The 12 tales of Christmas: Snow time like the present
For the ninth tale of Christmas the Angry Filipino asked of me…for nine and Snowman. Those are the prompts for this story. As for the genre we’re stepping away from sci-fi and fantasy for a bit. Instead, we're heading into the realm of slice of life.
Welcome to the fictional town of Pine Valley Oregon. A nifty little town between Portland and Seaside. A hard winter storm has slowed things down in the town quite a bit. But a couple of fathers and their sons are about to undertake a great feat. One that could help them win the neighborhood house decorating contest.
What shenanigans are about to ensue? You’ll have to wait and see good readers. Get ready for Snow time like the present, coming up.
The sky above from horizon to horizon had a thick blanket of clouds. Below the clouds a small town in Oregon had a thick blanket of white that covered it. The air was crisp with the bite of winter. Yet many of the houses had festive décor celebrating the merry holiday that approached. On the quiet street of North Brunswick, a couple of two-story houses stood.
On a covered porch for one of the houses a gruff man looked over the situation. Peter Whatley sighed and shook his head. The 36-year-old local grocery store owner sighed in consternation. There was no way he was going to be able to get to work. The street was still covered in snow.
And according to the road crews there wouldn’t be a snowplow in until tomorrow. “Stupid motor issues,” the grocery store manager grumbled.
“Looks like Leo is going to have to cover things without me.” He stated in resignation.
The door opened and a woman's voice asked, “You’re not going out in that I hope Peter?”
He turned to see a blonde woman near the same age as him. She wore a pair of thick glasses and dressed in heavy attire like him. She stepped out on to the porch.
The grocery store owner shook his head. “No chance of that hon, and I’m beginning to regret not buying that four-by-four that had all weather drive.”
“Told you,” She chimed.
The black-haired man glared at his wife and snapped, “Yeah-yeah I know!”
A pouty look crossed his face. “But the family sportster looked so big and shiny that it was too good to pass up.”
The woman rolled her eyes and said, “A pragmatist on some things. But a sucker for a pretty car,” She added.
He sighed and pointed at himself. “Man,” he added.
He then stepped down the stairs and looked over the decorations. “Good thing we put them up before the snow hit.”
“Yes, that’s true…but I can’t help but think something’s missing.” Peter's wife said as she looked over the yard.
He looked over it and nodded. “Yeah, as nice looking and elaborate as the decorations are the yard is missing something."
At which point they heard a set of footsteps running towards the front door. The woman stepped aside in time as the boy reached said door. “Leo Whatley, what have I told you about running in the house!” the woman snapped in anger.
The brown-haired boy’s face paled. “Um…don’t do it?” he ventured in a contrite tone.
“Exactly, you’re going to cause an accident Leo,” The boy's mother chided.
Peter turned and said, “Your mother’s right Leo. Besides all the breakable stuff you’re getting bigger. You could crash into one of us and that could cause one of us to get hurt. I know you’re excited about the snow, but temper that enthusiasm kid,”
Cleo Whatley flashed her husband a grateful smile. He nodded his nonverbal way of saying, With you all the way my love.
Peter then asked, “Anyway what are you doing up like this? You know school’s cancelled.”
“Mack’s coming over remember?” The boy answered.
The grocery store owner’s face paled. “Holy…that’s right Mackey and his father are coming over.”
Cleo said in an assuring tone. “Honey don’t worry I’ve got refreshments set out for you and Charles.”
The local business owner rubbed the back of his head. “This is why we make a great team babe.”
His wife chuckled and said, “Peter, I love you with all my heart. But sometimes you do get preoccupied with everything and forget stuff.”
He let out a sheepish chuckle. “That I do Cleo, that I do.”
He turned to the light blue two-story house next door. Out of it stepped two people. A black boy the size of and the same age as Leo and with him was a tall black man. The two stepped down the stairs and walked over towards the Whatley house. As they approached Peter saw the full mustache the man had and thick glasses he wore.
He wore thick flannel and wool winter attire along with some good winter boots. The boy with him wore the exact same thing. Leo stepped out and climbed down the stairs. “Hey Mack,” Leo greeted.
The other boy walked over to his best friend from kindergarten as he said, “Hey Leo.”
Charlie Moore climbed on to the porch. “Hey Pete,” he greeted.
The local hardware store owner looked over things. “Good thing I sold out all my stock before the snow hit. My suppliers say they won’t be able to get any stock in until the roads are clear. That could be anywhere from tomorrow to the day after.”
“Are you serious?” Cleo asked.
Charlie flashed a sad look and shook his head. “Honest to the good Lord himself. That’s what they told me and it’s a pain in my ass. It means I won’t be making any money for a few days.”
The grocery store owner said, “The same is true of the grocery store. Good God, the incompetence of the Oregon state Government is astounding.”
Charlie shook his head and said, “That’s how it is my brother. We’ll have to deal with it until things change.”
The black man looked over things. “Hey I noticed how well you’ve decorated your house.”
Cleo added, “I did notice the nativity scene on your front porch. That was a nice touch.”
Charlie chuckled and said, “Yeah, but to be honest something’s missing.”
The two men looked over their yards as Peter thought out loud. “You know the decoration contest for the neighborhood is about to happen. The Homeowners Association will be looking over everything.”
“At least our Homeowner’s association has reasonable people running it.” The blonde woman put in.
“Amen to that,” the hardware store owner added.
Then they saw the two kids running around and then fall into the snow making angels. And that’s when the idea came to the grocery store owner. "Charlie, I have a question.”
The black man’s face furrowed, “Shoot.”
“You still got those mop rags? The ones that we said look like them?”
The hardware store owner’s face furrowed. “Yeah, I do but why?”
Cleo’s face furrowed. “Peter what are you thinking?”
He whispered his idea into his wife’s right ear. Her eyes lit up at once. “Hey that’s a great idea. It’ll be something you and the boys can do together. Oh, and Charlie I’ve got hot apple cider if you want some.”
The man’s face lit up in anticipation. Peter knew Charlie had loved hot apple cider since he was a child. “Ma’am you know how to make a guy feel welcome.”
He then looked at Peter. “What did you have in mind?”
“Well, this is going to sound crazy, but we’ve got tons of snow. And reports from KOIN and KGW as well as FOX 12 say we may get more today. I say let’s put this and our kids to good purpose.”
Charlie looked at his friend and neighbor and said, “I still don’t know what you have in mind."
“I mean let’s make some snowmen. Nine to be exact.”
The hardware store owner raised an eyebrow. “You’re thinking we should make a joint effort of this year’s neighborhood decoration contest?”
Peter nodded his confirmation. “Between our kids and us we could do it. It’ll be fun to bond with our boys.”
At which point the black man’s face lit up as an idea came to him. “I’ll one up you on ideas Pete. We’ll do what you have in mind. But I’d like to add a couple somethings extra.”
Peter's face furrowed. “What are you talking about?’
“We both know Hugh Ferdinand is a fan of them. But I also know many of the HOA are fans of a certain hunter and rabbit.”
The grocery store owner put two and two together and snickered. “Oh, Charlie you are a genius!”
He smirked and said, “I do my best."
Peter and Charlie turned to their sons. “Leo,” Pete called.
Charlie called, “Mack, we need you boys here right now.”
The two boys stopped what they were doing and approached the adult men. “Dad, we weren’t doing anything,” Mack complained covered as they were in snow!
“Yeah,” Leo added.
Peter chuckled and said, “Oh no-no you aren’t in any trouble.”
Charlie said, “Relax son neither of you are on the hook for anything.”
A sly grin spread on Peter’s face. “Boys how’d you’d like to help us win the HOA decoration contest.”
“You mean the one mister Ferdinand has?” Leo asked.
The grocery store owner nodded and said, “That’s the one.”
The boys looked at each other and then their fathers. “What did you have in mind Dad?” Mack asked.
Pete noticed the big grin that formed on Charlie’s face as he let out a knowing chuckle.
The rest of the day went by with no events. But by the time evening had settled nine snowmen all in a line stood in front of the two houses. The designing had gone according to plan.
Everyone came out to their front porches. The street lit up with colorful and merry lights. The sounds of the local soft rock stations playing their Christmas lineup filled the air.
It was into this merry scene that three motorized snow scooters came. On them were two men and a woman wearing goggles. The one headlight on each vehicle shining bright. The three scooters slowed to a stop and the three people got off. One of the men was a leather skinned man with sagging features.
It was Hugh Ferdinand head of the Homeowner’s Association. But unlike many such group’s Hugh’s served the neighborhood not the other way around. That was why the New Brunswick Street neighborhood was one of the best in Pine Velley Oregon.
Peter recognized the man and woman with him. They were Ken and Lisa Porter, good natured people who had a shop in a nearby outdoor mall.
The three began approaching each of the houses and talking to the people. Peter stood with a mug of steaming apple cider, Charlie standing with him also with a mug of apple cider. They looked over the snowmen. “Well, we got it all done in one day. And our sons are going to be on cloud nine for a day or two.” The hardware store owner noted.
Peter nodded his agreement at this. “They will, though I must admit the kids’ choices for the last three snow men were a little unusual.”
“Well, we’ll have to wait and see what Hugh and the others have to say.”
The three soon approached the house and Hugh flashed a smile. “Evening Peter and Charlie,” the older man greeted.
"Hey Hugh,’ they both called.
The head of the HOA said, “So from what I heard on the phone you’re doing a joint entry into the decoration contest?”
Peter nodded his acknowledgement. “We are.”
The three looked over the houses. “The decorations are good." Lisa noted.
Then they turned to the snowmen. Hugh's eyes lit up before he let out a roar of laughter. “Oh my God did you make four of them look like Larry, Moe, Curly, and Shamp from the Three Stooges?”
Peter chuckled and said, “It was too good to pass up Hugh.”
Then Ken and Lisa saw who else was there and they had to chuckle. “I See someone included a certain wascally wabbit and haplesss hunter.”
Indeed, the first four snowmen looked like the members of the legendary comedy troupe. And they looked like they were having one of their slapstick arguments.
Another snowman had a bulky hunter’s hat on his head. Another had a set of feathers that resembled rabbit ears. And he had a branch arm that plugged the toy rifle. But the last three were unusual. “One of them has spiky blonde hair. Another has magenta hair with blond locks at the front. The other has black hair and a ball cap on.” Hugh noted as his face furrowed.
Peter explained, “Oh, the first one is Goku from Dragonball Z in super Saiyan mode. The second one is Yugi from Yu-Gi-Oh. The third is a snowman version of Ash Ketchum from Pokémon.”
The three’s faces brightened. “Ooh our grandkids were telling us about that.” Ken Porter said.
“I’ve never seen Dragonball, but my daughter has told me all about Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokémon. She loves the card games.”
“Yeah, those were our sons' ideas.” Charlie put in.
The three members of the HOA looked at them in surprise. “You mean your sons and you worked on these nine snowmen?”
Peter took a sip of his apple cider. “Yeah, we did, and we bonded with our sons over this.”
Lisa looked at them and said, “We’ll make a note of this for later.”
The three then turned and started down the street. A couple of hours later everyone gathered in the street as Hugh and the Porters returned. “All right everyone gather round,” The HOA head called.
Peter walked over to Hugh and said, “You should run for mayor of this town. You’re quite the leader.” He observed.
The older man rubbed the back of his head. “Thanks anyway but I’ll leave that sort of thing to my old High School buddy Glenn. I’ll be content with being head of a local Homeowner’s Association.”
The homeowners gathered round. Peter and Charlie gathered with them. That’s when they noticed four figures coming out of the houses. They were Leo and Mack. With them were Cleo and a black woman with long black hair.
She wore a red heavy jacket, winter pants, boots, and a grey stocking cap. The women and the boys approached. Hugh Ferdinand began his speech.
“This year’s house decorating contest was a hard one. These last few years have been rough for this town. But things are going to be all right now we hope.
"Now that said everyone took out a lot of time and effort with their decorations.”
Lisa added, “We’re so happy to see so many of our friends and neighbors getting into the Christmas spirit.”
Ken stated, “You all did a good job, and you should be proud of what you’ve done."
Hugh said, “But there can be only one winner of my wife’s special homemade warm pecan pie.”
Peter felt himself tense some. This was where he found out if all that work put in would pay off. Hugh spoke up again. “After some discussion we've determined the winner of this year's Home Decorating Contest.”
There was a pause for dramatic effect. Killing us with suspense much? Peter thought in mild amusement.
“The joint team of Charlie Moore and Peter Whatley. For their use of the classics and modern culture for their snowmen.” Hugh announced.
The crowd looked surprised but then cheered. Peter flashed a smile while the boys jumped up and down as they cheered. The women were also elated. Charlie and Peter clasped hands. “We did it.” Peter said as he flashed a joyful smile at his friend and neighbor.
"But there’s still the matter of how we’re going to handle the pecan pie.” Charlie put in.
Chelsea Moore stepped forward and said, “I can slice it up so that we each get a piece.”
She looked at her son and said, “Mack, you did good today sweetie.”
“Thanks momma,” the boy said.
“My wife the great master chef can handle this.” Charlie noted.
“Flattery will get you everywhere with me Charlie Moore.” Chelsea said flashing her husband a warm smile.
Cleo stepped forward and said, “Let me give you a hand Chelsea. Don’t want anything happening to that precious pie.”
The black woman nodded her agreement. “Merry Christmas neighbor, we’ve got a good life here.” Peter stated.
Charlie said, “Merry Christmas good buddy, God bless us all my brothers and sisters.”
“Amen,” the crowd said.
Well, another story is complete. I hope you enjoyed this sweet little slice of life story from the fictional town of Pine Valley Oregon. If you did like this hit the like button and share this across social media. Spread the word about Animeman73 and my work. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section.
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Thank you for reading this story but stay tuned. There are three more stories left in the twelve tales of Christmas. Until next time stay true to yourselves, stay classy, and God bless you all. Enjoy the Christmas season.
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Next: Story #10 - The New Oregon Miracle
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