CHRISTMAS EDITION
THE WRITERS OF ROHAN
Snowed In
by Ruby
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“Yay!” We all rushed to the door.
“I can’t wait to see Grams and Pops!” James shouted over the noise of loading our luggage into the trunk.
That’s my brother, James. Four years old and going like there’s no tomorrow. Except there is a tomorrow. And when you act like that every day, the effect kinda wears down.
“Grams and Pops! Grams and Pops!” chanted my 6 year old sister Julie. Just as energetic as James, she hopped up and down in her car seat.
“Alright, alright, settle down now.” My mother laughed.
We all got into the car as my dad put the last or our stuff into the trunk, and started the long trip up north to our grandparents house.
Not twenty minutes went by before James said,
“Are we there yet?”
“No honey.” My mom said. “It’s a three hour drive, and if we’ve been driving for twenty minutes, how much longer is it going to take?”
Ah, tried and true. My mother knows what makes each of us tick. For James, it’s something to occupy his mind with.
“I don’t know!” Julie pouted.
“Would you like a snack then?” My mom asked Julie.
“Yeah!” Julie replied, perking up at the mention of something to eat. No matter how much that tiny machine consumes, nothing seems to affect her. In her words, “Mommy said that I have a very fast meta-bowl-iz-am.” Again, her words, not mine.
“Here ya go kiddo” My dad says as he passed her a Fig Newton.
Julie teared into the packaging, stuffing half the bar into her mouth and chewing it with great pleasure.
“You better savor that, you aren't getting another one!” my mother warned.
“Mm-hmm” Julie mumbled around the snack, the other half of the fig newton getting dangerously close to the infinite void she calls a mouth.
The next few hours go by pretty uneventfully, until finally I see the neighborhood I remember so well.
“We’re here! We’re here!” I yelled.
“Grams and Pops! Grams and Pops!” Julie resumed her chanting. James joined in.
We pull up at the little craftsman and I open the door. We poured out of the car and ran into the waiting arms of our Grams.
Cue the warm fuzzy greetings.
After we said our hello’s, Grams led us to our rooms.
“Christopher, are you alright with sleeping on the pullout couch in the loft?” Grams asked.
“That’s fine.” I replied.
“Ok dear. I’ll leave you to get settled.” Grams said over the din of squeaky bed springs and shouts of “James! Don’t jump on the bed!”
I put my clothes in the dresser, and pulled out the couch. Then I started making the bed with the sheets on the stool in the corner.
When I was done, I went downstairs to see Grams making dinner.
“Would you like to help dear?” Grams asked.
“Sure!” I said.
After dinner, we all sat around the fire and caught each other up on everything that’s been going on. Then we all went to bed, excited for tomorrow.
I woke to the moonlight streaming through the window. I was still groggy so I looked outside to find the snow coming to a stop right below my window. I didn't think anything of it, until I remembered. I’m in the loft!
Suddenly alert, I rushed down the stairs. I ripped back the curtains to find a blank white wall. I checked the clock. Six forty-five AM.
“Guys! Guys!” I ran down the hallway connecting all the bedrooms.
James and Julie woke up.
“What is it Chris?” They inquired sleepily.
“What are you doing awake dear?” Grams said, poking her head out of her room. Pops’ head soon followed. I waited until my parents came out, then showed everyone what was outside the window.
“We’re snowed in!” I exclaimed.
Pops went up into the loft and looked out the window.
“Judging by the look of this, there’s about eleven feet of snow out there.” He said. “It might take them about three to five days to clear the snow.
“Snowed in! Snowed in!” Julie sang, excited about the subject of her next chant. James was soon to follow.
“Well, we can’t go outside, who wants to decorate ornaments?” Pops suggested.
“We do!” we all yelled, rushing to the table as Grams and Mom got the paints.
That occupied us for a bit, but when the time for breakfast comes, Pops looked in the fridge and said,
“Oh no.”
“What is it?” We asked simultaneously.
“We were expecting to go to the store today to get the ingredients for Christmas dinner. We don’t have the turkey, the potatoes, or the pie!”
We all fell silent as we realized what being snowed in implies.
“No pie?” Julie says, sounding as tragic as a six-year-old covered in glitter glue can.
“Oh that’s what you’re worried about?!” I snapped, surprising even myself with the acid in my voice. “You’re the one who ate so much you’ll survive until next year!”
“Christopher!” My mother barks. “Don’t talk to your sister that way!” She said, glaring daggers in my direction. “Apologise immediately!”
“Sorry.” I grumbled.
We all sat silently, as a fog of tension settled around the room.
“Wait, I have an idea!” Grams exclaimed suddenly. We all looked at her like puppies at someone holding a treat.
“Don’t you have all those cans of food in the fridge in the garage?” Grams asked Pops.
“We do! We might have a nice christmas dinner after all!” Pops said.
It was like a sunbeam had broken through the haze of tension. We were all back to our hustle and bustle. Pop’s went and made a few trips to and from the garage, grabbing cans of food and some decorations. Grams then busied herself with making the food, and making it look like a proper Christmas dinner.
Julie and James were tasked with setting the table, and my parents were setting up the decorations. I was in charge of the tree.
I stacked the layers of leaves upon each other, then started setting the ornaments on the branches. There were small plastic ornaments, big glass ornaments, little spun angles with feathery wings, bells and seashells and frivolous things. Wow, Mrs. Smith would be proud.
Finally, when it came time to put the star on top, I wasn't tall enough. I looked to the adults to see if anyone could get me a stepladder, but they were occupied.
I spotted a neighboring stool and climbed onto it. I reached out to put the star on top, and tumbled, down, down, down, for what seemed like minutes but in reality was only a few milliseconds. I fell down, crashing into the tree and getting tangled in the branches. One of the little angles slipped off its branch and against all odds, I caught it!
By now, everyone was looking at me, tangled in the christmas tree holding a tiny glass angel.
I felt my cheeks glowing crimson, and felt my ears grow hot. Without saying a word, my mother walked up to me, and started wrapping a silver tinsel garland around me and the tree. Everyone just stood there for a moment, but I couldn't keep it in any longer.
I laughed! James and Julie were the first to follow suit, chiming in with childlike giggling. The adults were not far behind, and soon we were all laughing. My mother kept wrapping the garland around me, and the others started decorating too. I had become part of the Christmas tree!
Soon enough, I had garlands tethering me to the tree, and I had my fingers outstretched to hang ornaments off of.
“Let's do this every year!” Julie said.
“We’ll see about that.” I replied.
Eventually, they got me down, (Ignoring Julie’s not-so-sarcastic plea to keep me there) and we ate one of the best christmas dinners we ever had!
“Being snowed in is fun after all!” I remarked.
“Agreed!” Everyone said in unison, and we all shared a laugh.
The Rogue Snowman
by Johnny
One day on the coldest day of December Peregrin the magical snowman woke up. He decided to peek out of his lair where he hibernated and saw the sun but no snow. Now Peregrin was confused, every 100 years it snowed so why was this winter any different and did he wake up to early? He checked his alarm clock which a fellow snowman had lent him, yup it was December 24th alright and there was no snow! Peregrin was furious! Did a magical sorcerer block the snow?
​
He disguised himself as a human and decided to get to the bottom of this mysterious case. When he got outside he was amazed and angered by what had happened to his precious homeland. There were great metal beasts on
paved walkways that were spewing stinky fumes. He looked into the window of a TV store and saw pictures of coal plants emitting CO2. Peregrin felt close to tears. How could the humans have done this he thought bitterly to himself as he walked down the road. Suddenly a little boy ran up to him. The boy was wearing a face mask. “I know you!” The boy exclaimed. “You do?” Peregrin asked. “Of course! My great-grandma told me about you and said you come every 100 years and the last time you came was when she was a little girl.” “My grandma said when you come back, you will lead a quest to save the world and defeat the evil wizard Murdock,” Peregrine asked the boy why he was wearing a face-mask. “The pollution of course,” said the boy. “If I don’t wear a mask I will get a terrible cough.”
​
Peregrin was devastated to hear such terrible news and asked the boy about the pollution. “Well, it all started with restaurants taking fish off the menu. My grandma asked the waiter why that was and the waiter replied to her, with rivers and streams getting polluted, all the fish are eating toxic chemicals so when we catch them they are poisonous” the boy replied with a glint of sadness in his eyes. “Then the next day we turned on the faucet and dirty water with chemicals flowed out leaving a really strong odor and later I learned the chemicals in the water were the chemicals the coal plants leaked. And it has only gotten worse. The skies are full of soot, the streams are green with algae and each year it gets warmer and the lands are ravaged with hurricanes and floods.”
​
“What caused this catastrophe," he asked the boy. “Well no one knows for certain but 75% of the population think it is because of Murdock’s coal plants.” The boy lowered his voice to a whisper “some people have seen what goes on in there and it looks like Murdock is making an army of coal people” he said. “But why would he need an army of coal people supporting him?” asked Peregrin. “Nobody knows for sure,” said the boy. “We have to find out,” replied Peregrine. “Take me to his coal plant” The boy was hesitant.
​
“We have to be careful. If Murdock finds out, he will brainwash you with his magic. He will make you believe anything. He will make you believe black is white, good is bad, and that everything is a lie.”
​
Peregrin’s plan was to disguise himself as a coalman and sneak into a coal plant. When he got to the entrance of the plant the security guard only had to look once at Peregrin before saying into his walkie-talkie “There’s a coalman outside that is not in his squadron.”
​
Soon an armed escort came outside to bring Peregrin into the coal plant. When he got inside the main sector of the building, a man was shouting through a megaphone “we still need one coal man! I repeat one coal man to go!” The guard quickly pushed Peregrin forward shouting to the man with a megaphone “this twerp is volunteering” the man with the megaphone smiled “great!” he shouted into it “the boarding time is 4:50 P.M.” Peregrin was rushed through the airplane hangar where he was seated next to another coal man. Peregrin tried to make light conversation with the man sitting next to him the whole trip. “How are you doing,” Peregrin asked over and over again the whole trip. The man didn't even grunt or make eye contact. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Peregrin’s plane arrived at Antarctica. After they got their assignments, the man stepped over to the group of new arrivals and said “Murdock believes war is coming so he must prepare for the worst.” The man led them to a conference room where Murdock’s face was projected onto the wall. All the coalmen took a seat. Murdock spoke “as you all know war is coming. The only way to stop it is to have a protector which is me. In order to be your protector, I need Magisteria which is a special mineral that gives me powers and makes my magic limitless. The largest amounts of magisteria are housed underneath the layers of snow in Antarctica. That is why we need you. I need you to grab shovels and start digging!” Murdock’s face slowly disappeared from the wall. Now it all started to make sense. If the ice caps melted it would be easier to dig for magisteria. If Murdock found the magisteria, his powers would be limitless. He had to be stopped but how?
​
That’s when Peregrine had an idea. He fumbled through his pocket for the small round object the size of a bean. It wasn’t much to look at but it was a magic bean. You have probably heard the story about Jack and the Beanstalk about the magic bean that grew into the clouds to the land of the giant. The seed in Peregrine’s hand was 1,000 times more powerful, and it was real. It came from a time before the dinosaurs. It was the mother and father of all seeds. Now Peregrin knew that it was a bad idea because this seed was passed down in his family from generation to generation just in case the need should ever arise. Now Peregrin had to face a choice, should he use the seed now or wait another century to see if he was right to fear. “Hey there,” a worker shouted, “go to your group, or I will report you.” Peregrin quickly ran to his group who was just about to open the door leading to the outside world. He inwardly cursed his foolishness for drawing so much attention to himself.
​
Slowly, Peregrin stepped out into the frozen wasteland. Peregrin was shocked by what he saw. There were huge mounds of snow and workers were slowly pulling apart from one pile and were tossing the snow and ice into the ocean using giant cranes. Peregrin quickly saw his opportunity. The group’s guide was talking to a supervisor so Peregrin seized his chance. He quickly ran to hide behind a big pile of snow while the others were looking in the opposite direction. Now Peregrin had to ponder his dilemma, there was no soil here to plant the seed in so where should he put it? Peregrin wished that his ancestors had left an instruction manual with the seed saying read the manual if there is a crisis but no, not everything in life is as simple as it seems. Then Peregrin wondered, what if there was soil underneath all the snow? Peregrin decided to find out. Peregrin quietly sneaked to the deepest pit that the coalmen had dug and yes there was soil! Peregrin quickly sneaked to the elevator connecting the top of the pit to the bottom. Peregrin walked into the elevator and pressed the down button. Finally, after 20 minutes, the elevator reached the bottom of the pit. Peregrin jogged out of the elevator and pressed the seed against the earth. Now all the seed needed was water. Peregrin went back inside the elevator and pressed the up button. This time the ride didn’t feel so long. Peregrin exited the elevator. He had an idea. What if he was to use the crane, and instead of dumping the melted water and ice into the ocean, he dumped it into the pit. Peregrin noticed that it was lunchtime and all the workers were leaving. Peregrin snuck into a crane and to his surprise, the key was still in the ignition! Peregrin turned the crane around and dumped the snow and water into the pit. By then he had been spotted and security guards were coming to grab him.
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Suddenly to everyone's amazement the tree started growing. First, it’s trunk emerged from the hole then slowly the tree unraveled its golden leaves that were glinting in the sunlight. The tree began to grow. Up and up into the clouds. It grew at an amazing rate. Its branches stretched out over continents. Its leaves were the size of houses. The ground shook and rumbled as its roots grew under the oceans and drank up water. Its leaves sucked up the CO2 from the earth. Next, it began sucking the coal and coalmen into its leaves. The air had never smelt so good.
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Peregrin knew that his time was almost up but he wanted to pay the little boy one last visit. He arrived at the little boys’ house as the thick blanket of snow was covering the Earth. As he approached the house he saw a boy playing with the snow and building a snowman. When the boy saw Peregrin, he leaped with joy and immediately started hugging Peregrin while tears of joy stained his cheek which slowly turned into snowflakes. Peregrin’s three days on Earth were up and it was time to say their goodbyes. Peregrin slowly collapsed into the earth happy and content with the choices he had made.
© photo credit by Johnny
Ice Powers
by Harper
​
I had been sitting out in the cold for about two hours before it happened. I like the cold, I always have, and I know it seems a little strange to those Californians back in L.A. why I would, but I’m from Illinois and I miss the cold, so when I’m at Grandma’s house over winter break, where it’s cold and snowy, I cherish it. I was sitting outside writing in my notebook when it happened. I always write in my notebook when I’m bored. Sometimes I’ll come across an interesting story and write the rest out, but mostly it’s just short scenes I write while I’m waiting for school to start, or
when I’m tired of just watching TV or reading a book to pass the time. Anyway, it started to get colder, and the wind started to blow harder, but I didn’t take any notice of it. It was only when some snow blew onto my notebook that I looked up. Everything in the backyard was rapidly disappearing into white, a clear, eerie, unblemished white. I tried calling out for help but I wasn’t able to make any sound. I tried running but I wasn’t able to move. Then, suddenly, there was a bright flash of light.
When I woke up everything around me was the same blinding white as whatever had eaten me up before. I walked around but there was no end to the white. It was like I was trapped in an endless prison. After a while, I came upon a fairly large pile of snow. I dug through it, hoping to find something, but there was nothing there. I tried throwing it and kicking it and mushing it together, but nothing happened. What am I supposed to use this for? I thought, Why is this the only thing here?
“Use it,” said a voice. An icy wind swirled around the room. It materialized into a person right in front of me. She was tall and beautiful, with long, flowing hair and dark eyes. I tried reaching out to her, I don’t know for what, but my hand went right through her. What was she? “Use it, Zack.”
“What am I supposed to use?” I cried out, my words echoing through the cavernous room, if you could call it that.
“Your powers, of course. To escape. You’re not really trapped here, you know, you’re inside you mind,” the woman said.
“Okay, well, if it’s my mind, then how do I flip the off switch for whatever this is?”
“You can’t. You have to use your powers to escape.”
“What powers?”
“Your ice powers. Haven’t you ever wondered why you're so untouched by the cold?”
“Okay, fine. If I have powers, how do I use them?”
“That you have to figure out for yourself,” she said, disappearing back into the wind.
“Wha—No! Come back!”
Great. Crazy Ghost Lady said I have “ice powers,” I thought. I thought of what one of the characters in a story I wrote would do, and decided to try and wield my “powers.” I tried to make the ice do something with my thoughts, but it just sat there. I tried again and again and again, but still, nothing happened. The cold wind came back and there was Crazy Ghost Lady again. She looked disappointed.
“Hmm. I guess you are not as talented as I thought,” she said to no one in particular.
“What are you? Where are we?” I yelled.
“We are in your mind, we’ve been over this,” she replied calmly.
“Can’t you just let me out?”
“Oh, no. See, it’s not my mind, so I have no power here. You have to let yourself out.”
“Or else what?”
“Well, I suppose you’d be trapped here forever, but hopefully you manage to find a way out. Good luck!” she said, disappearing again.
“Ugh!” I yelled, throwing a handful of snow out into the room. Almost instantly, the light, fluffy snow morphed into a razor-sharp blade of ice. It went on sailing out into the huge space for a long time before there was a loud rumbling, and the walls of the room seemed to crack and shatter like glass. I was back in Grandma’s backyard. I tried to move the snow with my mind like I had back in the white room, or make it turn into something different, but nothing happened. I decided I had just fallen asleep and went inside. What I didn’t see was that after I went inside, the woman from my mind materialized out of the snow. And she was going to change my life forever.
