A fairy tale of snowflakes

By Joseph McCain

In the celestial tapestry of the universe, where the realms of heaven lay, snowflakes were whispered to hold the most profound secret.

Crystal and white, formed in the heavens, cascaded down to Earth, a mesmerizing dance of nature's creation. They arrived on the breath of winter, each unique and distinct, bearing the weight of history upon their glistening shoulders. Each flake, a testament to angelic craftsmanship that gently descends to the mortal realm.

The Inuit elder explained all things that existed still exist. The ancestors’ memories and thoughts lingered like suspended stardust and awaited an inevitable reunion with home. They would return home in white and blanket all in sight.

These crystals of white were carriers of the souls of the past, their myriad shapes and patterns etched with the essence of those who had journeyed through the eons. The snowflakes, like tiny mirrors, captured fragments of these ancient souls, reflecting their joys, sorrows, and stories.

In a delicate dance of fate and accident, as the snowflakes descended and collided with one another, they exchanged fragments of these souls and memories. Each collision carved intricate details into their fragile yet resilient structures, making them ever more unique.

Enmeshed within the crystals was a mosaic of human experience. The snowflakes were revered for this sacred duty of carrying the memories of the souls back to home. They carried within them the whispers of heroes and villains, poets and peasants, kings and beggars, all mixed into a symphony of existence.

The snowflakes were the etched history of each soul.

One radiant snowflake bore the soul of a grand medieval empire monarch, a legacy of conquests and glory that had long since faded from the memory of most. Another, shaped like a delicate lily, held the soul of a young lass whose resilience lived on through the ages. Countless other flakes contained similar fragments of the past, each adding its unique hue to the collective memory of the universe.

They carried the weight of history, yet it did not burden them; instead, it strengthened them with a thicker coat of cold and snow. Like brave travelers, they embarked on their individual journeys, each flake reaching its own state of being in the winter sky.

The snowflakes' journey held the promise of unity amidst diversity as they collected on branches, on the ground and on the cars in parked in the street. As winter's embrace tightened, the snowflakes reached their final destination.

The Inuit children reveled in the winter magic, catching snowflakes on their tongues, unknowingly tasting the stories of old. The elderly, wrapped in blankets, would gaze through frosted windows, feeling the warmth of nostalgia as they recalled the forgotten chapters of their youth. And Inuit leaders, inspired by the delicate beauty of these ephemeral crystals, weaved verses that immortalized all and told of the past for the future ones.

Snowflakes, crystal and white, symbolized the grand circle of life, connecting the past, present, and future in an endless cycle of renewal.

Winter returned year after year, and the heavens gifted Earth with a blanket of white. Each flake as unique as the soul it represents.