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Why Snowballs Don't Melt


by sammkt

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      Have you ever noticed the various items made of snow that you can find all across Neopia? Have you ever wondered how they come to be in these places, so far away from Terror Mountain and Snowy Valley and yet haven't melted? This is the story of how they came to be.

      Many years ago, Snowy Valley was not the pretty, happy place it is now. It was a small village nestled at the bottom of Terror Mountain which had a problem. They simply had too much snow. It would come down the mountain and pile up round their houses and over their roads, it blocked access to their shops and they hadn't been able to visit the Ice Caves for years, as the entrance was always under snow (although why they would want to get that close to the Snowager who knows). The villagers were constantly trying to clear the snow and move it but in the end they simply had nowhere left to put it all.

      As the situation was reaching crisis point, and it was looking as though they could no longer live there, a village meeting was held to discuss whether anything could be done with all the snow. Ideas were suggested but quickly put aside, nothing seemed possible, would they really have to abandon their homes? Many of them had lived there for generations of their families and were reluctant to leave, but it was beginning to look like they were fighting a losing battle.

      Suddenly the door burst open and a young Gelert and Aisha ran in, followed by two snowballs, quickly followed by a young Bruce throwing them. Looking up and realising an important meeting was occurring the youngsters apologised and began to make their exit.

      Suddenly an elder Yurble jumped up and exclaimed that he had an idea! We could make things!" he said excitedly. The other Neopets looked at him in bewilderment. Make what, they thought? When they were discussing a serious problem all this elder could think about was making things?! With the snow!" he continued..."look at those young un's, having snowball fights, well we could make snowballs for those wars they have in Neopia!" His face looked excited, until someone shouted “but the snow would melt as soon as it is taken from the mountain”, and his face fell.

      Just then a little voice piped up from the edge of the hall, a little old Gnorbu, sometimes spoken about by the villagers for being a bit “odd”, and known for his scientific work. Many of the elders avoided him but the young Neopets adored him, it was not unusual to hear explosions coming from his house and see strange colour smoke coming from his chimney. “I've been working on a special chemical that can stop the snow melting...perhaps if you were prepared to let me show you...this idea of making things may work"

      The villagers looked at each other. Some looked exasperated as though thinking “not again”, for despite his lifetime of scientific work, the Gnorbu didn't really have anything to show for it, and many past inventions had failed. However, some of the younger adults had a smaller glimmer of hope (for they did not know about as many failed past inventions), and began asking the question, could there actually be a way to make things from the snow and export it all over Neopia?

      Having come up with no better soloution, the meeting agreed that that afternoon, the village council would visit the Scientist and see if his invention worked. Being the elders of the village, the council did not think it would, and considered it a waste of their time, but at the agreed time they turned up as his house and were taken through to the small laboratory he had built at the back.

      There was definitely a tension in the air as the Gnorbu gathered some snow, shaped it into a Wet Snowball, dipped it in a mysterious bowl of clear liquid, then lit a flame. As one, the council held their breath as the Gnorbu held the snowball over the flame.

      After a minute or so the council began to realise that the snowball wasn't melting, and after five minutes had passed in which the snowball had been held constantly over the flame and looked exactly the same as when first made, they realised that this appeared to actually work.

      The atmosphere in the room changed as the council began to realise that quite possibly there may be a glimmer of hope. Could they really make this work?

      Unable to wait for the next day, the council called another meeting for that evening and invited the Gnorbu to demonstrate his invention to the whole village. Many in the meeting stared in disbelief as snowball after snowball were dipped in the solution and refused to melt when help over the flame. Right there, in front of them, was someone who many had ridiculed and spoken about behind his back, but who it now looked like was going to be responsible for ensuring they could all keep their homes and stay in the village they and their ancestors had called home.

      Over the next few days, the village hall was turned into a temporary laboratory and the villagers volunteered their time to help the Gnorbu make more of his magic chemical. Whilst this was happening, the younger Neopets ran round making snowballs and piling them up ready to be coated in the chemical that would stop them melting when they left the mountain. An Aisha travelled down to Meridell and returned in a few days to announce that the Meridell army had agreed a trial order of Snowballs to help them in their fight against the invading Darigan army. The village rushed to fulfill the order, then sent them off and waited, as this would be the real test of whether it worked.

      After two days a messanger from Meridell turned up with a much larger order and the villagers realised it had worked. The Gnorbu had actually invented something that was not only useful but would save all their homes and insure an income for centuries.

      The Gnorbu was not a selfish man and did not keep the invention to himself, he shared the recipe and instructions for making the chemical with the whole village, which freed him up to work on many more inventions. In time he had perfected many more chemical inventions to add to the snowballs to change their effects, creating Poison Snowballs, Exploding Snowballs, Sticky Snowballs and many more.

      In time the villagers realised that they could produce more than just snowballs for wars (after all, one would hope that at some point in time, nowhere in Neopia would be at war and have the need for these weapons). Thus begun the production of other items, snow foods, snow clothing and snow furniture amongst them – all of these items selling particularly well to those Neopets living in The Lost Desert. They also began a range of souvenir items including snowglobes, glass orbs with real snow inside them, an extremely popular item with tourists.

      With the snow being able to be successfully cleared around the village, Snowy Valley has become a tourist destination, the entrance to the ice caves has been cleared, ensuring a continuous supply of budding adventurers visiting the Snowager. With some of the profits from selling items, the village was able to construct a ski lift to the top of the mountain, opening up access to this for tourists too.

      The villagers were prospering well, their village was happy and they had a regular source of income. All because some young Neopets interrupted an important town meeting with a snowball fight.

      The End.

 
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