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Once upon a time, when no-one was looking and the world was very young, it was a place full of magic – of elves and gnomes and dragons and all sorts of other enchanted things. The North Pole however, wasn’t so very different from what it is now. It was icy and desolate and nobody much wanted to live there because it was so cold. There was one fairy there though, (because there’s usually at least one fairy everywhere my dears!), and she was called Snowstar. She was rather an unusual fairy to tell the truth, because she wasn’t flesh and bone like you, her whole body was made up of starlight and when she danced across the dark snowy ground and in-between the mountains each night, she looked just like a shooting star.
Mind you, although Snowstar was happy in the North Pole, she was also rather lonely because she had no-one to talk to. She talked to herself of course, but that can get boring after a while, so she started making people to talk to, out of snow. They were a lot like snowmen – the sort of things you might build yourself on a cold winter’s day – only they were much better than the ones you and I would make, because Snowstar was a very clever sculptress and made them look real. She enjoyed making them so much that she made hundreds and hundreds, all shapes and sizes, then she would dance between them singing and laughing and chattering away to her heart’s content. (But of course none of them ever sang or laughed or chattered back.)
Bit by bit, Snowstar began to tire of her snow people and feel unhappy again. Then, one night when she was feeling particularly lonely, she decided to cheer herself up by making the best, most lifelike snowman she possibly could. “I shall make him an old, old man,” she thought, “with the kindest face you’ve ever seen and a jolly smile to cheer up the saddest corners of the earth.”
Excited, she set to work at once. She began by gathering snow from the all over the North Pole. Did you think that snow was all the same colour my dears? Well, you were wrong! It depends on where you get it from. Snowstar knew this, so first she went to the mountain tops at sunset, where the snow was deep red. “With this colour, I’ll make him some fine red clothes!” she said to herself and filled her fairy bucket full of it straight away.
Now, here I have to tell you something else. Snowstar didn’t know it, but as she filled her bucket up she wasn’t quite as alone as she thought. She was being watched. By the Great Fire Dragon, the king of all dragons, who was looking down from his realm in the sun. “Hello?!” he crackled to himself, “What’s this? A little fairy pinching the snow I’ve lit up so beautifully! I wonder what she wants it for.” So he yawned like a big furnace and left his home to follow Snowstar and see what she was up to.
Next, Snowstar went in search of the right snow to make the snowman’s boots and buttons. She climbed into deep dark caves at midnight, where the snow was blackest black. What she didn’t realize however, was that down there in those very caves, Mother Earth (who you might have heard of) was taking her winter nap. Unfortunately, the starlight that shone from Snowstar woke her up.
“My Goodness!” muttered Mother Earth, all of a fluster, “Light? Is it spring already? I must have overslept!” When she realised that the light was only a small fairy she calmed down, but decided to join the Great Fire Dragon and follow her as well.
For the snowman’s eyes, Snowstar decided sparkling blue would be the best colour, so she swam down into the ocean and found some beautiful blue ice. However, little did she know that the very piece of ice she wanted was actually part of somebody’s house! That somebody was the Waterwatcher, a magical lady who nobody much has heard of up here, but who is in charge of all the lakes, rivers and seas in the world. She happened to be taking a break in her icy holiday home in the seas of the North Pole, because she had been working very hard all year and needed peace and relaxation and somewhere without too many fish. When she heard someone breaking bits off her house, she came rushing outside to chase them away. Luckily for Snowstar, the Great Fire Dragon and Mother Earth stopped her and persuaded her to join them.
“Now I need snow so fresh and white that it hasn’t touched the ground!” thought Snowstar. So she flew up into the sky and scooped some fresh snow from a cloud. As she put it in her fairy bucket the North Wind, who happened to be whistling by, caught sight of her.
“This is most puzzling!” he puffed as he watched her take off with her newly gathered snow. “I must blow down to the ground and see what’s happening!” So he too joined the others and followed Snowstar back to her snowman.
They all watched as she made him hair and a long, soft beard, so white that it shone. Finally, she put some of her own starlight in his blue eyes and stood back to view her work. It was wonderful!
“I wish he were real!” the little fairy breathed.
“My Goodness!” murmured Mother Earth as they all surveyed the snowman. “What a beautiful creation!”
“What a pit he’s not real,” said the Waterwatcher, “Such a kind, jolly, round face. The world could do with a person like that!”
The North Wind looked thoughtful, then whispered, “You know, I’ve seen this fairy before, dancing and singing about the friends she’d like to have. And now look at her, wishing with all her heart that her snowman was alive! I do believe she’s lonely. What do you say we grant her wish?”
“It’s a long time since I’ve been in the habit of granting wishes,” mumbled the Waterwatcher.
“That’s because you spend too much time surrounded by nothing but fish!” laughed the Great Fire Dragon. “I say we should do it!”
“But if we make him real, what will he do?” asked Mother Earth. “I mean everyone must have something to do in the world.”
“I know!” blew the North Wind suddenly, “As it’s Christmas next week, let’s give him the job of bringing Christmas presents to children. All the children in the world.” The others agreed and so it was decided. They collected together all their powers and cast them at the snowman.
To her utter amazement, Snowstar saw the snowman blink. Then he saw his smile get bigger and bigger until it turned into a laugh. “Ho, ho, ho!” laughed the snowman, who was a snowman no longer. He gave Snowstar a big hug and she felt that he was warm and alive. She had never been so happy in all her life! The two became best friends and as far as I know they are still are. Snowstar is one of Father Christmas’s most important helpers, she no longer makes snowmen, she helps the elves make toys. And he delivers them.
So that’s how Father Christmas came to be. You see my dears, he really is from the snow and ice of the North Pole, in fact he was made of it!
©2005 L A Betts
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