The snowman, a very special friend

Somewhere in our little town lives a little girl with blonde hair and big blue eyes. Her name is Nadja. She is a friendly, funny child with lots of ideas. Nadja still goes to nursery school. She has lots of friends there.

But that's somehow not enough for her. She wants something special. Something that only she has. Other children have dogs, cats or siblings. But she thinks that having siblings is nothing special. Nadja only has her mum, dad, grandpa and Poppy, her guinea pig. She would love to have a friend that everyone envies her for.

Nadja stands at the window, thinking about this. It's snowing outside again because it's winter. Today, she built a snowman with her dad. It's a beautiful snowman wearing Grandpa's old hat and sporting a carrot nose and a broom. He's quite a bit taller than Nadja. She can see him from the window, and she feels very proud.

She thinks it would be great to have such a big snowman as a friend. They could sit together at the breakfast table and drink cocoa. He could accompany her to nursery every day and wait for her there. Her lunch would definitely taste better then! Of course, he would be allowed to play with her favourite doll.

But she thought it would be even nicer if they went to bed together in the evening. There was plenty of room in her bed. Mummy would read them a story every night. But what if bigger children wanted to hurt her? He would protect her and chase them all away with his broom!

Nadja is torn from her dreams. Her mother called: 'Nadja, come and have your supper!' She sits silently at the table the whole time. Even when her grandfather asks: 'Well, Nadja, is something wrong?', she doesn't say a word.

Now she is lying in bed, with her mother sitting on the edge of the bed, giving her a goodnight kiss. Nadja can't fall asleep right away. The soft clattering of porcelain comes from the kitchen. Mummy is washing up after dinner and the TV is softly playing in the living room.

After a while, Nadja finally falls asleep.

During the night, Nadja wakes up suddenly. She lies quietly for a few minutes, thinking about her snowman. How is he doing out there now? Is he cold or scared, all alone in the dark? Nadja gets up and goes to the window. There he is, standing outside. You can still see him clearly in the moonlight. She suddenly has an idea.

The best thing to do would be to bring him inside. Her parents and grandfather are already asleep. Nadja puts on her slippers and slowly, quietly creeps towards the front door. She pauses for a moment to listen, but everything is quiet. What will she find outside? Gathering her courage, she pushes down the door handle and runs out into the hallway in her pyjamas. There she stands, ankle-deep in snow and freezing, in front of her snowman.

'Never mind', she tells herself, 'I have to do this quickly.' But then she realises that she is far too small to carry such a big snowman. Without thinking twice, she carries all the pieces inside one by one. In her room, she rebuilds her cold friend on the armchair. She fetches a woollen blanket and uses it to cover him up to his chest. She looks at him for a moment, then kisses him on the cheek. 'He looks happier now', she thinks.

She snuggles back into her bed, feeling tired and cold. Nadja is happy with herself. It was a great idea. After breakfast tomorrow, she plans to take her snowman out sledging. Finally, she has a special friend that no one else has. With that thought, she falls asleep.

It is early morning. The clattering in the kitchen tells her that Mummy is preparing breakfast. The smell of fresh coffee wafts through the entire flat. She can hear the sound of water splashing in the bathroom. Dad is still showering. Nadja slowly opens her eyes and looks around the room. Then she looks over at the armchair. With her eyes wide open and her mouth agape, she suddenly sits bolt upright in bed. Where is her snowman? What happened?

The blanket lies crumpled on the armchair. His hat and carrot nose are on the floor. There is a huge puddle under the armchair and the carpet is completely wet. Nadja jumps out of bed. She runs into the kitchen, crying and shouting: 'Mummy, where's my snowman?'

Her mother already knows what has happened. She pulls her little girl onto her lap and explains: 'You see, Nadja, your snowman got too warm in your room and cried all night. He's happier outside. I'm not happy about the wet armchair and carpet, of course. But if you help me mop everything up quickly and tidy everything away, Grandad and I promise we'll help you build a new snowman this afternoon!'

Nadja smiles again. She still has lots of friends at nursery school – who won't melt.

© 'The snowman, a very special friend' is a bedtime story by Barbara Brusselmans, 12/2010. The snowman drawing is from a book by Eduard Schulz, with text by Emil Rittershaus (Flemming, Glogau 1867), CC0 (Public Domain Licence).