Somewhere in the French Alps… A little stream that flowed through the pine woods in summer was now hidden under a thick blanket of soft snow.
“Good morning!” said Tim, yawning after a long, cozy nap.
“Hey, Jiddle, look! Winter is here! Where are you?” Tim called out excitedly.
Just then, there was a loud whomp nearby, as though snow had fallen off a tree.
“Ugh, I was dreaming about tobogganing. Who woke me up?” grumbled Jiddle. Suddenly, a big clump of snow from the tree above him fell right on his head. “Ouch!” he cried.
“There you are, my best buddy!” shouted Tim happily.
Jiddle looked at Tim and jumped up with joy. The two of them danced around in the snow, laughing and shouting, “Yay! Winter is back!” They flopped onto the ground and made snow angels, giggling all the while.
“Jiddle, what were you dreaming about? I heard something about tobogganing,” asked Tim.
“Yes, I was dreaming about sliding down the hill on a sled,” said Jiddle. “But I don’t mind waking up because now we have snow! All we need is a good sled.”
Tim’s eyes sparkled. “Let’s make one!” he said excitedly.
They both smiled and nodded. But first, they had to find a strong piece of tree bark to use as their sled. They decided to hike to the top of the mountain to look for it.
As they climbed, they threw snowballs at each other and laughed, not realizing they’d gone far above the forest.
“Hey, what’s that?” Tim asked, pointing at a big lump of snow. “It looks like someone started building a snowman but forgot the head!”
Tim had an idea. He rolled a big snowball and threw it at the lump. Thwack! The snow crumbled away, revealing a huge boulder underneath.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake.
“Uh-oh!” shouted Tim.
The boulder started rolling downhill, growing bigger and bigger as it picked up snow.
“Run!” shouted Tim as he jumped onto Jiddle’s back. Jiddle ran as fast as he could, with the giant snowball chasing them. It roared as it knocked over trees in its path.
“Faster, Jiddle!” cried Tim.
They raced down the hill, dodging trees and rocks. Just as the snowball got too close, Jiddle leapt to the side. Tim and Jiddle tumbled into the snow, just barely escaping the huge snowball.
“Jiddle, are you okay?” asked Tim, catching his breath.
“Yes! That was scary… but also kind of fun!” Jiddle said, laughing. They gave each other a high five.
Then they saw something that made them stop. Their eyes went wide, and big smiles spread across their faces.
“Jiddle…” Tim said quietly. “Let’s go tobogganing!”
In front of them was a perfect piece of tree bark. It was smooth, big, and just right for a sled. The boulder had knocked it off a tree during its wild ride.
“Woohoo!” they cheered. They grabbed the bark, sat on it together, and counted down.
“Three, two, one… let’s go!”
And off they went, sliding down the snowy hill on their new bark sled, laughing and shouting all the way. It was the best day ever!