30TH BIRTHDAY POST - MICRO SNOW QUEEN

THE SNOW QUEEN - BY CASSANDRA SOLON PARRY

A mirror splintered and a little boy's heart was turned to ice. Poor Kai, the Snow Queen has him now. She sits enthroned at the centre of a frozen lake whose name is Reason. Childhood cannot live here; nor can love.

Brave little Gerda, only she can find him now. How far will she go to bring her friend home? From the garden of childhood, to the castle of dreams, through the wild woods, and under Northern Lights, across the lands of snow and ice. She goes barefoot, the better to feel her way. On the back of a reindeer she rides. With only her child-heart to guide her, she enters the Snow Queen's domain.

Little Gerda's frozen breath forms an army of angels; her tears melt the ice in her dear friend's heart. Then, at last, he cries. Reflected in each other's eyes, they see that Springtime has come.

Even now that they have both grown up, the sweet song of childhood still plays in their hearts.

31st of January MMXXII - Sandra Dermark turns 30. Milestone birthday, but still childhood heart like Gerda and Kai...

Illustration by yours truly - Sandra Dermark. Done for Mab's Drawloween Club 2021, it hangs in a picture frame in my bedroom, above my bed. Everyone in the human/oid cast of the tale is here except the goblins and the angels: the springtime witch (in her flowered hat) and Gerda from the garden of childhood, the clever well-read prince and princess from the castle of dreams (my favourite characters from the tale!), the robber maiden and her leader mother from the wild woods (yes, that tall virago, in spite of her facial hair and broad shoulders, is female), as well as Kai and the Snow Queen with her icy crown and heart.