Lumi and the First Snowflake

Far in the north, where the forests stretched beneath the wide Arctic sky, lived a young reindeer named Lumi.

Summer had passed, and autumn was slowly leaving Lapland. The blueberry bushes had turned red, the birch trees had lost most of their golden leaves, and every morning the air felt a little colder.

Lumi knew what this meant.

Winter was coming.

But there was one thing Lumi had never seen before.

The very first snowflake of winter.

“Does it really fall all by itself?” Lumi asked an old reindeer one morning.

“It does,” he replied. “And if you are very quiet, you might even see it arrive.”

From that moment, Lumi decided that he would find the first snowflake.

Early the next morning, Lumi wandered into the forest.

The ground was covered with sparkling frost. Tiny crystals decorated the grass, and frozen drops of water hung from the branches like little diamonds.

Lumi looked carefully.

“Snow?” he whispered.

“No, no,” laughed a little Arctic hare, hopping from behind a bush. “That is only frost.”

“Have you seen the first snowflake?” Lumi asked.

The hare shook her white ears.

“Not yet. But perhaps the wind knows where it is.”

So Lumi climbed higher, toward the open fell where the wind danced freely across the land.

“Wind!” Lumi called. “Do you know when the first snowflake will come?”

The wind rushed around his antlers and whispered through the birch trees.

Whoooosh…

But it gave Lumi no answer.

Lumi continued to the top of the fell.

From there, he could see forests, lakes and distant hills stretching all the way to the horizon.

Dark clouds were gathering above him.

Lumi waited.

And waited.

Nothing happened.

Perhaps the first snowflake would not come today after all.

A little disappointed, Lumi began walking home.

Then suddenly…

something tiny landed on his nose.

Lumi stopped.

It was cold.

It was white.

And it looked like a tiny sparkling star.

Lumi hardly dared to breathe.

“The first snowflake,” he whispered.

Before he could look at it any longer, the little snowflake melted into a drop of water.

Lumi smiled.

Then another snowflake floated down.

And another.

And another.

Soon hundreds of snowflakes were dancing through the air.

The Arctic hare appeared between the trees.

“You found it!” she called.

“No,” Lumi said, looking up at the snowy sky. “I think it found me.”

Together they watched as the forest slowly turned white.

The branches wore soft caps of snow. The ground disappeared beneath a sparkling blanket, and even the smallest sounds seemed softer.

Winter had arrived in Lapland.

That evening, Lumi curled up beneath a snowy spruce tree.

He thought about the tiny snowflake that had landed on his nose.

He had spent the whole day searching for something magical.

But perhaps some magical things could not be found by searching.

Sometimes, Lumi thought, you simply had to be still…

and let them find you. 

Lapland Tales @ Tastes