Winter Wonderland

In a far-off village in the midst of a winterland named Soul, lived a little girl named Elara.

Elara lived with her grandmother, who took care of Elara and loved her.

Elara's grandmother would tell her stories of fantasy, of fairies, creatures, snowflakes, and snowmen that would talk. She would weave tapestries of beautiful stories about palaces, kings, and queens.

One cold night, by a cozy fire, in the warmth of the fireplace sat Elara and her grandmother, who started to share heartwarming tales about a fantasy world. The story whispered awake by the soft patter of frosted flakes, lived a mystical snowflake alighting their window, bearing whispers of a hidden land where frozen waterfalls sing and ice whispered secrets.

The story brought a smile to her face. As the story proceeded, the dark blue eyes of Elara sparkled. With her big bright eyes as blue as ice and a heart warmed by firelight, she traversed to her dreamland.

"Elara, Elara!" a soft whisper awakened her. As she opened her eyes, she was no longer beside the warmth of the fire. Her grandmother might have vanished into thin air. She was sleeping over a heap of cold ice, the starry night featured a thousand galaxies above her, a chilling wind passed by, causing Elara to shiver. No, it wasn't for the cold, she had no idea where she was.

A sudden fear aroused her heart, the whisper lingered, "Elara, Elara." Where did the whisper come from?

Elara looked around with eyes gleaming with fear.

When her eyes caught something, on her white princess dress above her snow-covered hand sat a small snowflake, sparkling. Elara seemed to be dreaming; it was a magical snowflake.

In the still whispers of the winter, the soft sound of the snow falling gave a peaceful thrill; the magic spread across.

The magical snowflakes smiled at Elara with eyes as blue as ice. The snow-covered land with huge snowmen seemed like a dreamland. The peaceful pine trees had not swayed for a moment. Covered with gleaming snow from the glittering of the stars.

The fireflies twinkled around Elara. The winter wonderland with its enchanting beauty stood still; the snowflake led Elara to a magical pathway, lit with small lights. Elara stepped forward, no! They were not lights but twinkling stars. The snowflake flew and swayed its wings, guiding Elara to the Magic land.

All of a sudden, something crossed the path. A little stag with small horns covered with snow. It was scared, but Elara bowed down towards the stag, with a smile she called for him, the stag wagged its tail and with slow steps moved towards Elara.

She made friends with the stag, the snowflake called again, "Elara, Elara, we need to travel to far-off places, make it fast." Elara had no idea where the path would lead, but the beauty of the snow-capped mountains and snow-covered land, the environment, and the chilling thrill made her excited.

She walked further and landed in a beautiful garden.

Different types of flowers and different kinds lighted in red, blue, yellow, orange.

Elara, in great excitement and happiness, ran to pluck the flowers when she heard a shriek and a voice in fear requested her, "Elara, please don't kill us, please Elara, don't let us die."

Elara looked here and there for the voice, her big beautiful eyes gleaming with fear, when the voice cried out, "We are here Elara, right in front of you!"

Elara looked out for the voice. The glittering flower spoke in unison.

Elara jumped out in fear, when a bright yellow flower spoke, "Elara, do not be scared, we won't cause you any harm! This is a magical land, and every being speaks here!"

Elara bowed down towards the flower and smiled, she touched it, smiled with them, and was happy; the snowflake in the meantime made haste. So Elara continued the journey. Elara had never felt so happy before.

Her grandmother had always been poor, she had the same cloth and the same food, she never traveled anywhere.

Today she felt like a princess, she had a beautiful dress, and she was traveling through a magical land, while she thought about these, they came down to a lake, which was as clear and transparent as glass. It was a frozen lake.

When Elara sat down beside the lake to look through, she enjoyed the moment; she had never seen such a lake when suddenly there grew a slight crack on the lake, and a small blue sparkling jumped out. It jumped over and over again, trying to take a gulp of air outside water, but that wasn't possible, she was about to die, Elara felt pity for her, she tried to catch her, but she slipped, Elara ran behind her, but as soon as she stepped on the lake, the crack grew larger and larger and ultimately a chunk of ice slid through taking Elara under the frozen lake into the freezing cold water, Elara shouted for help, but no one helped her, she sank underneath and rattled upon an oyster. A beautiful water kingdom stood in front of her.

The palace was made of pearls, fish, oysters, sea horses swam across. They talked to each other, but Elara stood there lonely and cried. When the oyster spoke, "what is it, dear?"

The voice made Elara startled, by then the other small fish and oysters had gathered around her, Elara cried out to them for help, she narrated her misfortune. Everyone felt pity for her, they took her to the palace where lived a beautiful mermaid princess. She, when heard the story of Elara, asked her guards to help Elara reach the frozen lake, but before bidding her goodbye, the mermaid princess fed her with a tummy full of delicious food, Elara had never had such food before.

They bade farewell to each other, and a shoal of fish helped Elara reach the frozen lake, where the snowflake sat with a weeping face, and when he saw Elara, he was excited again and led her further through the frozen land.

They walked miles for days they cannot count and ultimately reached the ice palace.

The palace was dead, no life, no hues, no sound, amongst the environment it seemed dull.

"Elara, only you can breathe life into it," said the snowflake.

Elara, unaware, looked everywhere, but how can she breathe in life in the dull withered palace.

But maybe she needed to try, throughout her journey she learned about how to help others, how to make others happy.

She breathed through....nothing!

She breathed a second time....nothing yet!

The snowflake flew down and sat on her had, "Close your eyes Elara and let's breathe in the life together," he said.

Elara closed her eyes, and both breathed through......

A soft touch jerked Elara....she felt warmth, she opened her eyes slowly, an enchanting palace stood in front of her, gleaming with beautiful lights, chandeliers, a beautiful gate with the glowing flowers swayed in happiness welcoming her, beautiful fireflies and butterflies flew all around her, but where was the snowflake?

Elara had not noticed until now, someone held her with warmth, a handsome young prince held her hand. Elara jumped and shrieked.

The young prince smiled, "Do you not know me Elara?" he asked

"Who are you?" Elara asked nervously.

"I am the snowflake who guided you here, you are my princess Elara, my queen, you are the one who breathed life into my dead palace," he said.

Elara was astonished, "My palace and I were cursed and only you could break the spell, so I led you to this land," he said.

Elara's dream seemed to have come true, she had always dreamt of her prince charming... she was happy, and the Prince came up to her.......,"Elara, Elara"

A sudden voice woke her up; her grandmother sat beside the fireplace waking her up.... where was the palace, the prince, the winterland?

She had been dreaming all through..... the freezing cold winds swayed her tattered blanket. The dream had whispered wisdom and the spark of wonder within her on that winter night; this dream will always remain close to her heart.