Can You Freeze a Snowman?

Hayden was in Spain on his holidays, swimming in the pool several times a day having the time of his life and some winter sunshine.

He had been hoping to build a snowman on his trip to the northern hemisphere, because after all, that’s what happens in Europe right. Over the Christmas holidays it snows and makes magical worlds covered in white fluffy blankets. Everyone knows that.

Well, there was no snow in Spain.

Back at his grandma’s house in England, it HAD snowed overnight. White frosted flakes of snow had fallen through the through the darkness decorating the garden with a glistening, beautiful layer of soft untrodden snow.

Hayden was mad. Whilst he was jumping in the pool, there was snow where he wasn’t. When he got back, the snow had gone. The grass was green, the mud was brown and the air was cold and icy.

He went into the kitchen to make a hot chocolate.

‘Helloooooo Helloooo.’

I shouted as loud as I possibly could. I couldn’t feel my nose. I couldn’t feel my toes. It was dark all around me and very hard to move.

Where was I? Am I alive?

‘Helloooooo Helloooo.’

Hayden heard a strange noise coming from the freezer.

‘Helloooooo Helloooo. Let me out.’

‘Mum, quick, there’s a noise coming from the freezer.’

Hayden opened the freezer and found two big snowballs at the bottom.

‘What’s that?’

‘What’s that? What do you think I am?’

Hayden looked at his mum. His mum looked at him. ‘Oh, I almost forgot,’ said his mother, rubbing her head, ‘I saved some snow for you whilst you were away.’

‘And, er, that explains this, does it? A talking ball of snow in the freezer.’

‘Oi, I’ll have you know, I’m more than a talking ball of snow. Don’t talk to your mother like that. Close your mouth and get me out of here immediately.’

This snowman was seriously sassy. Hayden picked up one snowball and placed it on the kitchen worktop, then added the other one on top.

'NOT IN THE KITCHEN!’ yelled his mum and grandma in unison, looking at the pool of water beginning to form underneath it. Hayden picked up the snowman again and this time took it into the garden.

‘Right, I need a scarf, some stones, a carrot, some twigs.’

‘Hold your horses, I don’t want any old scarf, make sure it’s a soft one. The stones need to be smooth and perfectly shaped, the carrot small no lumps, don’t even think about giving me a wonky schnoozle’, demanded the snowman. ‘AND….my arms need to be of equal size with fingers.’

‘You’re very demanding for a ball of snow with not much going on but an oversize mouth’, said Hayden as he went off to look for the items the Snowman had outlined.

Piece by piece, he dressed the Snowman. First he wrapped the scarf around his neck but as the scarf was so long and the Snowman was small enough to fit in a freezer drawer, he had to keep going. By the end it looked more like a jumper. Hayden then added the stone eyes, the carrot nose, he had been careful to pick a perfect looking carrot but even then it had to be cut in half to fit the Snowman’s face. Then he added the twigs for arms. The Snowman was finished.

‘Not bad, not bad, I say, quality wool, a fine merino, and oh my, I am a handsome devil aren’t I with these features. Good choice Hayden, good choice. I say young man, I think you and I should take a walk in the village, I think I can show you a few things.’

So the Snowman and Hayden went out into the village. Now you have to remember that there was no snow on the ground, but it was very cold. All the other snowmen had melted already. ‘Check me, I’m the only snowman in the village, I have an idea, are you in?’

‘Er, yes, I think so’, said Hayden reluctantly looking at the smirk forming on the Snowman’s face.

They walked past the post office and the fish and chip shop, there were a few people on the village square. ‘Here, hold this’, said the Snowman, handing Hayden a few snowballs. ‘Throw them now!’

The Snowman started lobbing snowballs at people, and one hit Pete the Postman as he was collecting the post from the village postbox. ‘Oi!’, he shouted, startled. Pete was not expecting to be hit by a snowball because there was no snow.

The Snowman kept making more and more snowballs as they walked through the village, one went into the bakery, a few in the book shop, and one in the florist. ‘Come on, you have a go’. So Hayden threw some over the wall in the pub car park.

Oi!, what was that’ said a female voice from the other side of the wall. It was his auntie getting out of the car on her way to work.

‘Ooops Sorry!’, said Hayden, but he giggled all the same. The Snowman lobbed more snowballs and one of them went through the pub window. His auntie would be very angry now.

‘We have to stop, we can’t play here, and everyone will get suspicious.’

‘You make a very good point young man’, agreed the Snowman. ‘We need to make some more snow.’ He looked at the clouds in the sky and started to mutter under his breath. The clouds became darker, grey and they seemed to get closer, a blanket of grey above them. As they were looking up, little snowflakes started to fall, then they became faster and faster, settling on the ground in patches.

Impressed that the Snowman could make it snow, Hayden also wondered if the Snowman could fix the window.

It was freezing. ‘Come inside now please,’ said his auntie, still cross from earlier. ‘I need to call your mum.’

Hayden looked at the Snowman and pointed at the window, pleading silently. The Snowman winked and nodded. When they got inside, Hayden received a roasting about the window, but when they looked at it, there was nothing there, no broken glass, no hole. His Auntie shook her head and went to inspect the other windows as Hayden sat down with another hot chocolate.

The next time they looked out of the windows, the whole car park was covered in snow, and the road, and the fields. It was a perfect winter picture. The Snowman was waiting for him outside. On the way home, they made snow angels and laughed about the day.

Hayden went into the bath to warm up and the Snowman went into the garden to keep cool. Today was a good day.

‘See you again tomorrow! We can do it all again,' said the Snowman excitedly.

Hayden laughed, ‘Well, maybe not ALL of it!

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