Winter in Mystery Island

      No one knows how it happened or why. Some say it was the work of Santa. Others say it was a prank from a passing faerie. Whatever the reason, Mystery Island was covered in snow. For the first time, the locals were having a real winter. No one knew what to make of it at first. But once the shock wore off, everyone began to explore their new snowy home.

      One Mynci went to the beach to check on the volleyball net. He could hardly believe his eyes – the beach, normally covered in white sand, was a vast expanse of sparkling powder. The sun bounced off the snow, making it glisten like diamonds. It was hard to tell where the beach ended and the ocean began. The Mynci took a cautious step towards the volleyball net. He jumped back in surprise – this strange sand was cold! He slowly lowered his foot again and took one step, then another. Before he knew it, he had reached the net.

      It clearly wasn’t a good day for volleyball. Much to the Mynci’s dismay, the net was weighed down by more of this strange, cold sand. Every hole was filled with powder, and the ropes had frozen over. It would take forever to get it cleaned off. The Mynci slumped his shoulders and turned around to go home. As he turned, he noticed his footprints on the ground. These prints were different from the ones he usually left in the sand. They were very clear, not blurry like beach footprints usually are. And now that he thought about it, there was a very nice *crunch* sound whenever his feet hit the ground. The Mynci took a few more steps around the net. *Crunch crunch* This was fun! He started to run. Soon the beach was full of fresh footprints, and the Mynci had forgotten all about the frozen volleyball net.

      Meanwhile, in the Rock Pool, the Petpets were in a tizzy. The ocean had frozen over, and no one knew what to do. Pfish and Goldies were stuck under the ice, and Lutras and Meturfs were stuck on land. Rufus was beside himself. He had never been unable to care for his Petpets before (and he had no idea how he would sell them if he couldn’t reach them!). It was a bona fide disaster.

      Rufus looked around and sighed. Just as he was about to call for help, a Meturf stepped out onto the ice. He slid around for a few seconds and fell flat on his face. All the Petpets stared at him with worry, but the Meturf stood up with a huge grin on his face. He took a few more steps onto the frozen ocean. After falling down a couple more times, he started gliding gracefully around the Rock Pool, just as if he were a Bruce! The other land Petpets looked at each other, then back to the Meturf. A small Lutra gingerly placed a foot onto the ice. She also fell down a couple of times, but soon she was also sliding around skillfully. Rufus watched for a while; the Petpets were having so much fun! He took a couple of steps onto the ice and was soon skating around as well. The Rock Pool was having an ice skating party!

      While Rufus and the land Petpets were skating, the Petpets stuck under the frozen water watched enviously. They wished they could join their friends. A small Ghoti stared sadly at the surface of the ice as Rufus’s big paws passed over her. She swam up to the surface and tapped the ice with her nose, but it was in vain. She turned around, ready to skulk down to the bottom of the Rock Pool. But when she turned, she saw a Walein swimming towards her with a huge, silly grin on his face. She stared at the Walein, wondering what he was so happy about. As she watched, the Walein opened his mouth. A giant bubble come out and rose up towards the ice. The bubble hit the ice with a satisfying POP! The Ghoti blinked. Before she knew it, there were even more giant bubbles splashing against the frozen surface of the water. The Ghoti chuckled a little bit. She opened her mouth and let out a small stream of her own bubbles. PLINK PLINK PLINK. More Petpets swam up, curious about this strange new music. Everyone watched the Walein and the Ghoti for a bit. Soon, they all had joined in and were making their own bubbles. A tiny Baby Blu did a happy little loop-de-loop. Above the ice, a Filamen slid by, his head wobbling as he skidded across the ice. Rufus looked around. The Rock Pool was having a bona fide party!

      While the Rock Pool was partying, a small Coconut JubJub was waking up in her hammock. She sat up and immediately noticed something was different. She shuffled over to her mirror and stared at herself, mouth agape. Her entire body was covered in white – something or other. Sand? Volcanic ash? Whatever it was , it was gorgeous. The JubJub twirled around, watching her coconut hairs sparkle with every movement. A little bit of powder fell off the hairs with each spin. Soon the JubJub found herself surrounded by a pile of fallen snow. Her hair wasn't white anymore, but her body still caught the light and glittered. She had never felt so beautiful in her life.

      The JubJub could have admired herself in the mirror forever, but she was soon interrupted by her growling stomach. She turned south and headed towards the food shop. She had a lot of the same thoughts as her friends elsewhere on the island – how cold it was, how strange the sand was this morning, how white the sky was. As she drew closer to the food shop, she saw a Techo in great distress. When she walked in the shop, she saw the problem. The shop was filled with the usual things: heaps of seafood on beautiful plates, pancakes stacked high and dripping with apples and berries, and of course, the Famous Crab Burgers. But today, all of these island treats were completely frozen!

      The JubJub looked at the pile of frozen food in bewilderment. Surely she couldn’t eat this, right? Still, that frozen Doughnutfruit did look strangely tasty. She looked at the Techo shopkeeper and then back at the fruit. Her hand slowly reached out and… *chomp* Hm. Not bad! The fruit was way crunchier than usual, and the flavour was fairly muted. The JubJub polished off the rest of the fruit and looked back at the pile. She pulled out a crab burger and took a bite. *crunch* Eh, that one wasn’t great. Too much crunch, not enough flavour. The fruit was much better. She grabbed a Juppie, then a Tigerbuggle, then an Azzle. The shopkeeper walked in the store and watched the JubJub as she feasted. He smiled, knowing he’d make some money today after all.

     On the other side of the island, Jhuidah rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and shivered. She usually woke up to the warm sun, but something was different today. She poked her head out of her hut and was completely taken aback. Taelia had told her about this thing called “snow,” but this was her first time seeing the real thing.

     Jhuidah stepped outside, her eyes wide with wonder. She marvelled at the pure white sky, at the palm trees hanging heavy with snow. Her gaze fell on the huts, roofs covered in white glitter. Something strange caught her eye – there were little pointy things hanging from the edges of her roof. Jhuidah flew up and pulled on one of the small spears until it broke off in her hand. “This must be one of those icicles Taelia told me about,” she thought. As the ice melted in her hand, she wondered what other new things she could discover today.

      The Island Faerie flitted up towards the clouds. She wanted to get a bird’s eye view of the island. The first thing she noticed was just how *white* everything was. The beaches, the huts, the volcano, everything was covered in diamond dust. Jhuidah shielded her eyes; the glare from the sun was almost blinding. As she looked around, she saw the locals exploring their new environments. Myncies, Kougras, and JubJubs were playing in the snow and skating on the frozen ocean. “I could get used to this,” she thought. “I’ll have to visit Taelia soon and tell her all about it.”

      And that’s the story of winter in Mystery Island. The next morning, everything was back to normal. The snow and ice had been replaced with the usual hot sand and crystalline water. The locals quickly got back into their normal routines, but they never forgot The Incident. Some of them are still waiting for it to happen again. Perhaps some day Mystery Island will have another white Christmas.

     The End.