The Man Who Despises Snow

Some years ago, a man lived in a village in the Himalayas where snow blanketed the ground every four months. His grandma raised him, as his parents had passed away a long time ago.

 The man detested snow because, legend has it, his grandfather was enchanted by the snow queen's beauty and long ago abandoned both his father and grandmother. His grandfather desired to marry the Snow Queen. 

Once, during his journey to Kanchenjunga, he encountered the snow queen. Her beauty fascinated him so strongly that he abandoned the settlement and traveled out into the mountains to find the queen. He never returned. The man had heard his grandmother tell this story innumerable times; therefore, he despised the snow queen and dreaded snow. 

Every year, for four months, he tried to stay inside his house until the snow melted away.

That year's winter was extremely long-lasting. The snow was so dense that it completely covered the man's house. He had to come out in the cold to clean snow from his door. 

His grandma was unable to tolerate the cold and died at the end of the second month. All the locals gathered for her ceremonies. Because wood could not be burned during these four months, it was customary to store the body in the morgue until the summer, when it was burned. The grandmother's body was preserved in a morgue. 

After his grandma died, the man remained lonely, unable to sleep on cold, dark nights, and his hatred for snow grew stronger.

One night, he decided to go to the mountain to confront the snow queen about the unusually long snowy time.

The next day, he purchased mountain climbing equipment, prepared food for his trip, and embarked on the long journey. 

All of his people warned him not to go on this no-return voyage, but he ignored them all. 

"If I don't return till summer, please burn my grandmother." He spoke to the village chief.

He traveled through deep snow until he reached the foot of the mountain, where he climbed Kanchenjunga.

It was easy during the day, but by nightfall, he was exhausted and unable to move his feet any further.

He camped on a flat spot and attempted to sleep in his tent. In the middle of the night, he heard some noise outside his tent. He peeked outdoors and discovered a young snow bear. He bought it inside the tent and wrapped it in a cloth.

He grabbed his belongings in the morning and began his journey up the mountain. The infant bear followed him.

He had a difficult day because of the severe blizzard. The tiny bear took the initiative and marched ahead, facing the frigid wind. The bear brought him to a large cave in the evening. The man was astounded to see so many mountain creatures gathered inside the cave, living safely. He discovered the cave to be warm and unaffected by the storm outside. He slept comfortably there. 

He awoke in the middle of the night to see hundreds of fireflies within the cave. They were marching deep inside the cave.

He followed them into the cave, which was illuminated by the firefly's light. He passed both tiny and large rocks. He was surprised to discover a little brook inside the cave. 

After a brief delay, he continued following the fireflies until he reached a large expanse inside the cave. He could see a large pond with clean water beneath the rock on which he was standing.

"All the animals are surviving with this water." He thought to himself. 

However, he immediately noticed that there were no fireflies present.

The man attempted to return to the cave's beginning but lost his way. The path was dark, but luckily, he brought a lighter with him.

In the faint light, he came upon countless human skeletons. He sat down there for a few minutes, contemplating his return.

"I'm on the wrong path. These people died while searching for the proper way here. I'm not going to die here." He thought to himself. 

He returned to the pond and waited for some animals to arrive and sip water.

After several hours, he spotted a mountain deer, but when he stood up, the deer bolted. The man pursued the buck but soon lost sight of it.

He lit the lighter and examined the flame. He moved in the opposite direction as the flames. He eventually arrived at an area containing both small and large rocks. He knew he had been saved. 

When he emerged from the cave, he did not find the small bear, so he resumed his quest. The snowfall had slowed, but the wind speed remained tremendous.

He marched up with difficulty, his legs immersed in snow up to the knees. 

He reached a point on the mountain that appeared to be a snow-covered valley encircled by mountains. He couldn't decide which path to pursue. On which mountain could he discover the snow queen? 

He took a step forward, but his leg went into a hole, and he plunged beneath the mountain. He attempted to anchor but failed and continued to slide down.

Finally, he fell on a little cave-like ice structure. 

He repositioned himself, collected his belongings, and attempted to assert his situation. He suddenly noticed a man seated in the cave. He called and approached him, but he did not react. 

He realized it was a deceased man whose body hadn't rotted owing to the cold. When he looked closer, he recognized his grandfather. There was no mistake because he had seen his grandfather's portrait countless times at home.

"You failed in your mission." He told the deceased man.

"Grandmother died waiting for you." He complained. 

He wanted to take his grandfather's body to his village, but this was an impossible undertaking.

"I will not die here." He explained it to himself. 

He struggled to climb the mountain again after throwing up his anchor. 

Soon, darkness fell, but he did not fall asleep. He continued to ascend slowly. 

It was a grueling trek up at night, with the blizzard driving him down every time he tried to move forward.

Finally, he reached the summit of that particular peak. When he tried to stand, he encountered snow and thunder everywhere. He defied the storm and made his way to the peak of Kanchenjunga. 

After two days of difficulty, he reached the summit of Kanchenjunga and discovered it in the shape of a valley. The sky was pink, the snow was blue, and a green light was seen in the distance. 

He proceeded towards the green light, and, after some distance, he noticed ice castles. 

The castle emitted a green light. The setting was gorgeous, and the experience was amazing.

He attempted to enter the castles but was stopped by four ice men holding ice javelins.

He said, "I want to meet the Snow Queen."

However, the ice statue prevented him from entering the castles. 

Frustrated, he grabbed his lighter and fought them. The ice statues fled inside the castles after seeing flames. 

The man entered the castles, and after a few minutes, the snow queen appeared in her ice carriage, driven by four ice horses. 

The man glanced at the snow queen, who was all white, from her face to her hands, eyes, and hair. But she was stunningly lovely. She wore a beautiful white outfit made entirely of ice. The outfit has many ice balls hanging from it.

Her charm was captivating. The man stood there, enjoying the snow queen's timeless beauty. 

"Why do you want to meet me?" She asked in a harsh, frigid tone.

"Because you are the destroyer. You're wrecking our lives. Do you realize how much we endure for four months each year because of the snowfall in our area?"

"Snowfall is a natural process. The Almighty has given me the order to do so." The snow queen spoke while seated on her icy throne.

The horses pulled the carriage away.

"And bringing fire is punishable in my land." She added.

"And you made my grandfather leave his wife and child."

"I am not held accountable for that. He was foolish to believe I would marry him. I thought you came here to solve my problem, but you're just a complaint box."

"For the last few years, more and more snow has been falling, leading to disturbances in daily life."

"I am not to blame for that either. Whatever has happened in the last few years is a result of your actions.

" What? What did I do? And how do I address your problem?"

"You, human beings, are always thinking about yourself. You and your ego. I am talking about all humans, not just you."

"I am here to represent myself and my village. I have not taken responsibility for the entire human population."

"I knew. You, like others, are greedy, yet my tiny brother, the frigid and powerful Blizzard, has told me that you are unique among people. You are sympathetic; you assisted a small bear."

"Compassionate doesn't mean that I will be responsible for the whole human civilization."

"Actually, you are completely mistaken. You, as an individual, are not accountable for the entire human civilization, but you should do your share to protect the environment. Nature has given you so much, yet instead of being grateful, you are complaining and demanding more. How many trees did you cut last summer?"

The man was confused by what the queen was saying.

"I despise snow, and during the winter, my entire village is covered in it. I've come here to ask you to end the unbearable winter. My grandmother passed away as a result of the chill." He urged the queen. 

"I despise transforming all steam into snow. Please stop the sun from draining more water in the summer. Summers are hotter, thus winters are cooler." The queen snapped.

"Summer is hot, so water converts into steam naturally." The man argued.

"You cut all trees and destroy all vegetation, so summer is too hot naturally." The queen spoke in a mocking tone. 

" Ahha! I have it now. You are upset because we humans are harming the natural environment through our activities."

"Yes, I'm telling you because you're really considerate and clever. How you saved yourself in the cave demonstrates your ingenuity. Before you, many others came here to meet me, but none were successful. Many died in caverns, blizzards, and on the roads of snowy mountains, but you succeeded thanks to your combination of brains, bravery, and compassion.

"What can I do to make things right? I'm a simple man living in a small village."

"Think about what you can do for nature rather than expecting me to fulfill your request. One creates a difference through their actions."

The ice queen summoned her carriage and departed from there.

The ice soldier flung the man outside the castle. 

He observed the little bear playing outside the castle.

"Hey friend, how did you get here?" he questioned the bear.

The bear started walking, and the man followed him.

The bear assisted the man in finding an extremely short and safe route back to his village. When the man went back to thank the bear, it had vanished, leaving behind a white ice ball. The ice ball looked identical to the ice ball hanging from the snow queen's dress. The man stood there, unsure whether the snow queen was in the shape of a bear.

When the man arrived in his village, summer had begun. He arranged for his grandmother's rites, but he did not chop trees to burn the body. He gathered dead trees for this. He ensured that every villager planted a tree in memory of his grandma. The man took care to expand the plantation and make everyone aware of the situation caused by human actions. 

Within a few months, the green foliage in the area rose dramatically. 

The following winter, snow fell but not heavily, and the man stopped hating it since he recognized it was a natural process.

"Nobody should try to alter nature." He taught everyone.