We’re heading for the snow!
Good riddance to those grown up ghouls!
We’re leaving! Yukon Ho!”
-Bill Watterson
“When it snows, you have two choices: shovel or make snow angels” – Unknown
As Father Ignatius Xavier got out his rosary beads, he began to pray. As he began to pray, a name came to him. Names often came to him as he prayed, so it was nothing strange. The name that came to him was Randy McFee and he didn’t know who Randy McFee was, nor how old he was. All he knew was that he was supposed to pray for him, and so he prayed.
“Dear Lord, please help Randy McFee. Please send your angels to watch over him.”
***
That Christmas, Randy had gotten two gifts that changed his outlook on life; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe ~ by C.S. Lewis, and The Marvellous Land of OZ ~ by L. Frank Baum. This had spurred on his love of reading and soon he was reading all types of books, and adapting his own versions of them…
“Call me Randy… Randy McFee. Are you ready to hear some long drown out musings about my mis-adventures?”
***
Some months ago—never mind how long precisely—having no school and nothing particular to interest me in the house, I decided that I would sled about a little, and see the snowy part of the world. It’s a way I have of driving off the irritation, regulating the circulation and avoiding pale ire, envy, and despair. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly, and dark November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before smelly beauty salons, and especially whenever the hungry hungry hippos get such a super bite out of me that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately eating canned peas, and methodically knocking people’s hats off- at the mall-then, I know it’s high time to get to the freshly fallen snow as soon as I can. This is my substitute for an automatic slingshot with lazar scope. With a philosophical flourish the lemming follows his brothers off the cliff, I quietly take to the sled.
Reading took the reader into a whole imaginary new world, and that is where Randy found himself as he was plucked from a snow bank by a snowman. It had been a snow day and Randy had the day off from school to enjoy the freshly new fallen snow. Randy’s mother had warned Him more than once, “Do not jump off the roof into the snow bank!” But Randy, being ten years old, didn’t always pay attention to his mother, as much of a good boy as he really was, so it wasn’t really a surprise to him when, a short time later, he got pulled out of a snow bank on the side of a mountain by a snowman. Randy had probably figured out from reading his books that his mother likely didn’t want him to jump off the roof into a snow bank because she knew that somehow, he would end up in another world. That was his thinking at the time anyway.
He looked around and saw snowmen trying to help children onto sleds. Not just children but adults and various people of many nationalities, and he quickly decided that he would get on a sled too. Not really thinking, just kind of accepting that this was the best course of action. As he was about to get on to one of the sleds being helped by a snowman, he heard his name being called from further up the Mountain, which made him pause.
Perhaps instead of going down the mountain, he should go up the mountain. Yes, people in fantasy books always went on a quest and this very much looked like it was a quest; an adventure. He began to go up the mountain but after a few steps was stopped by a snowman.
“We go down the mountain here, we don’t go up,” the snowman said, and Randy didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to pick a fight with a snowman after all. Then, all of a sudden, two little white seals came and just kinda pushed the snowman down. The snowman went tumbling down the mountain, and Randy didn’t want to stick around long enough to find out what the other snowmen were going to do as there were an awful lot of them. He proceeded to trek up the mountain with the two little seals following at his heels.
After a little while Randy noticed a sound in the distance. He turned around, but didn’t really see anything except for the mountain. At last, he noticed a little white dot in the midst of the whiteness, and it was gaining on him and coming closer. It soon got into sight and he saw what it was… the abominable snow polar bear!
Randy didn’t like abominable snow polar bears, and so he decided to continue trekking up the mountain, moving a little bit faster than before. The abominable snow polar bear gained on him, getting bigger and bigger the closer it got. Randy kept running faster and faster, but in no time at all the abominable snow polar bear was just about upon him.
All of a sudden, some snow balls came sailing over Randy’s head and hit the abominable snow polar bear straight in the face. He toppled backwards and tried to get up again, but more snowballs came flying and knocked the abominable snow, polar bear back down. Sensing temporary defeat, the bear walked back down the mountain, all the while thinking to itself, “Randy will be ours!”
Randy went around the bend where the snowballs had come from, and found his saviour; a penguin packing snowballs. The Walrus who was near him gave Randy a steaming cup of hot chocolate, and the two little seals stayed at his side.
“We don’t have much time,” the Penguin said. “I stopped that abominable snow polar bear, but there will be more abominable snow polar bears out to get you now.
“They’re out to g… get me?” said Randy.
Yes, they’re out to get you personally. They want you Randy. They want you to go down the mountain.
“What is wrong with going down the mountain?” Randy asked.
“If you go down there, you will end up in the other world, and it is not yet time to go into the other world.”
“The other world?” Randy was very confused now.
Yes. You’re in snow bridge mountain… look there’s not really a lot of time to explain. Here.” He handed randy a candy cane. It wasn’t an ordinary candy cane though; this one was a giant candy cane.
“What am I supposed to do with this?” He asked looking at the oversized confection.
“Well, when you need it you will know,” and with that said, he sent Randy on his way with the two little seals. The voice up the Mountain was still calling his name, so, he followed the sound and continued up the mountain.
Soon he got to an icy path which continued on up the Mountain. He didn’t see any other way around, so decided to try to carefully climbing up the slippery path. Each time his feet slipped, though, the little seals held him up. He remembered the candy cane still clutched in his hand and began to use it to trek up the icy path. Looking back, he saw three abominable snow polar bears come around the corner only to slide back down the icy path and down the mountain again.
When he got to the end of the icy path, he was very tired causing him to lose his balance. He dropped the candy cane and it tumbled back down the mountain; he couldn’t save it. He felt so tired, and knew that the abominable snow polar bears would get him. But then, the two little white seals started to sing.
“Sleigh Bells Ring Are You Listening…”
Their song gave Randy energy. It was one of his favorite songs, and one that he and his two little sisters always sang. He loved his little sisters; they were such wonderful sisters. They always wore his white coats everywhere. In fact, they looked a lot like two little seals. Renewed, he continued going up the mountain.
At last, he arrived at the top and, once there, he noticed several differing igloos; one of them even had his name on it. He had begun to walk towards it, when ten abominable snow polar bears stepped into his path. Randy was scared, he didn’t know what to do, but the two little seals kept going arr arrr.
Then an old man came, kinda from nowhere, and said “Randy you don’t have to be afraid of the abominable snow polar bears. You must embrace your abominable snow polar bear. It is time you just learned to accept it.” The old man then embraced his own abominable snow polar bear, climbed up on top of it and sledded off down the Mountain.
“Was the penguin telling me the truth?” Randy thought, “are the abominable snow polar bears really not that abominable after all?” He was thinking this, when a voice came from near the igloo. Looking over, he saw a snow angel on the ground. He had seen plenty of snow angels before, but this one was somewhat different as it kinda popped up off the ground and took on the form of an Eskimo. The Eskimo then drew and ice sword and began swatting the abominable snow polar bears.
“Quick Randy get into the igloo,” The Eskimo said, and Randy knew that when a fierce warrior came out and started swatting a potential enemy out of the way it was time to listen.
He was just going towards the igloo again, when an abominable snow polar bear blocked his path and said, “you shall not pass, you are ours!”
Randy was a little bit scared until a snowball came flying overhead and hit the abominable snow polar bear in the face, stunning him long enough for Randy to get inside of the igloo He could still hear the angry roars of abominable snow polar bears all around him, but they could not get in.
The Snow Angel squeezed inside a moment later. “Randy, you must get through this opening and back to where you belong,” the angel said.
“Who are you exactly?” Randy asked.
“I was sent to protect you from the abominable snow polar bears,” the angel replied.
“And just who are the abominable snow polar bears?”
“Randy, when you jumped off your roof when your mother told you not to, you landed in this little bridge between worlds. If you were to go down the hill you would arrive in the next world and you would be trapped in that world forever. You would be in eternity.
“Eternity? You are saying I was going to be…” Randy’s voice trailed off.
“That is exactly what I am saying.” The angel said with a serious look on its face.
“Oh dear God have mercy,” Randy gasped in shock.
“And He has mercy, Randy. It is not time for you to go yet. Quickly, go to your family before your igloo melts, and you will be taken by the abominable snow polar bear to the other side.”
As he said this, he saw a paw coming through the igloo as it melted. Randy quickly jumped through the door and the next thing he knew he was waking up to the sounds of his parent’s delighted exclamations. His two little sisters were wearing their white coats and singing Winter Wonderland. He was home.
Father Ignatius Xavier finished His rosary and wondered how his prayers had helped Randy McFee. But as he thought this and looked out of his window at the freshly fallen snow, he saw a snow angel, and for a moment he thought he could see its wings slightly moving.