Snowflakes

This is a story my friend wrote, I hope you enjoy it!  I did, Adios!                     

    Snowflakes

By Eliana 

Way up in the sky there lives a man. He stays in the clouds and loves the cold. His name is Jack. Jack loved to make snow. He didn’t spend much time on it, though. He challenged himself to make as many as possible before his deadlines came. One day he had a visitor.

“Hello, Jack,” the visitor said.

“Hello. Who are you?” Jack replied and looked up to examine his visitor. He hadn’t had many visitors before. Or any for that matter. The women standing before him, was very pretty. She looked young, but with an old soul. Her skin was dark, light, and tan all at the same time, but somehow it looked normal. She had dark hair, white teeth and was tall, but not too tall. Her clothes seemed to be made of leaves, she wore no shoes and there were flowers and twigs in her hair that didn’t seem out of place.

“I am Eve,” she said, her voice elegant.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Jack,” He said as he continued his work.

“I know, Jack. I came to see how you were fairing.”

“Oh. Well, I’m fine. And quite busy, so if you don’t mind . . .” He inclined his head to the door.

“I understand. It mustn’t be easy creating so many snowflakes.”

“Well it isn’t too hard. See?” He showed her how he made them, first taking moisture, adding a little ice then fluffing them up with some wind.

“Ah, I see. Is there nothing special about them individually?” she inquired.

“Not really. Many of them are different sizes and some have different shapes, but they all have the same basic design. That makes it easier to make so many.”

“I understand. Take my hand; I would like to show you something.” Eve held out her hand, but Jack refused to take it. “What is wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing really, but I can’t go with you.”

Eve tilted her head to the side with a questioning look on her face.

“Well, you see, I’ve got a lot of work to do. There’s a big blizzard scheduled for next week and if I don’t have enough snow then it won’t be a blizzard then will it?”

“No. I don’t suppose it will . . .” Eve looked disappointed but she continued after a moment. “Perhaps I will be able to persuade you later on.”

She turned to leave when Jack stopped her. “Wait, maybe I can come. But it better be quick.” He took her hand and they were instantaneously transported somewhere warm and sunny.

Jack, used to his cold clouds, quickly grew uncomfortable and mentioned it to Eve. She told him they wouldn’t be there long, just enough to talk to a friend of hers. Jack followed Eve through a field to a large tree with a door in it. Eve gently knocked on the door. A man in a yellow suit answered the door.

“Eve! It has been far too long!” He bellowed.

“It is nice to see you again, Samuel. This is Jack. I have brought him here to talk to you about your job.”

“I see,” He turned to Jack, “Well, don’t just stand there, come in and take a seat.” He moved out of the way and gestured to the front room. It was warm and well lit. There were two arm-chairs next to each other with a small table in-between them. Across from the chairs was a small loveseat with the same pattern as the chairs, yellow with light orange flowers. Jack took a seat in an arm-chair, the one farthest from the small fire-place on the wall. Eve took a seat in the other arm-chair and Samuel sat on the loveseat.

“So, you want to hear about my job, huh?” Samuel asked. He was tall, well built and had a friendly complexion. “Well, I am sort of like a sun-whisperer.” He chuckled to himself when Jack looked confused. “I guide the sun’s rays. Make ‘em warmer, make ‘em cool of a bit. I sort of decide how a summer is going to end up, hot or super hot!” Samuel laughed at his own joke.

“Not to sound rude, but how is that any fun?” Jack asked.

“Oh, it is quite enjoyable,” was the reply, “Each ray of sun is a little bit different. Some may seem to be the same in size and look similar but will have different temperatures, so they are different. Each one is unique.”

Jack thought about how hard it would be to make each one different. After a minute his thoughts were interrupted.

“It was nice to see you again Samuel, but we must be on our way.” Eve stood up to leave and Jack followed. “Yes, it was nice meeting you,” he said.

Samuel shook Jack’s hand. “It was might nice to meet you too. I hope to see you again soon.”

Jack and Eve walked out of the tree and into the field. They waved goodbye, then Jack took Eve’s hand again and they were off. This time they were in a cottage. It was much cooler than Samuel’s tree and for that Jack was grateful. He looked around. The room they were in was small. There was a round table with four chairs. Behind the table there was a window that showed a lake beyond a yard and there were pictures of waterfalls on the walls.

Jack turned and out of a room he supposed was the kitchen, came two women one of which was holding a tray with a teapot and teacups. The woman with the tray was wearing a dress that was sea blue with darker bits across the bodice. She had light brown hair that went just below her shoulder. The other woman had a similar dress on, but this one was orange with red.

When the woman in the blue saw Eve she hurriedly set down the tray and gave her a hug. The woman in the orange soon followed. When asked about Jack, Eve said, “This is Jack. I brought him here to talk to Katherine. But Maple, I would like you to talk to him also, considering we were going to see you next.

“Then let’s sit down first. Would you two like some tea also?” Katherine inquired.

Jack shook his head and Eve said “No thank you.”

They all sat down at the table where Maple poured the tea and Katherine talked to Jack.

“I play with water,” she started, “Lakes, rivers and rain. I form the dew drops and shape the rain. Keep in mind, as it may seem fun and playful, that is not all. Each droplet or body of water is different, individual. Even though sometimes the differences are small.”

“And I play with the leaves,” Maple started when Katherine finished. “I paint them all different colors in autumn and help them fall. I also get them started, choosing their shapes and sizes. Each one its own. Separate from the rest, even though in a group of many. That is why I am here now. It is the beginning of spring here and I have come to shape the leaves.”

“Thank you, both,” Eve said as she stood up. “Jack and I must be going.”

Katherine answered, “Anytime, it was nice to see you again and a pleasure to meet you Jack.”

“Indeed,” Maple agreed.

Eve took Jack’s hand and they were back in his clouds. “Did you notice the theme about each of them?” Jack asked. “They all made their things unique. How wonderful?”

Eve only smiled. She then left and Jack was alone. He looked at his work and decided to start over. “From now on,” he said aloud, “I will always make my snowflakes individual.” And he set back to work.