CHAPTER 3 - SNOWLAND
Michaelah popped her head out of the water and took a breath of fresh air. But she was no longer in the same place as before. And when she thought about it more and more, she could no longer remember where she even was before. Now she was in a pond. And the pond was not surrounded by sand, but snow. Michaelah swam over to the edge of the pond and got out of the water. When she got out of the pond, the water froze over so she could walk on it.
There was snow as far as the eye could see. Yet, Michaelah was not cold at all. She walked over to a pile of snow. She began to roll the snow into three balls. Michaelah made a snowman with two pieces of coal for eyes, a carrot for a nose, and a black top hat for his head. The snowman lifted his top hat and thanked Michaelah for making him. Michaelah asked the snowman, "Are you Frosty?" and the snowman laughed.
"No," he said, "I am Francis, and I am on my way to see my two friends. Would you like to accompany me?"
"I love making new friends," says Michaelah. Together they walked across the snow. Soon they came upon an igloo. An igloo is a round house made of ice. Inside were Francis the Snowman's two friends.
One was in the kitchen of the igloo where he was baking a cake. The other one greeted them at the door. "Hello Francis, I am Lo, and over there is my sister Behold." Lo was a penguin, but a very odd looking one. Where most penguins were black, Lo was white. And where most penguins are white (on their bellies), Lo was black. He also wore glasses. The room was covered with books, and Lo hand one in his hand.
Michaelah asked Lo, "Are those your reading glasses?"
"Why yes, they are. You are a very smart girl!" answered Lo.
Francis the snowman brought Michaelah into the kitchen to meet Behold.
"Hello dear, I am Behold, the magical cooking mouse. And I am cooking a cake!"
"I like your name. But what is a mouse doing in the snow?" asked Michaelah.
"I am cooking for I am a cooking mouse. Didn't you hear? And don't be silly for the snow is my home." answered Behold.
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Michaelah liked Lo better than Behold. He was nicer. So Michaelah went back over to talk with Lo.
"What book are you reading?" asked Michaelah.
"I am reading the 51 Lessons on how to read." answered Lo.
"But don't you know how to read already?" asked Michaelah.
"Yes. But you can always learn how to read better," answered Lo.
"You have a lot of books," pointed out Michaelah.
"Thank you. I have read them all. Would you like to read one?" asked Lo.
"Yes. That would be nice," answered Michaelah.
Lo walked over to the bookshelf and pulled a book out from the second shelf. Michaelah opened the book and looked inside. There were no words in it. She walked over to the bookshelf and put it back. She pulled out another one and opened it. Once again, there were no words. Michaelah then looked through every book in the igloo house. There were no words in any of them. Finally, she took the book out of Lo's hands and looked through the pages.
"Excuse me!" said Lo.
There were no words in that book either. Michaelah was confused. But just before she could ask about the books Behold, the cooking mouse, called out from the kitchen, "Dessert is ready!" All four of them sat down at the kitchen table. Michaelah, Francis the snowman, Lo, and Behold. Behold uncovered the cake and Michaelah jumped back in her seat! The cake was covered in a larva frosting. Larvae are baby worms.
Michaelah ran outside of the igloo because she felt sick. It made sense that a mouse would eat worms, but Michaelah wanted no part of that cake. Francis the Snowman came outside after Michaelah. "You forgot your book!" he said.
"There is nothing written in the book," said Michaelah.
"Yes there is. You just don't know how to look," said Francis. He handed her the book and said, "Just blow on it! Now I must go back. Lo and Behold! They will eat that entire cake without me!"
Michaelah opened up the book and blew on the page. The air hit the paper and she could see the ink twirling and swirling in the shape of thirty-three letters, making seven words. Michaelah read the seven words on the page aloud, "Love everyone like they are your friend." When she said those seven words, the sun came out from behind the clouds and all the snow disappeared.
Michaelah turned around and the igloo was gone, along with Francis the Snowman,
Lo, and Behold. All the snow melted, and the pond went from ice back to water. The sky turned yellow, and it got warmer. Before Michaelah could figure out what happened, the book in her hands disappeared just as the snow did. She was no longer standing on snow. She was standing on grass.
She looked around and it looked to her like she was in a garden. "What a magical place!" she said as she thought aloud. "How did I get here?" Just then, Michaelah remembered the panda she saw, and not a moment later, she saw it again, this time it was drinking water from the pond right in front of her.