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Pyro and Scott were running around and playing in the snow, close enough to their parents to see what they were doing. Their parents were chopping wood, because apparently there was supposed to be a storm soon.
Scott had just finished the head of the snowman that the boys were building. “Pyro! We need to decorate him! We need sticks for his arms, and something for his face.”
Pyro, who had been in the forest for a few minutes now, came back running while holding some sticks and an assortment of rocks. “I got them already!”
And so, the two boys gave the snowman sticks for arms and rocks for his eyes and mouth.
Scott was the one who placed the last rock. “What should we do now?”
Pyro smirked. “We should ask our dads if we can help them chop wood! I could chop more than you can!”
“No way! I can do more!” Scott yelled as he took off running, Pyro right beside him.
Pyro was the one who spoke first, being the louder of the two. “Dad! Can we help with the wood? Please? I know I can do it, I'm old enough now!”
Scott joined in. “Please?”
Pyro's dad ruffled his son's hair. “Not yet, I don't think you two are big enough yet to be swinging axes around.”
Pyro pouted as his dad looked up at the sky.
“You boys should get inside anyway, it's going to get bad out here soon.”
Pyro wasn't having it. “But you two get to stay out!”
“Yes, and that's because we're working. Get inside.”
Before Pyro could speak again, Scott grabbed him by the hand. “Just get inside, Pyro. They won't listen to us. Maybe we can play inside?”
Pyro huffed, but stopped fighting. They both walked to the house hand in hand.
They played some games with wooden figures, they read a book about animals, and put logs on the fire every once in a while. Pyro always seemed to love fire, and would occasionally just stare into it for a while.
It had become clear that they would be snowed in tomorrow. The snow had been coming down very heavily since they had come inside.
Pyro's mom brought the two cups of hot chocolate, something they'd only recently discovered after trading with a village somewhat nearby. Both of them loved it.
While she was in the room with them, Pyro asked his mom “Can me and Scott please go outside again? We'll be fine, I promise!”
“No, it's too much out there. Maybe tomorrow if it stops coming down, but I doubt it.”
“Why? It's not fair.”
“Well, I can tell you why, but it's going to be a long story. You both need to stay quiet and listen.”
Scott smiled and looked at Pyro. “Race you to the couch.”
Both of the boys ran to the couch, Scott jumped over the edge of it and landed in his seat. Scott wanted to make sure he won, even if he was ahead of Pyro the whole time. By some miracle, neither of them spilled their drinks.
Pyro's mom sat in the chair in front of them that was next to the fireplace. She began her story. “I'm going to tell you about the boy who turned into a statue.”
Pyro and Scott shared a look. They were both intrigued.
“It was snowing hard, just like it is today, and we wanted to go play in the snow. He wasn't allowed, so he decided to sneak out of his window when his parents fell asleep.” She gave Pyro a look. “Don't get any ideas.”
Pyro, who absolutely 𝘥𝘪𝘥 get ideas, huffed.
“He wandered really far from home, not wanting to get caught by anyone he knew. He played for a while, but eventually got cold and wanted to go home. This turned out to be a problem for him.”
Scott scooted closer to Pyro.
“The boy couldn't remember how to get home. Eventually, the snow was so high that he got stuck and froze solid.”
Scott looked at Pyro with concern. “I don't want to freeze.”
Pyro smiled. “I'd never let that happen, you can't get taken out by some stupid snow.”
Pyro's mom smiled and continued. “Later, a witch found him. She thought he was a statue that had been made of a strange material, so she turned him into stone to try and help out. She knew the only place nearby was the village he came from, so she took the statue there.”
Both of the boys' dads finally came inside. They were carrying large piles of just chopped wood. They placed their piles in a bin next to the fireplace where the rest of the wood was also being stored.
Scott's dad spoke up. “What are you guys doing?”
Pyro's mom responded. “I'm telling them about the boy who turned into a statue, because they still want to go outside.”
Scott's dad smirked and started walking to the other room where his wife was. “Make sure you listen, boys. Don't go out when it's this snowy.”
“Okay, dad. I won't.” Scott responded, sounding tired.
Pyro nodded, but was too busy staring at the flames to respond.
“Anyways, continuing with our story. The boy's parents woke up, and had been looking for him for hours. They eventually went to ask their neighbors if anyone had seen him. Nobody had, but they saw a statue at the edge of the village that looked similar to him.”
Scott was finished with his hot chocolate so he put it down on the side table next to Pyro's, also recently emptied, mug.
“His parents knew it looked too much like their son to be a coincidence, so they went to the witch. The witch told them what happened, and when the boy's parents came home they took the statue and put it in the middle of the village to serve as a reminder to everyone that they should be careful. That's why you can't go outside when it's getting dark and the snow is up to your chest.”
“I won't! I don't want to be a statue!” Pyro wasn't going to do something stupid and freeze, he was too old for that. Pyro went to tell Scott just that, but couldn't.
Scott was fast asleep, his head on Pyro's shoulder.
“I think it's time you two get to bed.”