Violet and the Snowflake

Christmas Eve had arrived in our city. Thousands of tiny snowflakes were now delicately, orderly, and gracefully falling to the ground from a fluffy cloud overhead.

“Na-na-na, la-la-la”, came the sound from them, like the singing of a winter melody.

But one snowflake was completely different. Excuse me for exaggerating a little. Every snowflake is completely different. They say that no two snowflakes are exactly the same. But this snowflake was really different. While the others fell in rhythm like a na-na-na, la-la-la, this one danced something like this: dum-dee-dum, bim-bam-boo, choo-choo-choo, dum-dee-dum.

Because the snow was falling wildly, the snowflakes would sometimes bump into others, and they would get cross: “Oh, you, don't you know how to snow properly?”

Even the little cloud frowned.

“What is this?” he lamented. “Is that snowflake playing games?!”

As it snowed on the beautiful little square, many of the people sang together in a Christmas tune that went something like “na-na-na, la-la-la”. Some held candles, others held hands, smiled, or drank warm tea. They calmly glanced at the Christmas tree illuminated at the center of the square.

But there was just one little girl in a red fur coat who was not standing so still. With a smile on her lips, she danced to herself, humming something like this: dum-dee-dum, bim-bam-boo, choo-choo-choo, dum-dee-dum.

Her mother gently warned her: “Oh, Violet, can’t you at least be a bit quieter today and not fidget? It's almost Christmas!”

You see, Violet never sat still, not even for five minutes. She was constantly interrupting somebody and running around. Violet just had to look something up quickly and tell everyone exactly when she thought of it. While the teacher was spending half an hour explaining math to the class,…