Snowman
Ghosts, light humour and serious beliefs, item 48
Snow. There is nothing strange about it, unless it’s the middle of August and everyone is wearing shorts. It wasn’t just snowing, there was a right-down blizzard, and you couldn’t see anything but snow. The lodge was packed with people, who wanted to explore trails and enjoy the sun, and no one in the small dining room could understand what was going on.
It was around midday, when a middle-aged, traveller arrived. He was covered in snow, but he also was the only one who seemed prepared for this weather, and he entered the room with the biggest, heart-warming, smile on his face, despite his frozen eyebrows.
He sat down at a table, ordered a cup of mulled wine, and asked the host what was going on with the weather. There was a bit of sarcasm in his voice, but no one noticed it. The young lady replied that she had no idea. She said that the TV and radio are down, and there is no way to contact the outside world. She apologised for the temperature in the room, and said that she hasn’t yet prepared for winter. He smiled and said that it’s OK, the cold chills the body, but warms the heart. The woman thought the answer was strange, but then he smiled at her with kindness, and she forgot all about it.
At the table next to him, there was a large group of young people. They all looked a bit discouraged and annoyed, so he approached them and asked why they weren’t having fun, since they were obviously on vacation. They said that the weather is so bad, that there isn’t anything for them to do, and that they were just sitting there, wasting valuable time.
The traveller sat down at their table, and began to tell them a story. The story was about him and his friends who once were trapped for an entire week in a house, due to a flood. As he was talking, an old couple joined the table and they too started to speak about how they met, 30 years ago, in a similar situation.
Shortly, everyone in the lodge was recounting various stories from their life. By nightfall, they were all drinking, laughing, and there even was this one lad, who borrowed a guitar from the owner of the lodge, and started to play it. He wasn’t that good, in fact, he was terrible, but with all that mulled wine and rum, he sounded like BB King.
That night, people ate, danced and made new friends. Two lonely travellers found each other, and discovered that they live in the same city, and that they both like the same things. In the years to come, they will return every August, in a few short years, they will also bring their children, they will tell them about this night, and about how sometimes the cold can bring people together.
No one knows when the traveller left, he never said goodbye. No one knew his name, and even if some of the people who were there that night, remained friends for a very long time, no one was ever able to contact the traveller who brought all of them together.
Funny enough, the next day, the blizzard had stopped, and the Sun made his long expected appearance, and weirdly, there was nothing on the news about the strange snowstorm.
Ghost, Spiritual Or Historic Stories For Pubs And Restaurants