Prints in the Snow

Snow fell all night on Kindly Kingdom.  In the morning, Princess Mackenna found her little dog, Gentle, at the door wagging his tail.

“Do you want to go out?” she asked the dog.

Gentle bounced back and forth excitedly in front of the door.

“Let me put on my fuzzy coat, my fuzzy hat, and my fuzzy mittens and I will go outside with you.”

When Princess Mackenna opened the door and stepped outside, she saw white, sparkling snow everywhere.  She saw puffs of snow held in the branches of trees.  Puffs of snow atop fences.  Snow across all the grass and all the kingdom.  “Look at the snow!” she exclaimed to Hedgy the hedgehog, who always stood just outside the door.

“Snow,” repeated Hedgy.  “And goodbye…I mean hello…I mean good morning.”

Hedgy was a little confused, as always.  Princess Mackenna touched his nose.

Together, Gentle and Princess Mackenna carefully walked out into the fresh snow.  “It’s so soft.” Princess Mackenna said.

Princess Mackenna and Gentle “softed” their way out to the big pine tree in front of Kindly Castle.  The tree was so full of snow it was puffy and white instead of green.

Princess Mackenna poked at a puffy branch with her fuzzy mitten.  A sparkling snow waterfall fell near her boots. That’s when she heard a whistling sound above her.  Then a small voice said, “The snow remembers!”

Above Princess Mackenna, sitting on a puff of snow, perched a bright red cardinal bird.  “Hello,” said the bird.  “My name is Carla.”  She whistled again and then chirped twice.  “The snow remembers!” the red bird repeated.

“What do you mean?” asked Princess Mackenna.

“I’ll show you.”  Carla whistled, then fluttered down into the snow beside Gentle and hopped three times.  “One…two…three,” sang the bird. “Now, look behind me.  What do you see?”

“I see blue holes in the white snow,” said Princess Mackenna.

“Yes.  The snow remembers where we go with prints.”   Carla fluttered aback up to her puffy branch on the tree.  “Now look behind yourself.”

Behind her, Princess Mackenna saw her own blue holes in the snow.  Perfect boot prints where she had stepped.  Perfect little paw prints where Gentle had bounced along.

Carla chirped.  “And the prints will be there until the snow melts.  The snow remembers us.  Isn’t it grand?”

Princess Mackenna walked in a small circle through the snow.  The circle of prints remained there.  Then she walked straight and turned, walked straight and turned, walked straight and turned, walked straight and turned, and made a big square with her prints  “I can draw in the snow with my feet!” she said.

Gentle buried his nose in the snow and sneezed, causing the snow to splash out into sparkles.

Princess Mackenna kicked the snow and watched sparkles splash up and fall again.  “I need to run fast!” she said.  “Good-bye, Carla.”

“Good-bye and have a snowy day,” said Carla.  She chirped and whistled.

Off ran Princess Mackenna and her dog Gentle.  Off they sparkled though the snow.  Each of them leaving a trail of prints behind them.

—Mitchell Hegman