Snow Fun
4 yr old Varian was excited because it had snowed heavily the night before. He had explained to his Dad as he was tucked into bed, that more snow fell when the temperature was in a range of -9 to 0° Celsius because warmer air could hold more water vapor as opposed to slightly colder temperatures. It was interesting to him how it could be too warm to snow, but never too cold to snow and he liked how the properties of water could be changed by freezing it.
For his part, Quirin had patiently listened to his son babble. Quirin admired children for having the capacity to be awed by just about everything. Snow was pretty and probably as scientifically fascinating as his son made it out to be, but for adults it also meant added work on the farm and Varian was too small to be of much help.
That morning Quirin had helped Varian put on his winter coat, reminding him to add a scarf and to keep the hood up, as Varian had a habit of pulling it down when he was excited.
"We're going to clear a path to the barn, and take care of the animals, then you can go play." Quirin told him. Varian nodded happily, he loved going to the barn and feeding the cats, chickens, pigs, and donkeys. Quirin hoped Varian would still have the same level of enthusiasm when he grew big enough to handle a snow shovel.
Shoveling was hard work, but Quirin was up for the challenge. Varian watched with wide eyes. "Daddy, you're so strong!" he praised as his father cleared the way.
"Thank you, Varian. You'll be strong too, one day." Quirin predicted. Varian beamed.
Father and son walked into the barn where Varian immediately went to get the milk for the cats while Quirin checked that the donkey's bedding was still nice and dry. Everything seemed to be in order, and they finished up their chores fairly quickly, ending with Varian handing Prometheus a carrot as a treat.
"I wish I could ride him today." Varian said wistfully.
"You'll have to wait til spring, it's simply too cold for donkeys to be out." Quirin answered sensibly. Varian sighed, but he obeyed his father's judgment.
Outside it was beautiful with the fields covered in a glistening white layer of snow. Many of the children were out and about now, like Varian they had finished working and were ready to play.
"Go play with your friends." Quirin urged. Varian needed little encouragement to run off, his hood slipping down in his haste. Quirin sighed and went to find Burt to discuss their plans for town meeting day.
"Hi Varian!" Katie greeted him. She and Pamela were busy assembling a snowman.
"Can I help?" Varian asked.
"Sure! The more, the merrier." Katie agreed.
"That's how she roped me into it." Pamela said dryly, patting down the snow. Varian smiled at her, but as usual she didn't acknowledge it, and simply went about doing her work.
The girls and Varian made a lovely snowman. Katie picked up Varian so he could put a carrot nose on the snowman's head. Pamela added two small stones for the snowman's eyes, and Katie attached sticks as arms.
"Wow, he looks amazing." Katie judged.
"Yeah." Varian agreed. He was just about to suggest that they add a scarf when a large snowball smacked into their snowman, thrown by David the bully.
"Hey! Don't throw those over here!" Katie scolded.
"We can throw them wherever we want. There's more of us than you." David argued, pointing at the number of boys he had gathered to his side.
"Well, we were here first." Katie retorted.
"First is the worst and second is the best." sneered David. "We're taking over this whole field, starting with that dumb snowman." David threw another snowball, this time hitting Varian in the face. "Oops. I guess I missed." he sneered.
Varian brushed the snow out of his eyes, as Katie hovered over him, wanting to make sure he was okay. Pamela just shook her head, she couldn't believe everyone was getting worked up over a small patch of snow.
"David, you stop that." Katie admonished. David's response was to form another snowball and wing it at her face. She ducked just in time. The snowball fight began in earnest then, as David encouraged his men to throw as hard as they could.
"We have to fight back, protect our snowman!" Katie decided, scooping up a bit of snow herself.
"Or we could go inside. The snowman was just gonna melt soon anyway." Pamela pointed out.
"Not if the air te'perature stays below freezing." Varian piped up. "Although the sun's ray can melt it a little, even when it's cold. Air te'perature and sun intensity are the primary factors affecting the melting point." he conceded.
Pamela rolled her eyes. Time wasted building something that was doomed not to last, snowballs thrown at them by boys, and now a lecture from mini Prof. Science. Days like this were why she preferred to be alone, reading somewhere about the more upscale life in foreign kingdoms.
The fight was woefully lopsided. Varian and the girls were vastly outnumbered, and Varian spent more time talking about the properties of snow that he did forming snowballs. When he did make them, he couldn't throw very far or very high.
"Ugh. We're never gonna beat them. We might as well give up." Katie raised her arms in surrender. Pamela and Varian did the same.
"Maybe next time we can make a catapult." Varian mused as the victorious boy army came over to shake their hands. The poor snowman had been knocked over repeatedly.
"Ha, I knew it. Girls and babies never win!" David boasted. He shoved a final snowball in Varian's face, even though a truce had been declared.
"David, stop." Katie hissed.
"What's all this?" a grownup voice was heard entering the scene. The kids turned to see Quirin and Burt walking over, their discussion over.
"Just throwing snowballs. We were all having fun." David said casually.
Quirin looked at Varian who had powdered snow all over his face and coat. His hood was still down, and his scarf had gotten loose.
"I'm glad you kids had fun, but your clothes are wet and I think it's best you kids go inside to warm up." Quirin declared.
"And get something good to eat. Snowball fights always made me hungry as a boy." Burt added.
"I want gingerbread cookies, Dad." David demanded of his father, not even bothering with a 'please.' Burt, who assumed most kids were rowdy by nature, didn't mind the request.
Varian walked over and grabbed Quirin's hand. "Can we please have hot cocoa?" he asked.
"Yes, since you asked politely." Quirin decided. Varian turned and waved goodbye to his friends, then walked home with Daddy to enjoy a well deserved treat.
The End
David gets his glory days in now, but I imagine older Varian is capable of making a snowball catapult and his friends hardly need convincing to use it against a bully.