It was winter. The snow was on the ground, and it was hard. It had melted a little bit earlier in the winter, so there were large patches of crusted snow. It was peaceful outside.
From behind a tree branch, something flew. It was a snowflake fairy. She flitted about, playing a game with another fairy.
The peaceful quiet of the winter was suddenly broken when a girl bounded out of a house. The winter fairies hid behind branches, hoping that the girl wouldn't see them. Then they saw a fairy in the girl's hand.
The fairy didn't look upset. In fact, she was smiling as the girl walked over to a small structure in the garden.
"That's as good as I could get it in," the girl said.
The little fairy laughed, a sweet, bell-like sound.
The girl plopped down on a patch of snow. "You know, not everyone can stand the cold like you can, Elsie."
The girl's mother had told her that it was only twenty degrees out, and the girl looked very cold.
The fairy smiled. She had light blonde hair that was in a braid. Her eyes were a light blue color, and her skin was pale. She was wearing a leaf bracelet, and her clothes were made of blue frozen leaves. Her wings were a bit small.
The girl patted the fairy's head with her mitten. "Elsie, you're a great friend," said the girl.
Elsie the fairy smiled. "Thanks," she said, though all the human could hear were jingles.
Elsie then spotted some ice. She flew over to it and began to skate. The girl laughed. "You sure like winter," said the girl. "Me, not so much."
"That's okay, Rachel," Elsie jingled. "You're not a winter fairy – or winter human, for that matter."
"Whatever you said, it sounded good," Rachel said.
The girl looked around her backyard. There was a piece of plywood leaning against the kiddie pool that was turned on its side. A baby slide was by the pool, serving as a sort of climbing tool to get up on the pool.
Rachel used this as a sledding hill. Earlier that winter, it had been covered in snow, but now the snow was gone.
"Elsie, I have a fun idea," said Rachel. "What would be a good sled?"
The human's eyes darted around the yard. She saw a small piece of wood with a nail stuck in it.
"Nah," she said softly. Then her eyes flew back to the wood. "What would Tinkerberry do?"
She ran over to the wood with Elsie following. She pulled out the nail, and then rubbed the dirty wood on the ice to clean it. She put it up on the plywood.
"Elsie, sit on the sled!" cried Rachel.
Elsie fluttered to the sled. She sat down. Instantly, the sled began going down the hill, picking up speed. The fairy flew off the sled and slid the rest of the way down the plywood on her bottom.
The fairy and girl were both laughing when Elsie reached the bottom. "Was that fun?" asked Rachel.
"Oh, yes," jingled Elsie.
"Come on," Rachel said. "If the snow wasn't so hard, we could make snow angels. Maybe for you, they would be called snow fairies..."
Elsie laughed and turned somersaults in the air. She landed on some dirty snow. She fell flat on her face! When she got up, her face was dirty.
Rachel smiled. "Oh, what a dirty fairy!"
Rachel grabbed Elsie out of the air and dug in the snow. Then she rubbed Elsie's face in the snow grains. Elsie loved the feeling of the snow brushing by her face.
Her face was clean now. Little particles of snow stuck to her hair and face. Some was even clinging to her shirt.
"Elsie, you are beautiful," sighed Rachel.
Elsie was touched.
Rachel and Elsie went to another part of the yard. There was a soft spot in the snow, and Elsie flew down and laid in it.
"Do you want me to bury you?" laughed Rachel. She covered her tiny friend in snow. It was cold and comfortable for the frost fairy.
"I bet you'd like to stay there forever," Rachel said. "But I'll have to get you out eventually."
Indeed, Elsie was comfortable. The snow all around her was comforting, and the icy cold made her want to fall asleep. Her eyes began to close, but Rachel pulled her out. Then, fairy and human lay back on the snow.
"You're kind of like my best friend," Rachel said. "I bet she would like you."
Elsie smiled.
"My best friend lives far away," said Rachel. "Do you have a best friend?"
Elsie said something. Rachel only heard jingling.
"If you do, is it one of our fairies?" asked Rachel.
Elsie's eyes popped open wide. "Our fairies?" she asked. She assumed that Rachel meant to say "The fairies that live with me". Elsie hoped that Rachel didn't think of them as her property.
"Sorry," Rachel said, catching Elsie's unease. "I meant to say the fairies that live here. I know that you don't belong to me. I only think of you as friends."
Elsie relaxed.
"If you have a best friend in Never Land, you know what it's like to have a best friend that lives far away," Rachel said. Her eyes had a faraway look. "I miss my best friend, so very much. If I ever saw her face to face again, I would show you to her. I know she'd love you all."
Elsie put her cold hand on Rachel's cheek. She knew what missing a friend felt like. She missed Periwinkle, Spike, and Gliss a lot. She missed all of the frost fairies, in fact.
Rachel shivered. "I think I'd better go in before I get a cold."
Elsie didn't understand how someone could get sick from being too cold, but she knew the other fairies felt differently. They were warm fairies. Whenever Elsie saw them wearing long sleeves, she knew that if it were her wearing the outfit, she would be overheating.
Elsie followed Rachel into the house. Suddenly, there was a barking sound. Elsie burrowed her face into Rachel's heavy coat. She was afraid of the dogs.
The dogs raced down the back hallway's stairs. They were jumping and really needing to go outside. Rachel opened the door for them.
"They really aren't that scary," Rachel said to Elsie.
Elsie frowned. "If you're human-sized," she jingled.
Rachel went into the kitchen and took off her shoes. Then she let Elsie fly to the plastic castle that the fairies lived in. Elsie smiled. It had been a chilly, perfect day.