A Snow Queen's Tale- a Frozen Fanfiction

Chapter 41: A Letter from a Friend

🌻Anna's Pov🌻
The next day, I could hardly wait for Nikko to arrive. As I helped Olins bake a batch of sweet rolls, I listened for the jingle of his carriage.
      Olins measured the milk and the yeast and let me add the flour to a big bowl. I did not like waiting for the dough to rise, but I liked the way it looked when it did. The dough was puffy now, like a pillow. Carefully, Olins cut the dough  into long strips. It was my job to curl the strips of dough into spirals.
      "Now we sprinkle a bit of sugar on top," Olina said. "And then we bake them!"
      I coated my own spirals in a thick layer of sugar. These,I knew,would be especially delicious.
      I heard the telltale jingle of Nikko's carriage just as Olins took the sweet rolls out of the big castle oven.
      "He's here!" I cried out, rushing to the door.
      Today Nikko had brought spices for the kitchen. "This cinnamon is just what these sweet rolls need," Olina said. She sprinkled cinnamon on all the rolls, making them smell delicious. When I took a bite, the cinnamon melted in my mouth.
      As I ate, Nikko brought a pile of neatly folded cloth inside. I could see it had many different patterns and textures. Some pieces were smooth and shiny, like satin. Others looked soft and fuzzy. "Who will wear these?" I asked Nikko.
      Laughing, Nikko said, "Well, no one will wear them yet.That is fabric for making close." Or costumes, I thought hopefully.
      Nikko also brought tools and baskets and buckets and papers. When a breeze blew through the open kitchen window, though, the papers scattered everywhere.
      I dashed around the kitchen catching them, and then arranged them in a neat pile for Nikko. That's when I saw that the papers were envelopes with writing on them.
"What are these?" I asked.
"Those are some letters I brought for your parents," Nikko said. "Castle business, invitations, new. Letters are the way they stay connected with the world."
"Oh!" I said. Too bad none of them were for me. I would love to get a letter someday—an invitation, or some news from far away. Maybe one day I would have someone to send letters to. How long would I have to wait until I could write my own letters?
And then I had an idea. What if I didn't wait at all? When Nikko had left and my lessons were over, I returned to the portrait gallery. "Feeling braver?" I asked the girl on the swing. I, too, was about to try something I had never tried before. I was about to write a letter.
I picked up my favorite quill and dipped it in a pot of ink. Carefully, I decorated a plain piece of paper with drawings of flowers. Now it looked like the finest stationary in Arendelle.
There was only one problem. I did not know what to say.
Nikko had mentioned sending news, but I did not have any.
I tapped the end of my quill on the paper. I stood up and walked around the gallery. After a while, I decided to take a walk outside. Maybe it would give me a good idea.
I circled the garden and found where Anders had planted the bulbs. I walked by a tree that had just burst into bloom. As I stopped to smell a blossom on a low hanging branch, I noticed something moving in the nearby hedge. I turned to see what it was, but the movement stopped when I turned.
Maybe I had just imagined it.
When I stepped around the garden fountain, though, I saw the movement again. Something was definitely there.
      I froze. If I stayed in one spot, maybe whatever it was would forget I was there and go away. Then again, maybe it would come even closer. I was a little bit scared and a little bit curious all at once.
      The castle gates were closed, so it probably wasn't a person. Could it be a mouse? A bird? A . . . monster? I hugged myself to stop from shivering.
I heard some rustling. Then I saw a ripple as whatever it was tunneled through the bushes and emerged on the castle walkway right in front of me!
A tiny red squirrel sat there, blinking, just as surprised as me.
I stood very still, because I did not want to scare him away.
The squirrel peered at me for a moment. Finally, he seemed to decide I was safe. He jumped across the walkway and into another patch of grass.
I watched as the squirrel disappeared into the shadow behind a flowerpot, then popped out on the other side. He raced by some lilies of the valley, then bounced into a bed of strawberry plants
I lost sight of him for a little while. Then I noticed the squirrel between the rows of plants, helping himself to a treat. He held a strawberry in his tiny paws and nibbled with his tiny mouth.
"You are so cute," I told the squirrel. "Would you like another one?"
The squirrel scampered backward step the sound of my voice, but he didn't run away. Slowly, I reached beneath the leaves and pulled another strawberry off its stalk. I held it in both hands and reached toward the squirrel.
Would he dare to take the berry from me? I held my breath.
But this squirrel was not shy. He stood tall to reach my hand, then snatched the berry away. His tail twitched as he ate the berry in several bites, the way I might eat an apple.
We watched each other until the squirrel bounced away.
I was sorry to see him go, but now I had the good idea I had been waiting for. I had something to write in my letter. I would write about the squirrel!
When I returned to the portrait room, I flopped down on the floor. Before I wrote anything, I drew a quick sketch and showed it to my friends in the paintings.
"Have you ever seen such a sweet squirrel?" I asked the girl on the swing.
      "He'd be welcome at any picnic, right?" I asked the people on the blanket.
Maybe the squirrel, too, would become one of my friends.
      Then I started to write.
      "Dear Astrid," I began, making up someone to write to on the spot. "Wait till you hear this! I met someone new today. He is a squirrel, as red as a tulip and as friendly as a kitten. I do not know his name, or what he does when he is not in the garden. He disappeared before I could find out! I will be sure to let you know what happens next! Love, Anna." I signed my name with a flourish.
      Writing about it was almost as exciting as meeting the squirrel in the first place, I decided. I would write a letter every time I saw my new squirrel friend! Now my imagination was running wild. Each letter could be like a chapter in a book, I thought. My squirrel story would have many parts and, I hoped, a happy ending.