think Kai has been bunny-napped!”

  “Who’s Kai?” asked Mary Mary.

  “My bunny!” Snowflake called back as she ran for the last empty swan boat docked on the bank.

  “What makes you think anyone would bother with that pesky flower muncher?” Mary Mary demanded, following her. Before Snowflake could explain further or climb aboard the large boat, Goldilocks, Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel also arrived at the dock.

  “What’s wrong?” Goldilocks asked, seeing Snowflake’s alarmed expression.

  “I think my pet bunny may be over on the island!” said Snowflake. She held out the ribbon. “A bunny-napper — I think it might be Jack Frost — took this off him. I found it on the riverbank.” She heard herself say my pet bunny and knew that by using those words she was admitting just how much she cared for little Kai. She’d given up pretending that she didn’t care because her heart told her that just wasn’t true. She had to find him and make sure he was okay!

  The girls piled into the boat. Snowflake wasn’t sure why Mary Mary decided to come, rather than return to her garden, but she figured Kai could use all the girls’ help.

  When they arrived on the island, their footwear instantly transformed to skates like it had the day before. They glided away from shore and soon came across Cinderella and Rose. The two girls were waving their arms around and busily trading angry insults.

  “Skating in a figure nine? What a dumb idea!” Snowflake heard Cinderella say.

  “Well, why does it always have to be an eight? You’re the dumb one,” said Rose.

  Snowflake and the other girls watched in stunned silence as the bickering escalated. Soon, Rose and Cinderella were yelling nose-to-nose.

  “Ha! I think you are totally dumb-not-tastic,” said Rose.

  “Well, same to you and even more, so there,” said Cinderella.

  Mary Mary skated up to the angry girls. But instead of trying to calm things, she shouted, “Well, I think you’re both double-dumb-dumb idiots!” Her words inflamed the two girls further, and they started to shout insults at Mary Mary, too.

  Snowflake frowned. All this friendship drama was having an effect on her. It was making her upset! Uh-oh. With a huge effort, she managed to keep her temper under control. For the moment, anyway.

  “Stop fighting!” Red Riding Hood shouted at Cinderella, Rose, and Mary Mary after finally finding her tongue. Good advice, but Snowflake knew it sometimes wasn’t that easy.

  “Yeah, what is wrong with you guys?” demanded Rapunzel, looking between the three arguing girls.

  “See how weirdly glazed their eyes look?” Snowflake began. “I think —”

  Just then
, Red Riding Hood wailed, “Ow! Something stung me!” She rubbed at a pink mark on her wrist.

  Snowflake glanced up at the sky. Just like yesterday, sleet had begun falling. When she looked back at Red, she saw that the girl’s eyes had taken on the same glazed look as the eyes of the three arguing girls.

  “Hey, Cinderella!” Red called out suddenly. “I just heard Prince Awesome say he likes Rose now instead of you. And Mary Mary, Wolfgang told me he thinks your flowers are ugly.”

  Of course, this false gossip caused more hurt feelings and led to more arguing. What a mess!

  “I don’t know how you’re causing this, but I like it. Good job!” said a voice near Snowflake’s ear.

  She whipped around to see Jack Frost. “You mean you’re not doing it?” she demanded. Putting a hand on one hip, she wagged a finger at him. “And where’s Kai?”

  “Huh?” the sprite asked in surprise.

  “My bunny. You took him. I know you did. And I bet you’re causing all this, too,” Snowflake accused, gesturing toward the uncharacteristically bad-tempered girls.

  “Am not.” Jack huffed a frosty puff of air. “As for your bunny, er, Kai, you should be thanking me. I saw him hitch a ride here to the island in a boat with some other kids. So I pulled off his ribbon and left it behind as a clue for you. And don’t worry, last I saw, Dragonbreath had him.”

  Snowflake gazed around skeptically. “Oh, really? Where are they, then?”

  “Maybe they’re in the castle, or maybe he took the bunny back across the river. I don’t know, but I’m telling you the truth.”

  That was a relief about Kai being with Dragonbreath. Because now that she’d gotten to know the boy a little better, she wasn’t worried he’d hurt her pet, not really. Well, maybe still a little bit worried. She narrowed her eyes at the sprite. “And you’re really not causing all these arguments?”

  “Not my handiwork,” Jack said, shaking his head emphatically. “I thought it was yours.”