The snowman

THE SNOWMAN

PART 1: PERKY WOOLEN PORRIDGE

For the first time since she can remember, Angela awoke to the sound
of silence. There was no drilling or banging. There were no heavy
machines rumbling around making her bed shake. For the first time in
her little seven year life Angela was really excited about getting out
of bed. She jumped up and immediately got dressed then made her way
down stairs to the kitchen.
Angela was short, even for a seven year old. As she walked her mass of
auburn curls would bounce around her chubby little face. Each time she
smiled, a dimple would quietly sneak out and subtly lift her face.
Angela didn't spend a lot of time smiling. In fact, most of her time
was spent looking fed up. Not only had she missed having a summer in
her short life. Angela wasn't even allowed to play out, so she couldn't
make the best of the perpetual winter. She sometimes played in the
garden with her Mother stood watching, but there aren't many adults who
want to spend their free time standing in the freezing cold, knee deep
in snow. So Angela spent a lot of time inside looking out.
Angelas Mother smiled at her surprisingly perky daughter as she walked
in the room. "Dressed already?" Quizzed Angelas Mother.
Angela gave a huge toothy smile. "Give me that dimple you."
Angelas Mother picked her up and kissed her dimple again and again and
again until Angela was giggling too much to breathe. "Mummy. Mummy! N0"
She giggled.
Angelas Mother put her down and went to the large pantry. "Now then,
what do we want for breakfast young lady?"
Angela stood scraping her foot on the floor trying to avoid eye contact
with her joyful mountain of a Mother. "Come on." Said Angelas Mother.
"You have to have some breakfast."
Angelas Mother was a big believer in breakfast. In fact she was a big
believer in all types of meal. This was quite evident by the size of
the enormous pants lying on top of the washing basket. Luckily, she
also liked to cook. So in order to make some extra money, she would
make and sell all kinds of pies and other home made produce. It was
however a regular occurrence that a large amount of the profit would
end up being digested by the eating machine that was Angelas
Mother.
Angela really didn't want any breakfast. The truth was Angela just
wanted to go out and play. However, she knew that she had to concede.
"Porridge please." Droned Angela Sullenly.
Angelas Mother took out the porridge and put on a pan of warm milk.
"Now, when you've had breakfast should we start with maths or history?
Because we still have to finish those equations from yesterday." Said
Angelas Mother.
The sound of Angelas disappointment could be heard all the way in the
next room, like a heavy thud on a wooden floor. Angela could feel her
heart fall into the pit of her stomach and then feel a flood of tears
filling the space in her chest. She tried so hard not to let those
tears spill out that she inadvertently pushed out a little cry. Angela
sobbed gently to begin with, but when those tiny floodgates are opened
a little, it is hard to get them closed. The only choice then is to
drain them off. So Angela did. She cried so much she was nearly
sick.
Angelas Mother scooped her up in her big arms and sat on a chair with
Angela on her knee. "Come on now sweetheart. What's wrong? Why are you
crying?"
Angela buried her head in her mothers chest and sobbed so heavily that
her words came out as spluts. "I-I-I-I-I wu-wu-wu-wu bbbbr." Blubbed
Angela.
"Calm down now Angel face. Come on. It can't be that bad." Comforted
Angelas Mother.
After a few long, deep, juddery breaths and a couple of blows on a
tissue Angela stopped crying. "There now." Said Angelas Mother. "What
was all that about then?"
Angela sat up straight on her Mothers knee and said "You said I could
play out today. The men have gone and you said..."
Angelas Mother made a soothing shushing noise and a broad smile crept
across her friendly face. "Of course you can play out Angel face, but,
after Your Breakfast."
Angela trudged her way through the deep snow in her favorite red coat.
"Be careful now." Called Angelas Mother from the doorway. "No further
than the top of the hill."
Angela ran around as well as she could while running through waist high
snow. She picked up the snow and threw it in as many ways as she could
think. She made snow ball after snowball. She jumped up as high as she
could and came down in the snow on her back swinging her arms and legs
about as fast as she could. Each swoosh was like a little scream of
joy. When she finally had enough of laying in the snow she ran back to
get her sledge from the little outhouse by the barn. Angela had been
sledding with her Father before, but she never went more than a hundred
yards or so up the hill. Angela pulled the sledge out of the barn to
the middle of the yard. As she stood looking up the hill, she felt a
pull in her stomach. Angela took a deep breath and started walking up
the hill. The higher she got the more the feeling pulled in her
stomach. Angela was excited and scared whilst being happier than she
remembered being in a long time. As she got to the top she felt like
she could be sick any minute she was that excited. As she looked down
at the hill she suddenly had a quick change of mind. Angela had been
told many times never go over the top of the hill, but the excitement
took over and she had to have a look at least. So Angela turned away
from her farmhouse and took the last few steps to the brow of the hill.
Angela stared out over the countryside before her. She could see fields
for miles with little farmhouses dotted around the landscape, but right
in the middle of them all was the most eye-catching thing she had ever
seen. Angela stood staring at the bio-dome. It looked like a giant ball
of ice. It seemed massive even at this great distance. Angela examined
the fields of snow lying between her and the dome and as her eyes
finally came to rest at the bottom of the hill she saw a sight that she
wasn't expecting at all.

PART 2: MR SNOWMAN?

Angela panicked and ran back toward her house she jumped on her sledge
and held on tight. All though she was scared, she was also excited and
exhilarated. She sped down the hill so fast her hat blew right off. As
she hit the bottom the sledge found a mound of snow and Angela came
flying off face first. She jumped up laughing wildly and ran into the
house.
"Mummy, Mummy. There's a snowman."
"Wow! A snowman? That sounds great. Why don't you go play with your
snowman Angel face? Mummy's baking."
Angela stood for a moment, staring blankly, unsure what to do next. She
grabbed a scarf and a hat then ran back outside. Angela trudged her way
to the top of the hill sledge in hand.
Angela stood at the top of the hill staring down at the figure of the
snowman lying at the bottom of the hill completely motionless. She
jumped on her sledge and made her way to the bottom of the hill at
great speed. As Angela squealed, the snowman rolled over to see what
the noise was. Seeing Angela heading straight for him at great speed,
the snowman let out an inaudible yell as he desperately tried to summon
the energy to struggle to his feet. Angela screamed as she hurtled down
the hill at great speed, desperately trying to stop or turn. The
snowman screamed even louder just as Angela hit him full on in the face
with her sledge. The snowman was knocked out flat and both Angela and
her sledge were catapulted some distance over the snowman to land
softly in the snow.
A silent moment of terrible fear filled Angela. She stood looking at
the snowman who lay still once again. "Mr Snowman?" Asked Angela.
There was no response so Angela made her way forward a step or two. "Mr
Snowman?"
The snowman made a clumsy attempt to lift him self. He managed to
wobble himself onto one knee. Angela was frozen to the spot watching.
She felt like someone had taken away her ability of movement. Her
little eyes remained unblinking as she stared at the unstable snowman
attempting to steady himself. She had not blinked for so long now her
eyes began to hurt from the constant exposure to the cold.
The snowman lunged forward which caused Angela to let out a little
involuntary startled yelp. Then the snowman stopped moving
altogether.
It seemed almost as though time had stopped. Angela was so scared she
tried not to breathe. The more she tried not to breathe the more she
noticed little clouds falling out of her mouth. The clouds seemed to
get bigger and bigger until she found herself making a little noise
every time she made a little cloud. When she made a noise big enough to
feel in her throat, Angela stopped making clouds.
The snowman cupped his hands together and picked up a pile of snow
slowly placing it to his face. "OW! SHIT!"
Angela let out a scream. Her fear took over everything inside her, then
made her turn and run. She ran as fast as she could for about a hundred
yards then slowly began to stop. She turned quickly to see if the
snowman was still there. He hadn't even lowered his hands from his
face. Angela was happier being more of a distance from the snowman. So
she stood watching him from her new vantage point.
The snowman dropped the snow from his hands and struggled onto his
haunches. He sat there for a moment even more unstable than before
rocking ever so gently. He made an attempt to stand upright and lost
all control of his balance falling flat on his back. Both the snowman
and Angela remained still for what seemed like the whole morning.
Eventually Angela decided to move. She slowly crept toward the hill
trailing her sledge along behind. Angela put all her effort into being
quiet. She placed her feet down as slowly as possible so as not to make
too much of a crunchy snow noise. As she drew level with the snowman at
the bottom of the hill she stopped. Angela thought for a moment about
the snowman lying in the snow. "Mr Snowman?"
After taking a few steps then stopping several times, Angela decided
to approach the snowman to make sure he wasn't hurt. "Mr
Snowman?"
The closer she was to reaching the snowman, the more confident she
became. "Mr Snowman?"
Angela could see the snowman was awake and very exhausted. She could
see his eyes properly for the first time. She stared straight into his
eyes and quite quickly saw something she could trust and like. Suddenly
Angela had a new opinion of the situation and the mood altered
drastically. "Mr Snowman?" Said Angela as she knelt next to the
Snowmans head. Angela removed her mitten and poked the Snowmans
shoulder. The only reaction was a quick flick of the eyes and a sigh.
"Mr Snowman? You look cold." Angela took out the hat and scarf, wrapped
her scarf around the snowmans neck and tried to stretch her hat over
the Snowmans closely cropped head. Then, even through the cold freezing
his facial muscles in place, the snowman couldn't help cracking a
smile.
After much work the snowman finally found his feet with a little help
from Angela. "Well, thank you very much young lady, and what would your
name be?"
"I'm Angela." She said without pause for concern.
"Thank you once Again Angela. So long, Angela, I'm going this way."
Said the snowman pointing up the hill. "My house is over there." Said
Angela.
The snowman crouched down to Angela. "Do you live in that beautiful
house just over this hill?"
Angela nodded. "Well, Angela, does that mean your Daddy is a
farmer?"
"No, Daddy's a business man." Said Angela.
"A business man? Wow I bet you like that, Daddy working at home all the
time?"
Angela sank into herself. "Well, what's with that face?" Asked the
snowman.
Angela just shrugged.
"Well, if you live that way and I'm going that way anyway, why don't
we go that way together. Then you can tell me why the sad face."
Angela looked at the snowman and said "My Daddy flies on planes a lot.
He doesn't spend much time with us." The snowman began to walk and
quickly Angela followed. By the time they had reached the top of the
hill, the snowman knew all about Angela and her Mother. He knew about
how Angela learnt from home and had never played outside on her own. He
knew that she had never seen anything on that side of the hill before
now. He even knew that he would be hiding in Angelas barn for a
while.

PART 3: EST. 2047

Angela spent the whole day in the barn talking to the snowman. For the
first day she was allowed to play outside by herself she was spending a
lot of it inside. The snowman played games with Angela and told her
stories. Dinner and tea had been and gone, but Angela had brought food
and drinks to the snowman.
It was after tea when the car pulled up outside Angelas house. Angela
was thinking to her self how lucky she was to have found her Snowman,
when her Snowman asked to leave.
Angelas Mother looked horrified at the policeman. "My Daughter's been
playing all day with the snowman she said. But she made him sound so
real. I just thought..."
"Where is your daughter now?"
"I have to go now. Is there another door that you can't see from the
house?" Asked the Snowman.
"Can I come with you?" Asked Angela disappointed at him leaving so
soon.
The snowman thought for a moment then replied. "I think that's a great
idea. But we have to go now. Other door?"
The policeman burst in to see a swirl of snow blow in through the
other door. By the time Angelas Mother had been informed, The snowman
had carried her Daughter all the way up the hill and for his troubles
been awarded a pink hat.
Angela and her Snowman stood looking for a moment at the massive
bio-dome. In the dusky half light of winter the domes illumination was
beginning to show. A mass of swirling colours swam across the whole
ball and the snow around its base pulsated multicoloured concentric
circles of light across its surface. Then Angela and her Snowman sat
together on her sledge and hurtled down the hill.
By the time the policeman were at the top of the hill, Angela and the
snowman were well on their way to the bio-dome. The policeman raised
his tranquilizer rifle, "I can't get a clear shot. He's got the girl on
his back. We'll have to run him down."
The policeman hurled themselves down the hill and were off running as
fast as they could, following the trench left for them by the snowman,
slipping and tripping along the way.
Angela looked up at the massive dome. Above the door shining from out
of the metal framework in brilliant blue letters it read 'Est. 2047'.
The snowman typed in the security code and in they walked. "I helped
build this. I designed and built the water filtration system and that
my little Angela is why we are here."
"My Mummy told me that bad men had to build this place to make good
their wrongs."
The snowman took Angela from his back and set her down. He crouched
down. "I promise you hand on heart I am not a bad man. I only ever did
things for the good of others. But some other people didn't like the
way I was helping."
Angela Looked at the snowman with confusion in her eyes. "I promise."
He said. "I never did anything bad to another person."
Angela nodded her head as a gesture of her willingness to believe his
every word. "Wait here for a moment." Said the Snowman.
Angela stood for a moment on her own, in the dark. Suddenly she was
drowned in images, light and sound. Angela listened to a friendly voice
talking about life before the Gulf stream conveyor stopped, feeding
ducks in the summer and speedily eating an ice-cream before it melts on
your hand. Angela never had an ice-cream melt on her hand while she fed
ducks. She listened to the man talk of global warming and how the water
passing another country used to make our air warm, our summer
warm.
Angela suddenly realised she was alone and very scared. She ran in the
direction her Snowman had gone. She rounded the corner to see him dive
into a large pool of bubbling water. "MR SNOWMAN?" She yelled. Angela
ran to the pool side in time to see her hat float to the surface.

The policemen ran through the entrance and arrived to see Angelas
little flood gates open. Angela stood crying with a soggy hat in her
hand next to a pool of water. Because that's what you do when your
snowman melts.

THE END