One day, Olivia and her family were going to meet her penpals and go on a picnic with them. As she and her family reached the driveway, a family of penguins waddled by. "Hi, penguins!" Olivia's family said to the penguins. "Hello," said the father penguin. "I know this m-might offend you, but why are you penguins here?" Ian asked. "We just came over for a visit," said Papa Penguin. "Who are you all?" Olivia asked. "I'm Papa Penguin," said the father Penguin, and he introduced his children—Patrick, their 6-year-old son; Peggy, his younger sister; and Paige the baby sister. "Aww!" She's so cute!" said Olivia. "I agree," said Ian. "Are you on your way to the picnic grounds, like us?" "Yes!" said Olivia's father. Olivia was shocked! "We're g-g-going to-to-to-together?!?!?!" she stutteringly asked. "I can see what you mean, Olivia," said her father, "But Pompon will become your friend too. But for now, why don't you welcome the Penguins?" "Hi," said Olivia displeasingly.
Olivia imagined the weird things Patrick could do, like eating fish or seaweed. YUCK!
"Olivia," said her mother, "Let's go." On their walk up to the picnic hills, Olivia asked curiously, "So, you came from the Antarctica to visit us?" "Yep, that's right!" said Mama Penguin. Olivia wasn't sure about this, and she didn't know what to expect!
They sat down and helped themselves for sandwiches, corn on the cob, strawberries, watermelon, and blueberry muffins—Olivia's favorite of course! As Olivia got to know the penguins, Peggy told them a wonderful story. It was about Ana, the Snow Queen.
Patrick said to her, "I had a terrible nightmare!" "What happened?" Olivia asked. And this is the nightmare Patrick told her:
The night before leaving, Patrick took a penny he had set near the fireplace which he then used to create a little hole to look out the window with. He was hoping that his friends were still awake, so that he could catch one last glimpse for the day. Instead what he saw was snow, lots of it, in fact. It was almost as if it was... well, it was almost as if it was swarming.
To Patrick's surprise, the snowflakes seemed to get larger and larger, until at last they took the shape of a woman. The woman gleamed like he was made out of something beautiful and delicate, seemingly made up of thousands of tiny crystals. As the woman gazed back at Patrick, their eyes met, and though the woman's eyes sparkled like stars, there was no rest in her cold gaze, and Patrick felt a shiver run down his spine, and he drew back in fear. The strange woman disappeared!
"And that was my terrifying nightmare!" said Patrick. "Oh dear," said Olivia. "If he tries to come after me, he'll be sorry!" "Now, Olivia," said her father, "You might make Ana angry!" "Oh, right," said Olivia and Patrick. "We'll have some fun!"
Patrick spent the day teaching Olivia and Ian penguin stuff—like sliding on their bellies, snowboarding and ice skating. Olivia and Ian had a lot of fun. Once, Olivia fell into the sea, and Ian had to rescue her!
During this fun, Olivia, Ian, Patrick, and Peggy built a handsome snowman and snow-lady. While they were deciding a name for the snowman and snow-lady, Ian shouted, "Sled incoming!" The three looked to see a big white sled racing by, blowing snow up into the air; and then—"Ouch!" cried Patrick. "PATRICK!" Olivia and Ian cried. "My eyes!" the little penguin cried. "My chest hurts!" "What happened?!" asked Olivia. "What's in there?!" Ian cried.
Had some snow or ice hit his eyes and chest? No, it was one of those tiny pieces from the smashed magic mirror—the mirror of opposites which made everything good appear ugly and everything evil appear attractive! Poor Patrick had also received a splinter of glass in his heart, and the pieces were there!
"P-p-Patrick?" Olivia asked, "Ar-Are you—" Before Olivia could finish her sentence, Patrick violently snapped, "GET YOUR HOOVES OFF OF ME!", before he knocked the head of the snowman off! Olivia was shocked! "Sorry, it just stings a bit," was all the apology she and Ian got.
When Patrick's parents found out about the thing in his eyes, they were concerned and furious with Patrick. What had gone wrong with him? Well, it was the coldness in Patrick's heart. Olivia and her family went back to their "hotel igloo", to see if Patrick would stop behaving. Later, Patrick wanted to show the bigger penguins how daring he was. He saw the same white sled coming. Patrick attached a rope to the sleigh and slid on his belly—holding the rope—to show how daring he was.
Unfortunately, the big sleigh took Patrick away from his penguin clan! The snowflakes grew even bigger until they were like great white hares running alongside.
Without warning, the sleigh slowed and the driver turned."HELP!" he shouted, "HELP!" The driver of the sleigh turned and revealed herself. She was the beautiful and mysterious Ana, the Snow Queen! "You look scared!" she said. With that, Queen Ana blew some magic to make Patrick forget about everything—about his home, his fellow penguins, his family, and Olivia!
And so, they set off to the Snow Queen's ice castle.
