Bixby’s Grand Adventure

It was a wonderful day in the forest below Snow Hook Mountain. Normally the forest was cold and white like the inside of a polar bear’s cave. This day, however, was a scrumptiously bright and sunny day. A light breeze was rustling through the tree tops, and all the forest creatures were merrily enjoying the day. One such creature was a little bigfoot named Bixby. He was well known in these parts of the forest, not for the fact that he was the only little bigfoot in the land, but because he was more often than not getting into some kind of mischief. As much as he was cute and cuddly, he was twice as much a rabble-rouser. And today under the blazing blue sky seem like a good day for rousing an adventure.

Playing just outside his hut, a gusty breeze bellowed through the trees sending down a cascade of snowflakes. As Bixby looked up, one particular snowflake caught his eye. This snowflake danced a different kind of dance, slowly marching back and forth and around in loops. Even its color was a more radiate shade of white than all the other snowflakes combined. Transfixed by this snowflake, Bixby watched it slowly drift away. “Don’t leave me snowflake!” Bixby pleaded to his new icy friend. “Come back!” The snowflake didn’t listen as it started to float away. Bixby exploded out of the snow and began to give chase.

As Bixby came closer to the snowflake he thought, “It’s not running away, it wants to play!” So the two of them, one snowflake merrily prancing along and one bigfoot who thinks he has a new friend, began to wander further away from home.

Deeper and deeper into the forest Bixby and the snowflake played, never really paying attention to where they were or where they were going. As the day passed on, the sky that was once gleaming bright was now beginning to drift into cold darkness. The forest playground that was once warm and friendly began to stir and waken. As the last rays of the sun were escaping through the trees, Bixby paused to look around. He was alone. His adventurous companion, that extraordinary snowflake, had left him.

This was not the forest Bixby knew. It was so dark that everything seemed to move as if it was one enormous shadow. Strange sounds reverberated from afar. Was it the trees doing their nightly dance with the wind? Or maybe one of his forest friends coming to see if he was O.K? It was hard to tell where the sounds were coming from. It was as if there was something right next to him. An arctic whisper that was inaudible in words, but remained crystal clear in his ears, chilled him straight down to the bone.

Bixby was petrified stiff, he wanted to run back home and curl up next to the warm fire, eating pie and drinking coco. But he didn’t even know what direction to run. The wind and snow had covered up his path. Alone and cold he stood there, when suddenly he saw something move on the edge of the forest. Slowly it moved toward him, pushing away the branches of trees in it’s path. The sound of crunching snow pounded in rhythm with his pounding heartbeat. Bixby knew this was the end. He closed his eyes waiting to be devoured as this shapeless mass came into the light.

But that moment never came. The noise had stopped. Bixby slowly opened one eye, peaking through. To his surprise, there was no monster or ferocious beast. It was a little snowman, who couldn’t have been much older than he was. He wasn’t scary at all, in fact, he looked very scared himself, shivering cold and alone. Bixby walked over to him and asked what this little snowman’s name was. “N-n-i-i-p-p” he said through chattering teeth. Thinking for a moment, Bixby unwrapped his scarf, put it around Nip, and gave him a big hug. “This will keep you warm and I’ll keep you safe,” Bixby said.

Under a blanket of twinkling stars, two lost and lonely creatures of the forest found each other to become friends. The night was cool and crisp, but the newfound friendship between Bixby and Nip was sure to burn long after the night was gone.