• It was a dark snowy and night as a young boy sat next to the fire inside his grandparent’s cabin. His grandparents had already gone to bed, but the boy was not sleepy. He stared deeply into the fire, thinking about nothing in particular, when he hears a jingle. Confused, the boy looks around, trying to find the source of the noise, but he cannot find it. Still looking he hears the noise again. The sound was that of a bell, but his grandparents did not have any bells that he knew of. For a third time he hears the jingle, but this time as he walks by the window, something catches his eye. Just outside the widow was a white rabbit, sitting on the sill outside. The boy stared at the rabbit, wondering why it was there, until it tilted its head. As it did so, it jingled. Puzzled, the boy put on his coat and left the warmth of the cabin for the snow outside.

    As he exited, he looked toward the sill where the rabbit had been, to find that it was no longer there. He looked around, wondering where it could have gone, until he hears another jingle. The boy looked toward the neighboring forest where the sound had protruded. Next to a tree was the rabbit. Slightly reluctantly, the boy headed towards the forest.

    As the boy approached, the rabbit hopped into the trees. The forest was not dense, but for a boy so young, was still intimidating. The boy stepped cautiously into the forest, looking for the rabbit, but the rabbit, being as white as the snow on the ground, blended in with the scenery. The boy stopped and listened to the night air… after a moment of patience, he heard it. Following the sound of the noise, he wandered deeper into the forest. He went deeper and deeper, now thinking what his parents would say if they knew he was outside without permission. Then, he stopped. Before him stood a small circular clearing where the full moon shone above him, shining light down onto the snowy ground below. It had stopped snowing.

    The boy looked around, taking in the full beauty of the place, but after a moment he felt confused. Where had the rabbit gone? The boy began to walk to the center of the clearing, into the moonlight, but as he did so, he saw something. There was something glittering in the snow. The boy walked over and picked up the glittering object. It was a silver bell. He shook it and found that it made the most beautiful sound that he had ever heard. A moment passed, and then he thought that he had probably start going back home.

    He turned around to start going back, but stopped. For a moment he panicked. He did not know the way home. The boy shook the bell again, and found that the sound calmed him. Another moment passed, and he came to realize that he knew the way home and after a few minutes, there he was. He opened the cabin and felt the warmth of the fire on his cold face. The boy took off his coat and hung it back up, then took the bell from his pocket.

    As the boy got into his bed, he heard a jingle coming from the forest.