The one day I don't have to go to that wretched, pathetic excuse of a skool, and father makes me go to work with him! I spend seven hours a day, five days a week "learning" stuff and doing homework, and the one "snow day" I get, I'm off capturing the souls of the damned! I've been out here for hours now and none of these dirt-bags are cooperating. They never come willingly, they always plead and beg for mercy, and they keep trying to escape. Do they not realize that their efforts are futile?

Of course they don't, because they are misguided enough to believe in false hope. They believe that God will save them, unaware that He's been sleeping and leaving them unprotected since He created the universe. No, they still think that He answers prayers and performs miracles. Ignorant fools.

But I could care less about these bastards and my father's wishes. All I wanted to do today was play and set the snow on fire. Maybe even attempt to build an "igloo," whatever that may be. Yes, I was hoping to seek the aid of my friend, Todd, who agreed to help me enjoy all of the wonders of snow. I'm not quite sure what he was talking about, but his pictures were neat. He's quite persuasive with his drawings and he went into magnificent detail.

So I decided to ditch work.

Father was on the other end of town and wouldn't be back until at least four o'clock, so I decided to close my "briefcase" (A.K.A. the soul capturing device) and run on over to Todd's house. I made it there quickly and saw no cars in his driveway. His father must be at work, too. And if I remember correctly, he said his mother was always wacked out on some pills, so she wouldn't get in the way, either.

I strolled up to the door and knocked rather loudly, putting quite a nasty crack in the door. I paid it no mind, however, and waited as patiently as I could for someone to answer. A few moments later, the door cracked open, and young Todd peered around the corner. His eyes got really big and his voice was kind of shaky.

"Hello, Todd."

"P-Pepito. What are you d-doing here?"

"I came to play. Father had me working earlier, but I don't feel like collecting souls. I want to build that igloo you showed me and a "snowman." Let us begin."

"O-Oh! Well, I'm not really dressed for the snow. I would need to-"

"Do whatever you must and return. I'm quite eager to see how big our creations will be."

Knowing there was no way out, Todd scurried back upstairs, put on his winter coat and boots, grabbed Shmee, and walked back outside.

"A-Alright. I'm ready."

"Excellent! Now, how do we begin?"

"Well, what do you make?"

Thinking about it, I realized I had quite a few options. I could build an igloo, a snowman, have a snowball fight...

"Let's make "snow angels." How do we do that?"

"That's an easy one."

Todd flopped down on the snow in his front yard and spread his arms and legs. He started moving them back and forth and then carefully stood up. Looking down to where he lay, I saw the figure of an angel. It had a long flowing robe with open sleeves. So I laid down next to the one he made, repeated his actions, and when I stood up, I used my finger to put horns on the head and a sharp tail on it. After I stepped back, I saw that Todd had a mortified look on his face.

"Well, what do you think?"

"U-Um... it's nice... I guess."

"Very well then! What's next?"

"How about a snowman?"

So I listened as he explained the procedure to me. You start out with three balls of snow and then roll them. You make one really big, another one slightly smaller, and the third one smaller than the last one. Then you stack them on top of each other. If you wanted to be fancy, you could add items to your snowman. Give him a top hat with a scarf, use buttons for his eyes, mouth, and coat, and give him a carrot for his nose.

So we set off to work. Todd was working on sculpting the bottom piece, while I tried for the middle. I grabbed some snow, balled it together, and tried rolling it, but it would never hold. I tried and tried, until I could finally take no more. I cried out in frustration and threw the slushy snow at a nearby tree. Todd jumped and screamed, while turning around to face me. He timidly asked me what was wrong and I poured out my anger to him.

"The stupid snow won't stay clumped together! It defies me!"

Todd looked wide-eyed down at my hands and saw the melted-snow-turn-water. He thought for a moment and ran back in his house. He returned shortly after and handed me some gloves.

"I think that will help you. You're hands are really warm and it's melting the snow before it can take shape. If you wear these gloves, it should keep all the warmth inside and you can hold and form the snow."

I thought on it for a moment and decided to give it a try. I slipped the gloves on, a little irritated by how warm my own hands were, and tried again. This time the snow didn't melt and I was able to form a ball. I set it on the ground and rolled it around, becoming very excited at how large it was getting. When I was done, I looked at Todd's completed ball and realized that mine was twice its size. So I ended up having to destroy it and start over. This time I made it the right size. And we kept adding on to our snowman, making its head and finding some branches for its arms. Todd ran inside and grabbed some random buttons to use for the eyes and mouth, while I was sent to find something to use for the nose.

I looked all over, but I couldn't find anything. So I decided to try something else. I grabbed the briefcase I'd been using all morning and opened it up. Heat emitted from it and I had to dig endlessly for the object I desired. Finally, I found the scoundrel who had what I wanted. I engulfed his soul in my inferno and took the cigar from his mouth. After claiming my prize, I quickly shut the briefcase, making sure everything was still packed in it and turned around to place the cigar on our snowman. However...

"Aaaaahhhhhhh!"

All of the snow surrounding Todd's house, his neighbor's house, and his entire neighborhood, had vanished. Everything was wet and his house was covered in black ash. Todd himself was slightly burnt and Shmee, well...

"Where did our snowman go?"

"You melted it with the fire inside your briefcase."

He coughed and then noticed his blackened companion. I cursed toward the Heavens for letting the fires of Hell melt everything and I think I even felt a tiny pang of guilt for burning Todd. He wasn't really burnt, though, his skin looked extremely dry. Hellfire isn't very potent against innocent souls.

I had bigger things to worry about, though, for I could sense my father approaching. I didn't know what time it was, but I knew I had to hurry. I quickly tore off the gloves Todd gave me, handed them back, grabbed my briefcase, and ran off. I yelled a farewell to my friend, who was currently trying to gather the remains off his stuffed toy. I dashed off down the street and kept running till I was safe at home. Father walked in the door not a moment later.

"So how was work today, Pepito?"

"Eh, I did alright. Here's your souls."

I tossed the briefcase his way and watched him pick it up. He lifted it up and down and gave me a quizzical look.

"It seems rather light for a days' work. Care to explain?"

"I'm not like you, father. Those damned piglings were resisting me and they had the nerve to challenge my power! I did my best to keep from destroying the world, just like you said, but it's hard with those forsaken morons!"

"True."

And just like that, he bought it. Mom came downstairs and greeted us, asking us how work was and if I liked working with father. I lied to her, seeing as how he was standing right there, and she accepted my answer and continued making dinner. I ate quietly, while my parents talked and then went up to my room. I grinned evilly, satisfied with my work, and I swore that next time I would get to create everything.

And in the next neighborhood over, a wave of terror shook through little Todd Casil as he tried desperately to repair Shmee for the second time.

"Shmee, I think the Anti-Christ is going to visit again. We better go lock the door and pretend to be asleep."

"A/N: Well, I wrote this with no real intention other than to write something. I haven't written anything for JTHM in a long time, so I apologize if I'm a little rusty. I tried keeping Todd and Pepito in character as best I could and I think I did a decent job. I'm not sure why I wrote a snow story in the middle of summer, but I did. Anyway, I'm not sure how I feel about this piece, so please leave a review and share your thoughts with me. I'll try and write more for this category in the future."