Part 1

AFTER THE SNOWFALL

Kim Boggs sat at the desk in her room, reading a book. It was December, just before Christmas, and evening had descended upon her suburban Florida neighborhood. Glancing up from the book and out her bedroom window, she saw that snow was falling.

This was the third time in a fortnight that it had snowed, and Kim was delighted! Previously, she would put aside whatever she was doing and excitedly rush outside to play in it; to dance in it, to make snow angels or have snowball fights with her brother Kevin, or her dad. But for now, she was content to stay indoors, walk over to the window, and marvel as the lovely crystals fell to earth. There weren't any cars driving on the street, nor was anyone walking down the sidewalk. There was nothing to disturb the pristine white blanket of winter.

Kim had always loved snow, and it was disappointing to know that a White Christmas would elude her as long as she lived in Florida. Yet now, snow had become a regular occurrence in the colder months. "It all started last year", she thought. "When he came down."

She repeated those words to herself: "when he came down". And as she did, she began to remember everything. One year had passed since Kim met the young man who changed her life. Their ephemeral meeting was the single most beautiful, and the most tragic thing, that had ever happened to her: falling in love with someone who loved her, but then, after experiencing awful misunderstandings and treacheries, he was violently torn from her, leaving them both alone.

"Edward..."

She remembered arriving home from a camping trip one night and being scared out of her wits when she discovered Edward, a man with scissors for hands, sleeping in her bed. Her mother had found him living in the old mansion on the hill and wanted to give him a new home. She remembered how their neighbors became his friends and admirers after he used his scissorhands to make the most amazing topiaries and haircuts, only to later turn against him. She recalled gradually growing fond of him as her relationship with her boyfriend, Jim, became strained and distant. And finally, there was that fateful night, where she held Edward in their living room as his world came crashing down.

That night, Jim would attempt to take Edward's life. To defend himself and Kim, Edward struck him with a mortal blow. Knowing the neighborhood would persecute him for what he'd done if he showed his face again, he retreated inside his forlorn mansion, and there he remained.

A few months later, Kim graduated from high school. Her school was shaken by Jim's death; he'd been one of the stars of their football team and because Kim dated him, she had attracted increased scrutiny. There were even rumors that she was responsible for that ghastly puncture in his chest, but they were wrong. She was with Jim in his last moments and knew what he'd become: he was an envious, contemptible bully who had caused Edward's suffering. She didn't mourn his passing.

After graduation, she went off to college, majoring in psychology. In her first semester, two different boys from her classes had expressed interest in her. They liked her soft-spoken nature, her large doe eyes and her purity of heart. But Kim could not reciprocate their advances. Though she'd tried several times to get over Edward, her heart still quietly bore his name.

As memories of the past year welled up inside her, Kim felt herself becoming terribly sad. The longing was intense enough to cause her to ache. She slowly walked away from the window, teary mists forming in her eyes. Lying down on her bed, she buried her face in her pillow and started to cry.

Her tears fell and moistened her pillow. Her breathing was jagged shivers and gasps. Her heart was breaking. "I miss you..." she whimpered, in between sobs. "I need you..." ...and he wasn't there.

She was upset with herself for being this way. She knew it would be best if she could accept that he wasn't coming back and move on with her life. But something was preventing her from letting go.

After a few minutes of crying and grieving his absence, she slowly settled down, sniffling a bit, and taking deep breaths. Lifting herself from her pillow, she glanced at the head of her bed. Her collection of stuffed animals was there and among them was her teddy bear, a precious little thing with light tan fur and its arms reaching forward, ready to embrace. Kim had loved that teddy bear ever since she was a little girl and she was so thankful he was there now. She reached out to grab it and pulled it close to her. As she cuddled her bear, she wished dearly that he could be transformed, Cinderella-style, into Edward. But even if he couldn't, just holding her old friend was consoling enough.

That night, when Kim slept, she had the most exquisite dream. A ball was being held in a magnificent palace. She wasn't sure where exactly. But the palace hall was a splendid sea of couples and costumed aristocrats. All the king's men, it seemed, had turned up. Among the crowd were Kim and Edward, together as one. Edward had hands in the dream, so there was nothing to stop them from holding one another as they danced. The strings of a symphony sang swelling, swooning melodies and they gazed into each other's eyes, smiling radiantly. Reality can be cruel, and when it is, we find our romance in dreams.

She awoke the next morning to the sunrise filtering through her bedroom window. The dream was the first thing on her mind. "It was so vivid..." She could recall nearly every detail of it, even the way the palace's railings and chandeliers looked. The second thing she realized was that she actually felt okay. Something about this dream had healed her and brightened her spirit, though she wasn't sure if the mood would last long.

Kim spent that day at home. Her parents had instructed her to help prepare their house for the upcoming Christmas celebration, while they and Kevin went out shopping for supplies. After working for about three hours and feeling satisfied with how the house looked, she decided to see what was on television.

Lounging on the couch, everything she saw as she flipped through the channels seemed dull. Silly action movies, crude daytime talkshows, sportscasters recalling the highlight of games...Eventually, she settled on "Restaurant Road Trip", a travelling show where some guttermouthed douchebag dines out at notable restaurants all over America.

The host's edgy voice blared through the television. "Next up: we're taking you to beautiful, sunny Burbank, California, to a place called 'Sideshow Bistro'! And what is Sideshow Bistro? Well, imagine a teppanyaki restaurant. Performing chefs and everything. Now imagine the chefs were all taken directly from your local asylum. Get the picture?"

There were scenes of a burly, biker gangster chopping up a chicken with a hand axe, and a lady dressed in horrorclown attire juggling condiments before sprinkling them over a dish. Kim was intrigued.

In the next scene, ten patrons sat in a semicircle on the other side of a large chrome grill, ready for dinner. The host spoke into the camera. "I'm about to watch a show. Let's take a seat."

What Kim saw next utterly astonished her. Standing in front of the grill, with an impressive array of ingredients before him, ready to produce a culinary masterpiece...was Edward. Yes, Edward! Edward had left the mansion. He was cooking in a restaurant. He was on T.V.! Was this really happening?

Edward began his show by taking several raw steaks and slashing them with his scissorhands, one downward strike after another, chopping and tearing, until all of the steaks had been cut into cubes.

"Whoa! Did you see that?!"

Next were the onions. Edward took a peeled white onion in each hand, tossed them high into the air and cut them rapidly as they fell, flailing his arms in a manner that seemed almost uncontrolled...that is, until dozens of perfect little onion squares dropped to the grill's surface.

"Oh my gosh...", Kim said to herself.

Then came the bell peppers, the mushrooms, and the potatoes. Edward quickly and meticulously cut pieces out of them, each one a different shape. There were stars, crescent moons, hearts, spades, clubs, and even smiley faces.

Finally, he picked up the cubes of meat and cuts of vegetable and juggled them up in quick succession. Holding out the scissorthumb of his left hand, he caught each by impaling it on the blade. He repeated this nine times until all his digits held a complete kebab set on them. The flames of the grill lit and Edward laid his hands on its surface to cook everything to medium-rare deliciousness.

"That doesn't hurt?", the host of the show asked. Edward shook his head and began to slowly rotate his hands to expose all sides to the fire. Shortly thereafter, the kebabs were done and the diners applauded. They eagerly dug in. On the other side of the country, Kim was cheering ecstatically.

After the show ended, she turned the television off and sat in silence. She had no idea how Edward managed to end up where he had. Yet, it happened. It felt like the answer to a prayer, like a night of sorrow fading with the joyful rays of dawn. She'd been melancholy and lovesick for months, with no resolution in sight, unsure what to do about her continuing feelings. But this, this had changed everything, and what to do was simple and clear.

She had to go visit him.