Inside the drift, Timmy and Wade waited. “Did you hear something?” Wade asked. Vapor drifted from his mouth and nose with each breath. “I can’t hear a thing.” Timmy replied. “Do you think we should check?” “They said to wait until they yelled.” “What if we can’t hear them?” “We’ll here them, Timmy.” Wade answered. They waited while the short-lived battle roared outside.
There were heavy casualties. Jimmy and I were beaten. My hair was matted with ice. Jimmy was flat on his back, covered in snow. One of my hands was red and raw. The mitten protecting it, froze to a snowball, and was launched into the opposition’s side of the border. We raised our hands in surrender. Timmy and Wade soon were taken prisoner and marched to a firing squad. They were brave men. We were proud to have fought with them.
“That was fun!” Craig said. “Can we do it again tomorrow? This time we get the cave.”
“Deal! See ya, guys!”
A cold wind whipped powdered snow into my face. It stunk my cheeks, before melting, and dripping from my chin. I picked up a handful of snow, squeezed it tight in my hands, and made a snowball. My target, a castle made from blocks of snow carefully cut from the hard-packed snowdrift that stretched the length of our yard, towered on a rock in front of me. I took aim and hurled my snowball at it. It went high, landed in a drift behind the castle, and created a small crater. I made another snowball and fired again. This one hit the left tower of the castle. A turret toppled over. In my imagination, the evil wizard screamed, “You will pay for this, King Michael.!”
The captured maiden screamed, “King Michael, save me!”
Another snowball crashed into the castle. The evil wizard cursed as his castle came crashing down around him. The snow maiden leaped and landed safely in the feathery snow. She stood and waved, “I love you, King Michael!”
“Michael, time for supper!” Mum called from the house. My maiden faded from view—back to reality.
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