The Legend of the Snowflake

/ roughwighting

ChatGPT, grandmother's stories, snowflake, magicWhen I bounced on my great-grandmother’s knee as a 1-year-old, she told me about the legend. She repeated it often; by the time I was 5, the story trickled into my psyche.

At that age, magic is still possible, so the idea that every 100 years a magical snowflake grants a wish to the person who finds it became fact in my mind.

Great-Nana was a rare spirit – she never aged, at least not to me. Until the day of her death at age 98 she was a vibrant busy bee who buzzed from person to person sucking up their personal stories.

By the time I was 20 she regaled me with so many tales I knew that when I “grew up,” I’d be a novelist. But the first fable she shared with me was the story I most believed – a magical snowflake with eight points that granted a wish once a century. ChatGPT, snowflake, magic, winter

By that age, I knew that snowflakes had six points because water molecules naturally form six-sided (hexagonal) patterns when they freeze into ice. But that didn’t matter – with magic.

So here I am now on a cold winter morning staring into a toy store window, agape. Swaying down from the ceiling of the store on a thin thread is a large snowflake made of white crepe with eight points in an unbelievably gorgeous star-like pattern.

ChatGPT, magical snowflake, toy store, magicThis is it! This is the magical snowflake. I just know it.

At 28 years of age, I’ve been out of college for seven years, out of three bad relationships, and in between teaching jobs. My manuscript landed with four different agents who have received not one bite from an editor or publisher.

So, you know what I’m going to wish, don’t you?

I grab the door handle and stride into the toy-packed tall-ceiled shop. I raise my head toward the hanging floating paper snowflake and yell, “I wish my book is published and sells one million copies!” 

You know how this story ends, don’t you? ChatGPT, snowflake, magic, winter

Just look at the New York Times best-selling list.

72 thoughts on “The Legend of the Snowflake”

  19. Pam, you do know you are single-handedly responsible for having us all out on snowy days looking for that magical snowflake! 😀😀 A wonderful and heartwarming story – Great-grandparents have that otherworldly quality about them which seem in exact sync with younger minds and souls! Here’s to a bit of magic – always! xx ❤️

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  22. Maybe I’m different when it comes to magic. I’ve learned over the years that when you let go of the outcome, (put the manuscript on the alter of it was fun but out of my hands) the magic gets to do it’s thing. I see it all the time. I believe. Loved this story.

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  23. Maybe I’m different when it comes to magic. I’ve learned over the years that when you let go of the outcome, (put the manuscript on the alter of it was fun but out of my hands) the magic gets to do it’s thing. I see it all the time. I believe. Loved this story.

    Didn’t realized I wasn’t logged in so you get a double dose. 🙂

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Always a pleasure to read your thoughts.