Little Swan And The Jolly Snowman

Dawn slowly began to break on the riverbank. The clear skies and shining stars above had brought with it a harsh frost and the river had frozen.

Instead of the normal dark green grass that lined the side of the river the area was covered in a blanket of fresh white snow.

Little Swan shook her feathers as she stepped out from her nest and felt the cold beneath her feet.

“Ooh, my feet are all cold. A dip in the water will soon stop that.” Little Swan said slowly tiptoeing towards the river leaving little Swan footprints in the snow behind her.

She put one foot on the ice covered surface and slipped over landing on her bottom. She shivered and rubbed her feathers.

“It’s a good thing, Mobbie isn’t here to see this. He’d laugh at me.” Little Swan giggled to herself.

She heard a laugh, deep and hearty coming from close by. Little Swan looked around for the source of the laughter. She couldn’t see anything close by.

She tried again to walk along the ice and once again slipped over, this time landing on her front. She slid over to the bank and sat on the side brushing the frost and snowflakes from her feathers. Again she heard the sound of deep laughter.

“It’s not funny. It’s very cold slipping on the ice,” Little Swan shouted out upset.

“I’m sorry, I don’t man to laugh. But it is very funny,” someone shouted back.

Little Swan looked around and saw movement in the trees. Something round and white was hiding in between the bare branches.

“I can see you, you can stop hiding!” Little Swan shouted trying to be brave.

“Oh very well, you’ve caught me fair and square. I’m coming out,” the round shape chuckled as it left the trees.

Little Swan watched in amazement as two large round balls of snow shuffled out of the trees and onto the river bank. It had a large coal smile and looked back at her through a pair of old spectacles resting on a short fat carrot nose.

“You look surprised, my dear,” the Snowman said.

“I’ve never seen anything like you before, I am so sorry for staring,” Little Swan replied in amazement as the talking ball of snow.

“I very rarely get seen, I pass through unnoticed during the winter months.”

“And why do you have to sneak around everywhere? Is it a secret? I’m very good at keeping secrets,” Little Swan said slowly tiptoeing across the river trying very hard not to slip over.

“I know you are, I’ve been watching you,” The Snowman said reaching out with a stick hand and helping Little Swan onto the bank next to him.

“Really?” she said shaking snow from her feet.

“You are Little Swan?” The snowman asked taking a little blue notebook out of his pocket.

“That’s right. My friends call me Swannie. You can call me Swannie if you like.”

Little Swan smiled and tried to sneak a peek inside the Snowman’s notebook, eager to find out what was written inside. The Snowman made a little note and smiled at her.

“I’m a secret spy working on behalf of Father Christmas. It’s my job to help him write the naughty and nice list.”

Little Swan grinned at him and clapped her wings together in excitement. She had been told about Father Christmas when she was a baby. She had also been told that he only visited human children and was very disappointed.

“What are you doing around here? There aren’t any human children on the riverbank, especially at this time of morning,” she said.

The snowman let out a huge laugh that seemed to come from his belly, he made another note in his blue book and smiled at her.

“That’s true, Father Christmas does only bring presents to human children. But, you’ve caught his eye this year and sent me down to check on you to make sure that you were worthy.”

Little Swan grinned a bit more, she didn’t know what was going on, but had the feeling it was going to be good. The snowman reached inside his coat and pulled out a small box.

“What’s that?” Little Swan asked looking at the shiny purple wrapping paper and the red ribbon. There was a little gift tag tied on top, but she couldn’t see what it said.

“This, Swannie, is a gift just for you from Father Christmas. He has seen how brave you were rescuing your friend Mobbie from the water wheel and thinks you deserve a gift for your bravery.”

The Snowman handed the little box over to Little Swan. She started to untie the bow and ripped open the paper. She lifted the lid off the box and found a small silver locket inside. She smiled with joy.

“Oh thank you, it’s beautiful.”

Little Swan gave the Snowman a big hug and felt the cold against her feathers.

“It’s not me you have to thank,” the Snowman chuckled loudly, “It’s Father Christmas. It just goes to show, good deeds never go without a reward.”

The snowman laughed loud and long as Little Swan hung her new locket on her neck with pride. This was the best Christmas she’d ever had.

THE END