Otja and Lorem go sledding

Winter came to the Pine Forest, snow settled on the trees and made them white. People were outside, some ice-skated on the frozen lake, while others spent their days sledding on Pine Hill or just playing in the snow.

One day, Otja and Lorem also decided to go sledding. They climbed to the top of the hill and got on their sled. “Here we go!” said Lorem and off they went.

“Yipiee!” yelled Otja.

“I’ve never had so much fun in my entire life!” screamed Lorem as they went faster and faster down the hill, their scarves blowing in the wind. But the fun would soon come to a halt. As they went around a sharp corner, a big snowman appeared right in their path.

“Noooo, STOP!” said Otja. Lorem just opened his mouth, but no sound came out. They tried to stop, but it was too late — they hit the snowman head on and it exploded into a million dusty pieces with a big POOF! Lorem and Otja both went flying off their sleigh and into the soft snow.

A moment passed. They slowly got up, brushed the snow off their heads and looked around.

“Oh no!” said Otja “We’ve completely destroyed that snowman!”

“That’s no good,” said Lorem “Think of the children who spent a long time making it.”

“Yes,” agreed Otja “This would make them very sad. We have no choice — we must make a new snowman!”

And so they got busy and made a new snowman. It looked great: as big and beautiful as the one before. They stood still for a while and admired their work. But something was still missing. The new snowman had no nose.

“Where’s the carrot?” asked Otja. He turned to Lorem, who looked like he was munching on something. “Did you EAT the carrot?”

“What?” said Lorem, “I was hungry.”

And so the snowman had no nose, but it was a beautiful snowman anyway.