Someday…
“What on earth has gotten into you?” sputtered the little general, but as he said it he saw that Lieutenant Lyle’s snowflake, which had been the smallest of them all, was gone.
“I’ve never heard you say anything original before,” exclaimed the little general.
“Oh, I always sing at home, but to stop myself from doing it in public, I repeat what other people say. Otherwise I burst into silly songs and...”
“...get sent to ironing class. I see. It’s just so strange. I can’t believe...” said the general.
Sergeant Samantha interrupted him. “Sir, permission to tell the soldiers to do formation #301, please?”
“Number 301? There is no #301!” cried the general.
“I made it up,” said Sergeant Samantha, and signaled to the soldiers. It was the most beautiful formation they had ever made. The fifty soldiers made a snowflake ten times bigger than the one on top of the little general’s head.
“It’s beautiful,” he breathed, and lo, his snowflake melted.
The Dreamers across the field stopped and gasped. And then without speaking, they duplicated the formation on the other side of the field. The two snowflake formations broke out into cheers.
The little general looked suddenly sad. “Why did you hide this from me for so long?” he asked Sergeant Samantha.
“None of us knew! Mine appeared a year ago… I’ve always allowed myself one or two imaginative moments per year, but I guess that wasn’t enough. And then I was too ashamed to tell anyone because we’re the Realists…but then Lieutenant Lyle was brave enough to admit that he had seen the giant snowflake on your head and I realized…”
The little general was looking at the Dreamers thoughtfully. “Well, if they can do such a complicated formation and we can all imagine things…”
“Then we mustn’t be so different after all,” said the Dreamers’ commander in chief, who had been walking toward them across the field.
The little general then did an unexpected thing. He held out his finger for the commander’s toucan to sit on. And it did. At least they all imagined that it did.
That morning there was much celebration. Lieutenant Lyle’s songs were a hit with the Dreamers. He was still singing and dancing when Sergeant Samantha and the little general started up the hill.
When they reached the little general’s gate, he said, “Would you like to come in for lunch?”
“I’m not sure I’ll fit in your house,” said Sergeant Samantha, sadly.
“I imagine you will,” replied the little general.
Sure enough, Sergeant Samantha found that she did fit in the door. Just in case, she sat down immediately once she was inside. The little general set three places at the table and began to fry some sausages.
“Who else is coming to lunch?” asked Sergeant Samantha in surprise.
“Why she’s already here,” said the little general. “Samantha, meet Snowflake, my imaginary pet lemming. She absolutely adores sausage.” And the little general patted the air about a foot above the chair.
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Matthea Harvey, is the author of Modern Life (Graywolf, 2008), winner of the Kingsley Tufts Award, a finalist for the 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award and a New York Times Notable Book. Other books of poetry include Sad Little Breathing Machine (Graywolf, 2004) and Pity the Bathtub Its Forced Embrace of the Human Form (Alice James Books, 2000). Harvey serves as a contributing editor to jubilat, Meatpaper and BOMB. She teaches poetry at Sarah Lawrence and lives in Brooklyn. She has one cat, who goes by many names.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
Elizabeth Zechel is the author and illustrator of Mouse in the Baby’s Room (Lark Books) and the illustrator of Bubby’s Homemade Pies by Jen Bervin and Ron Silver (Wiley & Sons). Her work has been reproduced in literary journals such as Lungful, Pindeldeboz, Lit, and Meatpaper.
Copyright © 2009 Matthea Harvey, illustrations © Elizabeth Zechel
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, contact Tin House Books, 2601 NW Thurman St., Portland, OR 97210.
Published by Tin House Books, Portland, Oregon, and New York, New York Distributed to the trade by Publishers Group West, 1700 Fourth St., Berkeley, CA 94710, www.pgw.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
eISBN : 978-0-982-50482-6
www.tinhouse.com
The Little General and the Giant Snowflake Page 2