The Winter Spirits

Its a story about a snowman who comes to life!!!

It was winter and for me, it was the best season of the year. Apparently, we were on holidays. My sister and I were playing outdoors with our neighbor, John. Amidst the incessant snow, not a single grass was to be seen. And it was the perfect atmosphere for a snowman.

After a snowball fight, we commenced with the snowman. Firstly, we piled up two big heaps of snow and converted them in to two balls, one smaller than the other. Then we placed the small one steadily on the large one. Its arms were two sticks, nose was a carrot, and mouth was a row of seeds of a tree close by and each eye were a seed from the same tree. We adorned it with my sister’s scarf which had a shape of pink and blue. Eventually, we were so elated to see a fully grown snowman standing before us.

John sprinkled some water on to the snowman, from a glass bottle in his hand. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing? The snowman will melt down! Our efforts would be a complete waste. I want to show it to father!” I admonished. “It’s ok. Believe it or not, this is spirit water. My grandfather uses this to keep his garden alive throughout the winter. It works really well on plants you know! We collected it from the secret lake in the forest and it doesn’t even freeze in the winter. It’s just amazing. I want to test whether it works on other things as well. Spirit water is said to give birth to the death. After all, this snowman is going to be melted down in the morning,” he explained himself.

The secret lake was a rumor apocryphal beyond the town boundaries. As John said, people say that the water possess incredible powers that gives life to the dead. However, very few believed in this tale and John and his family were among them. Even if I would have tried to oppose him, it would obviously be worthless and he would continue to be adamant.

We were intrigued by a sound of a bell from downtown. It was the winter bell summoning the kids for ice skating. And the thought of ice skating made us forget all about the snowman.

Time flies when you’re having fun and it was dark already. With much reluctance, we made our way towards home. It was then the snowman came to my mind. After biding John goodbye, I returned to take a look at the snowman. To my surprise, it wasn’t there. If it had melted, then snow would be heaped up at the spot. But strangely, there was not a single trace of the snowman. Only one answer came to my mind. Had John’s spirit water really worked? No! It cannot be. It’s absurd. But for some reason, my instinct compelled me to believe it was true.

Without second thought, I called John and told him the whole story. He sounded delighted, yet frightened. We sneaked out of our houses in search for the snowman. Our curiosities lead us a long way, but it was almost nightfall and there was still no sign of the snowman.

Luckily, our eyes met with a snowman at the corner of the children’s park. At first, we were not sure if it was really him. Wait! He was wearing my sister’s scarf. It was him. But his back was faced towards us. I hesitated to proceed. Unlike me, John audaciously walked forward towards the snowman. When he was only a few inches away, unexpectedly, the snowman turned around with a whip and got hold of John’s hand. I stood frozen with fear. Its face was steaming with great anger and it turned out to be the most terrifying thing I had ever seen.

“Were you my creator?” reiterated the snowman harshly. We nodded our heads slowly. Then he tightened John’s grip. His face was overwhelmed with pain and I was too stunned to move a muscle.

“Have you not known that once sun rises tomorrow morning, I’ll have to die again? You think it’s easy to die!” he growled. “We didn’t know that spirit water would work on a snowman.” John’s voice was trembling. “It doesn’t matter anymore. Tonight, one of you will have to take my place as the snowman. Any volunteer?” he asked with a hellish smile on his face.

What did he mean? Could it be what I think it is? My legs began to shake. Ultimately, it has come to this. One of us had to up our soul. I didn’t want any. We glanced at each other with terror.

“Then I’ll choose………..” Before it could say anything, John let go of its hand and charged towards me. “Run to the lake!” he cried. He seemed to have a plan. So I obeyed.

Unfortunately, the snowman somehow succeeded in catching up with us. He used the wind and ice to move, ice skating on the snow itself. We reached the lake and saw it was frozen in ice. We slid across to the opposite bank of the river and by the time we got there, the snowman was at the opposite bank.

“Try and catch us now!” John waved, showing no fear. Two wedge shaped stones were in his hands. Realizing his plan, I was reassured. Before the snowman could get to us, we started cracking up the ice. Seeing this, it increased its speed. However, the great fear of death lead us to victory before it could make our lives miserable. The ice cracked and the snowman drowned out of sight, melting away into nothing but water. The queer wail that came out of the lake lasted only for a short time. I was now at ease to be relieved from the verge of death.

For a moment, John and I stared at each other and smiled. John spoke first. “We shouldn’t tell this to anyone. We shouldn’t have messed with the winter spirits in the first place.” He was serious than ever. Then without a word, he turned away from me and strolled towards the hill top. It was then I began to feel a sense of doubt. A cold breeze of evil swept the air. No! It couldn’t be! “John? John?” I whispered in utmost horror.

“There is no point of calling out a name that doesn’t exist!” was his reply.

 

The End