There once lived a woman who wanted a child. She lived alone at the edge of her village in a small wooden house. People thought she was rather peculiar, since her parents had long passed and she refused to get married. When they walked by her house they would whisper and gossip about her. The woman herself didn't seem to mind the rumours, but she often admitted that she was lonely living alone.

"All the more reason to get married," people would tell her. "Find a husband and have children, then you won't be lonely anymore!"

But the woman didn't want to get married, so people shook their heads in disbelief and walked on. 

When winter came the woman welcomed the first snow. She opened her doors and stepped out into the cold. Though her feet were bare she twirled in the snowfall, her dark hair becoming speckled with tiny white flakes. 

Night fell, and the blanket of clouds brought more snow. The woman went back inside to warm her toes by the fire. She did not stay inside for long. Soon, she was back outdoors dancing barefoot in the snow. The people returning home for the night thought she was crazy. Why would she dance in the cold snow like that?

But the woman didn't mind what the others were saying. She danced around by herself long after everyone else went to sleep. 

In the dark of the night the snow finally stopped. The clouds thinned, revealing small specks of stars floating up in the sky. Smiling to herself, the woman began to roll a ball of snow. Though it was cold, it was still early in the season, so the air was warm enough that the snow could be packed together.

The woman rolled the snow until it formed a ball as high as her waist. She used her hands to shape the ball into a human-like figure. She gave it tiny pebbles for eyes and a pod of peas for a smile. For a nose she used a broken piece of pottery, and for ears two large leaves. As the finishing touch, she draped a straw coat over the snow-child's shoulders to keep it warm.

The woman admired her masterpiece, grinning to herself that it looked rather life-like. Although she was very cold she kissed the snow-child goodnight, and then went inside to bed.

The next morning when the village woke and the people went out about their day someone passed by the woman's house and came back with surprising news. 

They had seen the woman playing outside with a small boy. His skin was very pale and he wore a straw coat to keep warm. No one knew what was happening, so they voiced their curiosity to the woman. 

"Where did he come from?"

"Is he your child?"

"Who is his father?"

To those questions the woman smiled and answered that this was, indeed, her child, but she would say nothing more.

The little boy was rather sweet. He called the woman his mother and greeted everyone who passed by with lively "hellos." Sometimes he'd go into the village to play with the other children. They were wary of him at first, but the boy taught them new games, so they soon became good friends. Other days the boy would join the elders indoors by the fire, drinking warm tea and sharing funny jokes. 

It seemed that the woman's wish had finally come true. She had not married and yet had a wonderful child. After a while no one questioned the boy's presence, as they'd all become accustomed to his happy little smile.

When the snow began to melt the boy suddenly stopped coming outside to play. The children visited the woman's house to ask after their friend, but they were turned away. The elders also stopped by to ask if their little companion was ill, but they, too, were turned away.

What the woman told them was very strange, indeed. She told them that her son would be going away for a while. "Don't worry," she told them, "For he'll be back next winter!"

So for three months the village went on with their days. Many began to doubt whether or not the little boy was real, and if he was they wondered if he was really that woman's child. The woman herself did not address the gossip. She seemed lonesome at times, but she would always smile and say she couldn't wait for the first snow.

The following winter the little boy returned. He seemed just as merry as he had the year before, though this year he had grown a little taller. 

That winter the little boy played with his friends and visited the elders just like before. He spent a lot of time with his mother as well, the two of them often playing outside their house in the snow.

But with the return of spring the little boy disappeared again. The woman held that her son would return the following winter, and though people questioned why she would not answer them.

The woman's son always came back every winter, looking a little older each year. He never spoke about where he was during the warmer seasons, and neither did his mother. 

Though the boy lived a mysterious existence, the village became accustomed to his seasonal appearances. 

When the boy's tenth winter ended, the woman packed her things and prepared to leave. When asked where she was going she told them with a smile, "I'm going away to live with my son. We'll find a place where we can be together all year long." 

And so the woman left her village behind, leaving with the snow. 

I don't know if the woman ever found the place she was looking for, but a few years ago I learned that if you climb a certain mountain you'll find a place of eternal winter. There, you may find a little wooden house where a young man and his elderly mother live together. I even heard a story that the two live together with a young woman and a child, but none of them ever leave their mountain abode.