Chilli, Nippy and McCoole

In the middle of a freezing February night, as the moon shone down on the blanket of snow that covered the town of Dartminster, something stirred in the garden of Number 52 Hartley Street. Three snowmen, plump and white, were awake. They were alive. They looked left and right. No-one was in sight. They looked down at themselves, at their compact, rotund bellies and chunky white arms that made a crump, crump sound when flexed, then they looked at each other.
"Chilli, is that you?" said the one with the tweed flat cap on its head.
"McCoole!" replied the snowman with the stubby carrot nose. "Good to see you again. Like the hat."
Chilli flicked his cap proudly. "I'm a proper country gent this year."
"You look a proper fool," snapped the third snowman. He was thinner than the others and wore a holey, red woollen hat on his head.
"Oooh, hark at you," replied McCoole. "Feeling a bit bitter this year are we, Nippy?"
"He's never happy," said Chilli. "Every year he has something new to moan about. 'Oh they've only given me twigs for arms this year' or 'Oh they've made me out of dirty snow again'. Nothing is good enough."
"No, it isn't," said Nippy. "And I tell you something else that bugs me. Every year we're here and every year we only get to see the ravages of a cold, bleak and grey winter. It's depressing. I want to see a bit of sun, a bit of colour. Have either of you two heard of a thing called Spring?"
McCoole and Chilli frowned at each other.
"What's Spring?" asked Chilli.
"Isn't it a kind of vegetable," said McCoole.
"No, you're thinking of Spring Onions. I think it's something bouncy, isn't it?"
"Oh, quit it you two. Jabbering away like...like, a pair of jabbering things. Spring is neither a vegetable nor a bouncy thing. Spring is the next season. It's the time when everything comes alive," Nippy explained, waving his arms around in a theatrical fashion. "The trees bud deep green, glossy leaves, the flowers bloom in sprays of red, yellow, orange, purple and pink, the birds sing to the heavens from dawn to dusk, and the sun shines like a radiant ball of life."
"Oh boy, you've been dormant for far too long, Nippy," said McCoole.
"I think he's delirious," replied Chilli.
"If you two don't believe me perhaps we should have a challenge to see who can stay alive until Spring. What do you say?"
Chilli and McCoole glanced at each other, then shrugged their shoulders.
"Sounds easy enough," said Chilli.
"Oh you think so do you? You do realise that when Spring comes it gets warmer. And when it gets warmer, you will melt," said Nippy.
"So, er, how long do we have to wait, until Spring's here?"
"Three weeks."
"Three weeks?"
"It's doable," said McCoole. "All we have to do is stay cool."
All day the three of them sat as a gentle flurry of snow fell from the leaden sky above, and thought about how each might survive until the buds of Spring.
Nippy was the first to stand up. "I, have the perfect idea."
"Which is?" asked McCoole.
"Why should I tell you? You might copy me."
McCoole stood up and made a cross sign across his chest. "Cross myself and hope to melt!" he said. "Anyway I have my own idea."
"Me too!" squealed Chilli, jumping up and down.
"So let's hear it then, Nippy."
Nippy paused before he answered. McCoole sensed his mistrust.
"If I'm going to stay cool I have to be where the snow is," Nippy began. "So when the snows recede, so will I."
"Eh?" said Chilli.
"It means he's going to follow the snow."
"Up the mountains. It'll be cooler up there."
"Well, I've got a better idea than that," said Chilli as he laid down on the thick snow and began to roll around. "Extra padding will make sure I don't melt quite so quickly."
Nippy rolled his eyes.
"It's better than your idea," said McCoole.
"Oh and what's your idea, then?" asked Nippy with his hands thrust so far into his hips his arms disappeared.
"I don't know, yet."
"I thought you had an idea!"
McCoole clamped his snowy lips shut. He knew exactly what his idea was, he just wasn't sure he would be able to pull it off, so saved face by keeping quiet about it.
"It was something I was mulling over but I don't think it'll work."
A week past by and when the sky skies cleared and the sun shone through, millimetre by millimetre the snows began to melt. Nippy had left, in search of snows on higher ground.
"It's not looking too promising is it?" said Chilli, who was now a couple of inches shorter.
McCoole looked back at him. "I'm gonna have to go, Chilli. I have a plan and I need to see if it works. I'd really like to see if Nippy was right. About Spring and the colours."
"I understand," said Chilli. "I'll see ya next year then. Same place."
"Same time!"
With that McCoole left Chilli in the garden. He walked through the night, when it was coldest, and took shelter beneath bushes or bridges during the day to stay out of the heat of the sun. Every back garden he passed he checked in the shed, until he came across one that suited him perfectly. It couldn't have happened at a more opportune time as he too was shrinking, with every passing day.
Fortunately the shed he found was open and judging by the amount of dirt and cobwebs it wasn't often used. At the far end was a large chest freezer. The humming sound coming from the back was indication enough that it was working. He lifted the lid and a gust of frosty air blew in his face.
"Perfect," he said. He climbed inside, snuggled up and fell asleep.
When finally he woke his lifted up the lid of the freezer and poked his head outside. The light streaming through the dirty window of the shed was bright and warm. He could feel it on his face.
He climbed out and saw flashes of colour through the window. With a spring of excitement in his step he bounded outside and was dazzled by the sight before him.
Flowers as bright as the sun, grass so green he couldn't compare it, and trees so abundant with leaves they no longer looked skinny, but full and flowing.
McCoole sat down on a wooden bench and marvelled at the sight before him.
"Nippy was right," he said as a fleeting image of Nippy in his holey hat, passed by his minds eye.
He looked up at the hills, wondering if he was still up there, admiring the sight, but saw nothing but green fields and fluffy trees. A pang of sorrow twisted his gut. He knew if Nippy was no longer around, neither was Chilli.
He glanced down at his white feet and noticed an ever widening pool of water form beneath them. He knew what was coming, but rather than run back to the safety of the chest freezer he sat where he was and admired the glory that was, Spring, after all, he'd be back next year to see it again.