by Sarah Earlene Shere, ©2025
(Jan. 3, 2025) — Ami ran across the forest floor as fast as her four little legs could take her. Abruptly, she stopped, raised up on her back feet and sniffed the air with her tiny pink nose. The light shown through her round pink ears as they twitched at the sudden call of her name. “Ami! Ami, come back inside. You should have been in hibernation weeks ago!”
Ami glanced back at her burrow to see her mother standing in the doorway. The little moe-chi lifted her large brown eyes to the dense canopy of tree branches above her. She hated to leave. She could tell the first snowflake of the new year was coming, and she so wanted to see it. All her life she had been hibernating every winter, missing the snowfall and finding it all to be melting by the time she emerged in the spring. With another call of her name, Ami lowered her head and slowly made her way back inside. But Father Moe-chi saw the heavy heart of his little girl and silently communicated with his wife. Mother Moe-chi sighed and nodded.
***
After a quick night’s sleep, Ami excitedly prepared for her adventure to go out and find the first snowflake of the new year. Her parents had consented, but not without rules: she must eat first, dress warmly, take a pack with food, a compass and a map and she must take Jorjin with her. Ami didn’t know what good their pet would do; she feared his rotund, low-to-the-ground body would slow her down. Still, Jorjin was faithful, and, she supposed, could be a good protector. On her way out, Elder Moe-chi stopped her at the edge of their tiny village. Her weak voice trembled as she spoke with a smile and tears in her eyes. “Child, take this jar. If you can, please, bring us back the first snowflake of the new year, for none of us have ever seen it. You are the first one of us who has ever been brave enough to search for it. God bless and speed your quest!”
***
Three days later, perched atop the highest bow of the tallest tree in the forest, Ami and Jorjin watched silently as a small flake slowly made its way down from the clouds. Ami’s eyes were wide and her heart beat quickened. Suddenly remembering her quest, she pulled out the jar from her pack and removed the lid. She raised it high just as the first snowflake of the new year fluttered down into her line of vision and effortlessly into the vessel in her hands. Carefully, Ami replaced the lid, then studied the intricately crafted prize inside. “We did it, Jorjin. We did it!” Jorjin wagged his tail. Of course, he knew they could do it all along.