The Snow Queen: A Tale of Friendship and Courage. ||TALES STORY|| TOP 10 TALES STORY || BEST STORY ||

 The Snow Queen: A Tale of Friendship and Courage.

Once upon a time, in a small village nestled between rolling hills and forests, lived two children named **Gerda** and **Kay**. They were neighbors, and their friendship was as pure and bright as the first snowfall of winter. Gerda and Kay spent countless hours together, playing in the village gardens and tending to their favorite flowers. Between their homes, they had a shared window box filled with roses that bloomed as a symbol of their affection for one another.

Their world, however, was not without its darkness. Far to the north, in a land of perpetual ice and snow, ruled a powerful and cold-hearted being known as the **Snow Queen**. She lived in a vast palace made entirely of ice, so clear and cold that it shimmered like diamonds under the pale northern lights. The Snow Queen's heart was as frozen as the land she controlled, and her beauty was as deadly as the icy winds that followed her.

One winter evening, Kay and Gerda sat by the fire, listening to Kay’s grandmother tell stories of the Snow Queen. Kay, filled with a mix of fear and curiosity, looked out of the frosted window, half expecting to see her ghostly form riding the northern winds. As the snowflakes swirled outside, they seemed to grow larger and more menacing. One flake in particular was unlike the rest—sharp, jagged, and glittering like shattered glass. Unbeknownst to them, it was a fragment of an evil mirror created by a wicked troll. This mirror had the power to distort beauty, turning anything good and kind into something ugly and cruel.

As Kay gazed out, the wind howled louder, and suddenly, two tiny shards of the mirror flew through the window, striking him. One shard lodged itself in his eye, the other in his heart. From that moment on, Kay’s heart grew cold, and the warmth he once shared with Gerda began to vanish.

Kay's Transformation

The change in Kay was swift and unsettling. Where he had once delighted in the beauty of the world, he now saw only flaws. He mocked the flowers, the snow, and even Gerda’s kindness. His laughter became cruel, and his eyes, once bright with friendship, were now cold and distant.

One winter’s day, Kay took his sled to the village square. As he rode down the snowy streets, he encountered a sleigh much grander than any he had ever seen. Its driver, a tall, regal woman draped in silver and white furs, beckoned to him. She was the **Snow Queen**. With a single glance, she bewitched Kay, and he followed her willingly. She placed him on her sleigh and wrapped him in her cold embrace. The Snow Queen kissed Kay on the forehead, and instantly, he forgot all about his home, Gerda, and the warmth of his old life. His heart, now frozen, belonged to her.

The Snow Queen’s sleigh soared across the sky, carrying Kay far away to her ice palace in the north. There, Kay became her prisoner, though he did not know it. He sat day after day in the palace of ice, trying to solve an impossible puzzle made of sharp, frozen shards. The Snow Queen promised that if he could form the word "eternity" with the ice, she would free him, but the task was as endless as the cold itself.

Gerda’s Journey

Back in the village, Gerda was heartbroken by Kay’s disappearance. When spring came, and the snow began to melt, she decided to set out in search of him. Gerda was small and unassuming, but her love for Kay gave her courage beyond her years. She asked everyone she met if they had seen her friend, but no one knew where he had gone. Still, Gerda refused to give up.

Her journey took her to strange and magical places. First, she met an old woman who lived in a beautiful garden where it was always summer. The old woman, who was secretly a witch, tried to make Gerda forget her quest by enchanting her with flowers and sunshine. But one day, Gerda noticed that the roses in the garden were gone, and this memory of her lost friend broke the spell. She fled the garden, remembering her mission.

Gerda then encountered a crow who told her of a prince who resembled Kay. Hopeful, Gerda followed the crow to a grand castle, but upon seeing the prince, she realized it was not her friend. The prince and princess, moved by Gerda’s devotion, gave her warm clothes and a golden carriage to continue her journey.

As Gerda traveled north, the landscape grew colder and more barren. She was attacked by robbers, but their wild daughter, a fierce little girl with a soft heart, took pity on Gerda. The robber girl gave her a reindeer named **Bae**, who was from the far north and knew the way to the Snow Queen’s palace.

The Palace of Ice

With Bae’s help, Gerda reached the frozen north, where the Snow Queen’s palace stood, glittering in the perpetual twilight. The palace was vast and beautiful, but it was also terrifying, made entirely of ice, with no warmth or life within it. Gerda entered the palace and found Kay sitting at the icy puzzle, his face pale and emotionless.

Gerda called out to him, but he did not recognize her. His heart was still frozen, his soul trapped by the Snow Queen’s magic. Desperate, Gerda ran to him and embraced him, crying out for him to remember their friendship and the warmth they once shared. Her tears, pure and warm, fell onto Kay’s chest, and their warmth reached his heart, melting the shard of the evil mirror.

As the ice in his heart melted, Kay began to cry. His tears washed the shard from his eye, and for the first time in many months, he could see clearly. He saw Gerda and remembered her, remembered the joy they had shared. The spell of the Snow Queen was broken.

Together, Gerda and Kay left the Snow Queen’s palace, and as they did, the world around them began to thaw. The snow and ice melted, and the sun returned to the sky. Spring bloomed once more, and the cold, heartless beauty of the Snow Queen faded into nothingness. Gerda and Kay returned home, their hearts filled with gratitude for each other and the power of love and friendship.