Snow Fairy

The crisp air bit at Holly's cheeks until they became two red cherries peeking over her scarf. She hopped up and down on the bottom step of the porch to keep warm as she gazed at the sky.

"Holly, come inside. It's supposed to start snowing soon," her mother called from inside the house.

"I know, Mom. That's why I'm out here." Holly loved snow. She wished it snowed all year long.

"Five more minutes," announced her mom. As Holly hugged her body to stay warm, she heard a snapping sound around the corner of her house. Curious, she hopped off the step and went to investigate.

Holly was shocked when she discovered the cause of the commotion. An older neighborhood boy was standing by the apple tree at the far end of the yard, swinging a stick at what appeared to be a hummingbird.

"What are you doing?" Holly cried.

"I'm getting rid of this weird thing," said the boy. He continued swatting the creature as it fell from the bare tree branches and crumpled up on a bed of fallen leaves.

"Well, stop it! Why are you picking on an innocent bird?"

The boy glared. "Whatever, doesn't look like any bird I've ever seen;" he muttered as he walked away.

"You poor thing!" Holly knelt to inspect the pitiful heap on the frozen ground. She was shocked to see the figure was not a bird, but a tiny girl. She was no larger than a hummingbird and had silver wings like those of a butterfly. Her ice-blue hair reached past her waist and her dress and slippers were made of soft white fur.

"A fairy!" Holly whispered. She scooped up the motionless creature and hurried back to the house just as her mother began to call for her to come inside.

Holly darted into her bedroom before her family could ask any questions. She emptied the contents of her jewelry box and gently placed the fairy on the cushioned lining.

Holly thought she saw the tiny eyelids flutter and she hurried to the bathroom to get some water and an eye dropper. When she returned, the fairy blinked groggily and sat up. Her sapphire eyes widened in fear at the sight of Holly. She stretched out her thin wings in an attempt to fly away, but shuddered in pain and collapsed onto Holly's dresser.

"Don't worry," Holly reassured her. "I won't hurt you." Holly dipped the eye dropper into the water and offered it to the fairy. "Are you thirsty?"

The fairy eyed Holly warily, but opened her mouth and took a sip from the eye dropper. When the fairy exhaled, Holly could see her breath even though the room was warm and cozy. The fairy stretched her wings again and frowned at the left one, which appeared a bit bent. As she fluttered both silver wings, snowflakes fell from their tips to the bedroom floor.

"Oh!" Holly gasped, " You're here to make it snow." The fairy nodded and relaxed her wings, taking special care not to bend the left one.

"Well, you can't go anywhere with your wing like that. You'll have to stay here until it heals." The fairy gazed longingly out the window, but nodded in agreement.

"What's your name?" Holly asked. The fairy shook her head with a smug smile. Holly understood. "Is it a name I won't be able to say?" she asked.  The fairy nodded again. "Well, I need to call you something." Holly thought for a moment, "How about Nissa? My grandma used to tell a story about a fairy named Nissa." The fairy batted her wings in approval, and snow showered the top of Holly's dresser.

For the next few weeks, Nissa recovered in Holly's room. Holly rushed home from school every day to see her. Nissa liked to be cold, so Holly had to keep sneaking ice cream and Popsicles from the freezer for her. The fairy would eat the frozen treats and then exercise her wings, turning Holly's bedroom into a life-sized snow globe. They would make snowmen and build snow forts until Holly's mother would tap on the door, wondering why Holly was spending so much time in her room. As Nissa dove into the jewelry box to hide, she would clap her tiny hands together and the winter fairyland would disappear before Holly's mother could open the door.

Even though it snowed every day in Holly's bedroom, everyone else was perplexed about the lack of snow outside. There were no icicles dangling from rooftops, no frost-covered window panes, and no snowflakes for children to catch on their tongues. "It looks like we're going to have a brown Christmas," commented Holly's father one night at dinner. Holly smiled, knowing that she would be able to have a white Christmas all to herself.

That night, Holly tiptoed to her room with a treat for Nissa. She found the fairy kneeling on the window sill, peering out onto the stark brown yard. She smiled when she saw Holly and her wings shimmered as she stretched them out.

"I brought you a frozen lemonade. I hope you like it." Holly announced.

Nissa shook her head and gestured to her left wing. It was no longer bent and didn't seem to be painful anymore.

"You're healed!" Holly clapped. "Now you can make even more snow for us."

Nissa shook her head patiently and pointed outside.

"What? You can't leave!" Holly cried. "No! I won't let you!" She ran to the window and closed the blinds.  "Just stay here and we'll keep having fun."

Nissa pursed her lips in frustration and flew to Holly's jewelry box, leaving behind a trail of sharp ice shards instead of her fluffy snow flakes.

The next day was Christmas Eve. Nissa refused to leave the jewelry box, so Holly decided to play outside. She found her friends sitting on the picnic benches at the park.

"This is so boring." Holly's friend Jennifer said. "It's too cold to go swimming or play sports, but there's no snow or ice to do anything else fun. I want to go sledding!"

"I want to go ice-skating," said Elizabeth. "It's not as much fun at the indoor rink, and there's no snow banks to land in when I can't stop!"

"My family was supposed to go skiing for Christmas, but I guess we can't now." Angie complained.

Feeling guilty at the winter fun she'd had to herself this year, Holly muttered an excuse and returned home. She was greeted at the door by her little brother Michael, dressed in his winter attire.

"What are you doing?" Holly asked.

"Waiting for snow."  Michael's eyes glittered with excitement.

Holly's mom entered the room. "I'm sorry Buddy, it just doesn't look like it's going to snow this year," she looked at Holly and sighed. "He was too little to play in the snow last year. He was really looking forward to it."

Michael stuck out his lower lip in a pout. "Snow will come. I asked Santa."

"I hope so," said Holly's mom as she scooped Michael up and took him into the kitchen for a snack.

Holly was really feeling guilty now. She knew what she had to do, but the idea made her very sad. She went to her room and found Nissa sulking in the jewelry box. "I understand why you need to leave now," Holly said as tears filled her eyes.  "The snow is for everyone to enjoy, and I can't keep it all for myself anymore." She went to her window and cranked it open.

Nissa's face brightened and she flitted to the window. She placed her hand over her mouth and brought it down as if to blow a kiss at Holly. As she exhaled, an icy breeze filled the room and a single enormous snowflake floated into Holly's outstretched hand. It was the most perfect snowflake Holly had ever seen.  Nissa smiled sadly and waved at Holly one last time before darting out the window, followed by a shower of snowflakes. She disappeared before Holly could return the wave.

Holly looked at the snowflake that Nissa gave her. Even with the heat of her hand, it didn't melt. Holly had a feeling that it never would. She found a silver chain and used it to wear the snowflake around her neck. When people would ask where it came from, Holly would answer, "From my best friend."

When Holly looked back out the window, huge flakes were swirling to the barren ground.  "Michael, it's snowing!" Holly called as she ran downstairs. Her brother shrieked with delight as they scurried to get outside. 

The snow had formed a soft white blanket over the ground by the time Holly and Michael made it outside. They found Holly's friends and they all made snowmen and built snow forts until their parents called them inside for dinner.

Even though Holly never saw Nissa again, she didn't forget all the fun they'd had together.  Nissa never forgot Holly either. Every Christmas Eve, Nissa would leave the most beautiful frost paintings on Holly's window. Each one was more elaborate than the last. In anticipation of her visit, Holly would leave an ice cream sandwich by her window. It was always gone Christmas morning.