This
story is about a little girl who lived once upon a time. Her name was Malory
and she lived up north, really far north. In her part of the world there were
two lands. There was Southland and Northland. Northland was divided into South
Northland and North Northland. North Northland was, as you can probably guess,
really cold. In fact it was mostly cold all the time. Up in North Northland was
a little town called Blizzard. The people who lived in Blizzard (and there
weren’t many) had to bundle up in piles and piles of clothes just to go
anywhere. Well, Malory and her family lived north of Blizzard. Not much farther
north, mind you, but north nevertheless, not south or even east or west. In the
south, at least, it didn’t snow every day, and the east actually had sunshine
once in a while.
Perhaps you’re wondering: why would anyone want to live in such a cold, cold,
snowy place? That’s because Malory’s father was a snow technician. He knew all
about snow. He read about snow, he thought about snow and he even dreamed about
snow some nights. (Who wouldn’t?) Well, if you’re going to be a snow
technician, you kind of have to live where the snow is. And that is how Malory
came to live north of Blizzard in North Northland; Malory and her family that
is. You already know Malory’s father, the snow technician. She also had a
mother and a brother Mickey, who was 7. Malory was 4.
One day in early February Mickey came running in the back door. As usual
it took him five full minutes to get his hat and coat and boots and gloves and sweater
and scarf off and into a pile on the kitchen floor. Malory was sitting at the
kitchen table and Mommy was at the sink. Mickey was upset.
“Mom” Mickey yelled “I’m quitting school. I’m quitting school and never
going back.”
Looking right at Mickey’s face, Mom asked, “Why is that?”
“Valentime’s Day” was all he said.
“Don’t you mean Valentine’s Day, Mickey?”
“That’s what I said, Mom!” Mickey wailed as he crumpled to the floor in a
heap.
“So, what’s wrong with that?” she asked.
“Well, it’s horrible, that’s what. I have to get a shoe box and decorate
it and put a hole in the top, and take it to school.”
“Really!” Mom said.
“It’s worse than that, Mom. I have to make my own Valentime cards for
everybody in my class and put them in their boxes that they made.”
“Why is that so bad?”
“Mom! There are girls in my class.”
“I think I knew that,” she said.
“Yeah, and especially Rosie.”
“Rosie?”
“She’s that girl that won’t leave me alone. She keeps smiling at me when
I’m trying to do stuff.”
“Well, all the same, Mickey, you need to make a Valentine card for
everyone.”
“Mom!”
“Go pick your clothes up. We can talk about it later, and if you are
nice, I’ll help you make your Valentines.”
“Even the one for Rosie?”
“Especially the one for Rosie.”
“Thanks, Mom. Can I have a cookie?”
“After the clothes, Mickey.”
“Okay.” And with that Mickey left the kitchen with his pile of clothes.
Malory was worried.
“Mom?”
“Yes, Malory?”
“What’s a Val-a…what’s a Valatime’s Day?”
“It’s called Valentine’s Day, Malory.” Mom answered. “It’s a day we
celebrate once a year to say ‘I love you’ to the people closest to us.”
“Oh, well is Rosie closest to Mickey?”
“What? Oh, no, that’s just for school. Mickey’s teacher, Miss Emurian,
just wants the children in her class to have a little fun and learn about the
holiday.”
“What’s a holiday, Mom?” Malory asked.
“That’s a special day like Christmas or Easter.”
“Can I have a holiday?”
“What do you mean?”
“Can I make a box and get cards from my closest people?”
“Yes, Malory, of course you can. Why don’t we make a Valentine’s box
after dinner? We can help Mickey make his box at the same time.”
“Thank you mommy.”
So, Malory began to look forward to making that box. By the time her
daddy got home from the snow she was bursting with excitement.
“Daddy, mommy and I are going to make a Valatime’s box, and I get to cut
out hearts and glue them on and all my closest people can say I love you
inside!”
“Wow!” her father said. “Can I put something inside?”
“A course, Daddy. You and Mommy are my closest-closest people in the
whole world.”
That evening after dinner (baked chicken, rice and salad), just like she
promised, Malory’s Mom found two shoe boxes and some red paper and pink paper
and white paper and scissors and glue and tape and markers and a bunch of other
stuff and they spread it out on the table in the kitchen. Mickey didn’t like
all the red and pink paper so he just glued some old baseball cards to his box
and went upstairs. Malory loved the pink and red paper. Red was her favorite
color. She put everything on her box very carefully. Pretty soon they had the
best looking Valentine box anyone had ever seen. Malory was so proud of her
Valentine box she took it in to show her father who was reading an article in Snow Digest magazine about snow
maintenance in the urban environment.
“Daddy, look!” she exclaimed as she held out the box. Dad put the
magazine down. He took the box in his hands and examined it, turning it slowly so
he could see each side. Then he held it up like the Holy Grail. “This” he said
solemnly, “is the paragon of Valentine boxes. This box shall set the standard
for Valentine boxes for decades to come. Grandmothers will be telling their
granddaughters about this box. In fact, I predict this box will be on the cover
of Valentine Quarterly, before this
year has passed. The reds, the pinks, the whites, are a wonder to behold, but
especially the reds. The reds inspire me. In fact, I predict that on Valentine’s
morn there will be red snow, lots and lots of red snow in honor of this great
Valentine’s box. Mark my words Missy Malory,” he said with finality, “red
snow.”
“For reals, Daddy?”
“For reals.”
It was almost two weeks until Valentine’s Day and Malory could hardly wait.
It was almost like Christmas or her birthday. Every day she asked Mom to tell
her how many days until Valentine’s Day. Mom would go to the calendar on the
wall and mark off another day and tell Malory. Then one morning she asked and
Mom said “just one more day, Malory. Tonight is Valentine’s Eve.” She was so
excited she could hardly stand it. She went to bed that night with visions of
red snow and a box full of love.
The next morning when Malory woke up she opened her eyes but at first she
didn’t remember that today was special. Then all of a sudden she did remember.
“It’s Valatime’s Day!” she screamed. She ran to the window. There was red snow
as far as she could see. And right outside her window was some white snow in
the shape of a big, big heart that said “Happy Valentine’s Day Malory.” Malory
couldn’t read yet, but she was pretty sure she knew what it said. She put her
bathrobe and slippers and ran downstairs. Mom was in the kitchen and there on
the table was her Valentine box. It was full of Valentine’s cards, all from her
closest people. Mom read them all to her. There were cards from Mom and Dad and
their neighbors, David and Susan Needham. There were cards from people at
church: the Smiths, the Kleinbecks, old Ben Rothwell, her Sunday School teacher,
Mrs. James, and the Jacob twins. There were a bunch of cards that didn’t have a
name on them. There was even a card from Mickey. He made a drawing of a monster
with big teeth who said “I promise not to eat you for Valentine’s Day.” But her
favorite Valentine came from Uncle Eugene who was a baker in North Southland.
It was a heart shaped chocolate chip cookie that said: “When the chips are down
you are my Valentine.” Malory had to have Mom explain it, but the cookie was
really good.
What can I say? That day was just special. After Mickey got on the bus
for school Mom let Malory go outside and make a big red snowman. When she came
inside Mom had hot cocoa and warm banana bread waiting on the table. Later that
day they made a heart cake with red icing (of course!) and put little candy
hearts all over the top. When they ate the cake for dessert that night, it made
their lips and tongues red and everybody laughed.
Well, you may not have guessed this, but Malory had a red, red
Valentine’s Day every year for the next three years. But the following year
something bad happened. One Valentine morning right after sunrise and long
before she usually got up, Malory was awakened by a noise. She looked out the
window and could just make out the figure of Dad in the back yard. She put some
clothes on and went downstairs. She went outside. Dad was spraying something on
the snow.
“Daddy, what are you doing?” she asked.
“Well, you’ve caught me, Malory. I’m making the snow red.”
Malory was quiet for a moment as she watched Dad spray the snow. Then she
said, “I thought God made the snow red.”
“I know you did, but it was me. I invented a nontoxic dye that wouldn’t
come off on your clothing. Every year I got up and sprayed the snow before you
woke up.”
Malory got big tears in her eyes. “You lied to me, Daddy,” she said and
ran up to her room and cried and cried. A few minutes later Mom came into her
room.
“Malory?”
”Daddy lied to me,” Malory said, and then she started crying all over
again. “There was no red snow! He made it himself.”
“I know, honey.”
“He lied to me!”
“Where is that first Valentine box you made?” Mom asked. Malory got it
out of the closet.
“Malory, can I ask you a question?”
“What question?” she cried.
“Why did you make this box?”
“So people could say ‘I love you.’”
“That’s right. Look here is a card from Mrs. James and here is that funny
card from Mickey. Here is the one Dad made. Did these make you feel loved?”
“Yeah.”
“What about all these cards with no name on them?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you know who wrote these cards?”
“No.”
“I did, Malory. I wanted your first Valentine box to be full to the top
because I love you. Do you think I lied to you?”
“Well, I guess not.” Just then Malory looked up and saw Dad standing in the doorway. He looked sad. That made Malory feel sad.
“Well, I guess not.” Just then Malory looked up and saw Dad standing in the doorway. He looked sad. That made Malory feel sad.
“I’m sorry, Mal, I just wanted to make you happy. I love you.”
“I love you too, Daddy,” Malory said, and she ran over to him and hugged
him real hard.
“You know, Malory,” Dad said as she was hugging him real hard, “I worked
a long time on that invention. And then every year it took three hours to spray
our yard and all the other yards. And I had to get their permission even before
I could do that. Do you know why I went to all that work?”
“Because you love me?”
“That’s right. Is that your first Valentine box on the bed?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you still have the Valentine from ‘the Red, Red, Snow Man’?”
Malory went to the Valentine box and found the card. “Do you mean this
one?”
“Yes,” Dad answered. “Do you know who that’s from?”
“No.”
“It’s from me. I’m the Red, Red Snow man. Was that a lie?”
“No.”
“That’s right. It’s not a lie, it’s love. The red, red snow and the Red,
Red Snow Man are ways I show my love to you.”
Malory hugged Dad real hard again. “I love you more than ever, Daddy!”
She said.
“I know, Mal.”
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Would you make the red, red snow again next year?”
“I make this prediction, Malory. Next year’s snow will be redder than
red. Next year’s red snow will be the paragon of red snows. It will set the
standard for red snows from now on. Mark my words Missy Malory. Redder snow.”
“For reals, Daddy?”
“For reals.”
The End
