Welcome, friends! You will better understand this story if you first watch the YouTube video "Google Translate Sings 'Let It Go'" performed by Malinda Kathleen Reese. The song lyrics that appear in this story are from her video. It's pretty cool and downright funny. So, be sure to check out her channel, and don't forget to subscribe and like it on the socials.

Also, here is a challenge for you as you read: Count how many times Elsa and Anna pause the video, and count how many times the word "think" or a variant form of it appears in the story. Have fun!

"I Thought It Was a Good Idea..."

Written by Hamlet, published by Kiearrah Mai Rhone, and edited by Corvida-Margareth.

Anna leaned against a wall and held her side; she could not stop laughing. Kristoff took several deep breaths and tried to talk,

"That*was*the*most*hilarious...the funniest thing I ever saw!"

Anna collapsed into another giggle attack, "Whoo-ha-ha-ha...hee-hee, it was great. Oh boy, I lost it at the very beginning –"

"'No visible legs!'"

"I know, right? Oh my, oh my...it was complete gibberish."

"But," Kristoff managed to begin calming down, "It kinda made sense in a weird sort of way."

"If you twisted your brain, I guess you could follow it somewhat. Ohhh!" she lit up, though her face was already sanguine. She grabbed Kristoff's arm, "We've got to show Elsa! It's her song, so she simply has to see it!"

He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, "Ah, well, I don't know..."

Anna punched him teasingly, "C'mon, it'll be great! It's brilliant!"

He blew through his nose, "Slow down, feisty pants. Olaf showed it to us, but he didn't show it to Elsa. There might be areason for that."

Anna clasped her hands together, "Of course! Good old Olaf, what a dear he is; he showed it to me so I could show it to Elsa and have some special sister time with her. Where is he? He deserves a warm hug!" She took off through the palace, and Kristoff blinked. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and whistled distractedly as he moved out of the room. Sven strode into the library – yes, Elsa let him have free range of the castle. She said he earned such a privilege. Kristoff rubbed Sven between his antlers,

"If I know Anna, she'll probably end up kicking Olaf's head away. I don't think this is a good idea..."

"Groon, herk."

Kristoff talked like Sven would, "Anna is Anna; she'll do what she will. Now, give me a carrot, and let's get out of here."

He returned to his normal voice, "Say 'please.'"

"Please!"

The mountain man pulled a carrot out of his pocket and offered the treat. Sven took a bite, and then Kristoff finished it off, not caring about the reindeer slobber on it. It added a unique flavor.

"Say, Sven, let's make ourselves scarce, eh?"

"Good idea."

"You're going to laugh so hard, Elsa," Anna explained as she typed into a laptop, "You'll love it."

Elsa drew a chair closer to the desk and sat down, sweeping her cape aside, "So, this person took my song, translated it into another language, translated that into another language, and on and on, and then she took the final stage –"

"– And translated that back into English."

Elsa's icy blue eyes widened, "Wow. She must be really smart."

"That's what I thought, too," Anna narrowed her eyes at the screen, "But, Olaf said she didn't really do all the translating; she just ran it through a special internet thingy that did all the work for her."

"Still, I'm flattered."

Anna cackled with sheer delight, "We'll see. Here's the ticket, Elsa: this internet thingy is not very good at translating."

Elsa raised an eyebrow, "Okay..."

Anna clicked the mouse, leaned back, and rubbed her hands together gleefully, "Don't drink anything, or you'll spit it all over the keyboard."

"Trust me; I won't," Elsa eyed the laptop warily, "Wait, how do you know –"

"Don't ask; it's just gross."

The clip began, and they watched the introduction patiently. Then, the video played Elsa singing "Let It Go" next to the performer. The music started its opening notes, and Anna already began to chuckle. Elsa grinned; Anna's mirth was contagious. Then the real song began,

"Lit white snow on the mountain tonight, no visible legs –"

Elsa blinked, "What?"

Anna paused the video, "Apparently, Google Translate is notorious for being a terrible translator. It just garbles everything up, and it's hilarious!"

"Okay...hit 'play.'"

*Click.*

"Discrimination law is probably the Queen.

Rotating the wind is howling storm."

Elsa closed her eyes and put a hand to her mouth, "Oh my, this is funny."

"See?"

"They cannot do that; God knows I've tried."

That last line sounded funny, but in a different way. Elsa tilted her head curiously.

"Do not let them, do not let them see.

It is always a good girl."

Elsa leaned back, "Wow, this girl can sing really well."

Anna paused it so she could add, "And, she sings this mumbo-jumbo with a straight face! You can tell she's dying to bust out laughing."

"Mumbo-jumbo?" Elsa moved her braid over her shoulder.

"Yeah, that's what it is, isn't it? I'm hitting 'play.'"

Elsa shrugged off a weird feeling. It was just for fun.

"Hide, do not feel. Do not know..."

Anna closed her eyes and shook with mirth, "'Do not know!' Ha-ha!"

Elsa chuckled a bit.

"Well, now you know!"

Anna interrupted, "This is the best part, right here."

"Give up."

Elsa paused the video. Anna was in stiches, "Ha ha ha! 'Give up!' I love it! You get it, right? You said, 'Let it go,' and when you think about it, you're basically saying to give up! Hoo-hoo...hit 'play.'"

Elsa wordlessly clicked the mouse.

"Give up. You cannot do it back in."

She flinched at that one.

"Give up, give up; tune in and slam the door!

You do not care what you're saying –"

Elsa paused the video again. Anna almost fell out of her chair, "I just, like, totally died!"

"Are you still breathing?"

"I'm trying to," Anna gasped. Elsa rolled her eyes and waited; she expected they would be stopping the video frequently. Anna wiped tears out of her eyes, "Hoo-whee! It's even better the second time around...well, is it? I don't know – well, now I know!" She exploded into more laughter. Elsa tapped the desk with her finger,

"Are we going to finish this before midnight?"

"Sorry. Hee hee. 'Play.'"

*Click.*

"Let us very angry...cold never bothered me."

Elsa felt that uncomfortable sensation again. She did not want to upset Anna, but...this video was bothersome.

"It's funny how certain distance, how small is everything.

And the fear is that once guided me, they do not know me at all!"

Anna gave Elsa a fond side-hug, "I always knew you, sis."

Elsa smiled and hugged Anna back. Her touch seemed to quell that nagging feeling.

"Now is the time to do

Limitations and improvements, challenge!"

Elsa laughed a bit, "Boy, that's a mouthful."

"I know, right?"

Elsa paused the video after the next few lines,

"Well, okay, I have no power. I am!"

"What? I sang, 'no right, no wrong, no rules for me; I'm free.' How does that translate into this? It makes no sense!"

"Well, duh, it's all nonsense. But, I guess...if you think about it, you know," Anna tilted her head, "It does make sense. If there's no right, no wrong, and no rules...then, well, there's no power."

"What?"

"There's no – oh, what's the word – authority!"

Elsa pursed her lips. Oh. "I'm hitting 'play.'"

"Give up, give up! I am the wind and the weather!"

Anna snorted. Elsa simply watched.

"Give up, give up! Will never see me cry!

For it!"

Elsa nodded, impressed, "That sounds cool. I like it."

Anna grinned slyly, "Everything about you is cool."

"Ha ha."

"We will stay here!

The storm is raging..."

Elsa sighed, "Ah, yes, the castle." Anna leaned against her sister, "You know, it always bugged me that you seemed so happy during this song."

"Am I not allowed to be happy?"

"Silly, of course not. But," Anna shifted in her chair, "but I guess I can relate."

Elsa looked at her incredulously, "How? You did nothing like this; you have no idea what it's like to –"

"– To be blissfully ignorant?"

Elsa's eyes widened, "Oh."

"Yeah."

"Flurries of my ability in the air into the ground!"

Elsa smirked and crossed her arms, "Only flurries?"

"My large circle fractal freezing!

Explosive idea is crystalized ice!

I never will go back; the past is the past!"

Anna stuck her tongue out, "I never did like that line."

Elsa paused the video yet again. That strange feeling was back, but she pushed it down, "I was blissfully ignorant."

"Yeah, but," Anna frowned, "You would never go back to me? You weren't ignorant of me...oh, I'm ruining it, aren't I?" She smiled and shrugged, "The past is in the past and forgiven."

Elsa's finger hovered over the mouse, "But not quite forgotten?"

"I doubt anyone will forget your song, Elsa. Now, hit 'play.' It's almost over."

"Give up! Give up! On the rise for radiation!

Give up! Give up! It runs perfect woman!"

Those were ridiculous lines, but neither of them laughed.

"I'm here! The light of day!

Let us very angry...!

Cold never bothered me anyway."

For several minutes the sisters simply sat there, staring at the screen. After a while, it went into "sleep" mode. Still, they did nothing. The sun was setting outside. Anna closed the laptop,

"Well, I guess it was funnier the first time around."

"This was my first time around," Elsa got up and stretched a bit. Anna yawned, "Isn't it odd how a little paraphrasing sheds a whole new light on everything? I mean, did you realize you were meaning that when you sang?"

Elsa bit her lip and turned away slowly so Anna could not see it, "No, not like that. Well, I kinda knew; I guess I had to. You know how my song goes. But, I didn't think it was a big deal. I was alone, and I thought I wasn't hurting anybody." She fell silent, staring out the window at the sunset over the fjord.

Anna coughed and hopped up in an attempt to end the awkward quiet, "Erh, well, it was just for fun," she peered at her sister, "Did you have, well, any fun?"

Elsa bobbed her head a bit but did not turn around. Anna saw Elsa's reflection in the windowpane, "Elsa? Are you...crying?"

"No," Elsa wiped her face quickly and added softly, "...not very much, at least."

"Elsa," Anna faced her and held her by her shoulders, "What are you crying about? It's just a song, for goodness sakes."

Elsa frowned, "No, Anna, it was so much more than just a song." She pulled away. Anna bit her lip, "Well then, what was it?"

"Anna, I do not want to talk about it right now."

"Will you talk about it later?"

Elsa breathed in deeply and bent her head down. She rubbed her temples and ran her hands through her hair, "Maybe later...I need to be alone for a bit."

Anna started, "What? You've been alone for, like, a dozen plus years! And then you ran away to the North Mountain to be alone, too! Gosh, Elsa, you've been alone for long enough, don't you think?"

"Anna, please," Elsa grew a little testy, "Not now."

Anna crossed her arms huffily, "Well, excuse me, Your Highness, but it is later now."

"Anna..."

"No, Elsa! What was it about that song that makes it so stinking important to you? Why can't you tell me?"

Elsa felt a flashback of déjà vu, back to a certain coronation reception. She looked up and saw ice slithering up the walls. It was snowing, and it was already sticking around the room. Anna stood in the center, furious and hurt, very much like she was in the recent past. There were tears in her eyes, and she begged,

"Please, Elsa, please, please...just tell me. Don't keep secrets from me anymore. Look what it's doing to us. It's hardly been a week since our big adventure, and we're right back where we began."

Elsa closed her eyes, and a tear squeezed out. It rolled down her cheek, "Anna..."

"I'm waiting," Anna stood firmly, but then she sighed tiredly, "It feels like I've always been waiting for you."

"Really, Anna," Elsa scrubbed at her nose and tried to regain her composure, "I just didn't like what that video did to my song, that's all."

Anna had a ready reply, "It's just a silly parody, Elsa. It's meant to make fun and to be funny. You don't have to take it so seriously! Except..."

"I do take it seriously. Anna, when I sang that song I meant every word," Elsa tried to capture that emotion deep down inside her and put it into words, "I meant it, even if I didn't understand it."

"And it's still a big deal to you," Anna stood next to her sister, "Elsa, why didn't you tell me you still struggle with this?"

Elsa said nothing. In fact, she was surprised as well.

She opened her eyes and looked at the boats moored to the docks. Sailors called out to each other, sang sea shanties, secured their ships with line and chains, and their captains oversaw the day's end with satisfaction. Some old salt played "Haven of Rest" on an accordion. In the town, citizens strolled down the lanes, visited the seaside pubs, or simply sat outside in the cool summer evening as the sun turned the water into a brilliant shade of crimson. It cast the last light over Anna's face before dipping below the horizon, and the world plunged into a rosy dusk. Fireflies danced through the city, and someone started lighting lamps. Anna gazed outside and spoke to Elsa,

"Do you want to go back to your castle?"

"No. I know I have it so much better here. I'm not alone here."

Anna turned to her sister, "Then what is holding you back from me?"

Elsa paused and thought hard on that question. She turned her face toward Anna and replied hesitantly, "I…I guess I just have trouble. I don't think about how good I've got it here. It's, it's…it's an itchy feeling. I feel like something's missing."

"Contentment?"

"Yes," Elsa sighed, "I think that's it."

Anna rolled her eyes, "Gee, Elsa, why didn't you say so in the first place? C'mon!" She grabbed her older sister's arm and dragged her out of the room. Elsa started, "Where are we going?"

"You'll see. It's not far…it's always been right under your nose."

Anna burst out of the castle and led Elsa into the city. Citizens bobbed their heads, "Good ev'ning, Your Majesties."

"You too," Anna smiled at them. The she spotted what she was looking for, "Okay, Elsa, come here." She climbed onto a dock piling and pulled Elsa up on another. She raised an eyebrow but complied. People walked by them and tilted their heads curiously at their Queen and Princess, but Anna did not notice. She spread her arms wide,

"Look at this, Elsa!"

Elsa nodded, "Okay…"

"No, look at this," Anna waved at some passers-by in the falling darkness, "Hello!"

The small party took off their hats and bobbed their heads as they walked, "Good evening, Princess Anna, Queen Elsa."

"Isn't this a lovely evening?"

"Sure it is, Your Highness."

"How are you all?"

One person nodded modestly, "Well, we've been just fine. We got no worries, now that the winter's thawed. Thank you for all that you two have done by those means."

Anna waved at them as they moved on, "You're welcome. Have a nice day!"

"You too, Princess Anna, and you too, Queen Elsa."

Anna nodded happily, her chest swelled, "Well?"

Elsa nodded, "Well…?"

Anna sighed, "Don't you get it?"

"Anna, what am I supposed to get?"

Anna gave Elsa a fond side-hug, "Think, Elsa, think: they love you. You are loved by so many people, and so much, you can't possibly comprehend it!"

"What?"

"Remember, Elsa? Love?"

"Yes…look, what's your point?"

Anna grunted, "Love, Elsa. The point is love," she smiled, "Think about how loved you are, hold fast to it, and the past...you can let it go. It can't touch you anymore. It's gone. Forever."

Elsa's eyes watched the people mingle among shops and houses, thoroughly enjoying the return of summer. Seagulls flew inland for the night, and the old salt kept playing his accordion. Another old sailor sat next to him and smoked a pipe easily. Moths fluttered around the lamps, and light shone through the windows of a local tavern, where music and high spirits wafted. Everyone was happy. Elsa could not believe such a pretty sight. It was her country, they were her people, and...

"This is where I belong."

Anna grinned, "Right on! Are you ready to go back inside?"

Elsa smiled contentedly at the quaint seaside port; she breathed in the salty air, "Maybe in a few minutes."

Anna hopped off the piling and approached the accordion player, "Excuse me, good sir? Could you play a jig?"

The man scratched his beard, "Anythin' ya say, Yore 'Ighness." He set his accordion on his fat stomach and started up a lively reel. The man next to him wordlessly puffed his pipe in time with the beat, and laughter shone in his eyes. Anna laughed,

"C'mon, Elsa!"

"Anna!"

"Just for a little bit, and then we'll go back in. Please?"

Elsa rolled her eyes and climbed down, "Just one dance –"

"Okay!" Anna squealed.

"Hey, can I dance, too?"

They would recognize that voice anywhere, "Olaf! What are you doing here?"

The little snowman laughed his idiosyncratic giggle, "Hee hee, Kristoff said you were going to show Elsa that YouTube video, so we all scrammed! He's somewhere around here –"

"Is it safe?"

Anna set her jaw and dragged Kristoff out of the shadows, "Of course it is, silly! Elsa can watch a YouTube video without totally freaking out! Wanna dance?"

He grinned slyly, "Ho, but you guys haven't seen 'Frozen Honest Trailer,' have you?"

Elsa coughed, "I think we've had enough of YouTube for today...but maybe tomorrow..."

The old sailor pulled his pipe out of his mouth, "Ain't none o' ya gonna dance? Me pore matey's wearin' 'isself down for naught!"

"Of course!" Anna pulled everyone into a circle, and then they danced. Fireflies blinked around them, like the stars had fallen down to earth for this special night.

The End

Elsa and Anna paused the video seven times, and the word "think" appears eleven times.

I do hope you enjoyed this story and were blessed by it. Thank you for reading.

Much love,

Hamlet