Theanore and Marinus were making a giant snowman with the help of Darion. It was snowing heavily, and the enchantment lessons had been cancelled. Armed with gloves and hats, the children were playing in the snow, cheeks red and noses running, but they couldn’t be happier.

“And now for the nose. Place the stick,” commanded Darion as Marinus raised on his tiptoes to place a stick inside the snowman’s head. But he overestimated the sturdiness of said head, and the stick went right through it.

“Oh, no. Mr. Snowman has a boo.” Said Theanore as she scooped some snow and went to plunge the hole left by the stick. But she, too, didn’t consider that snow was light, and the whole head came down, followed by the torso.

The two children shared a look and then bowed their heads. A minute of silence flew by for the dead snowman, and then they began to build him anew.

“Darion, why can’t our snowman wear a suit?” Asked Marinus. He wanted to make a snowman who looked like Callan Perry.

“Because they have buttons on their bellies and a carrot for a nose. But someone gave all the carrots to the giant hamsters,” said Darion, eyeing Theanore, who giggled.

“They would have gone bad if I hadn’t,” defended herself, Theanore. Darion was not buying it.

“Dari, come help us. You must have made plenty of snowmen,” said Theanore, and Darion tucked in his sleeves to show the youngsters how it was done.

Their snowman ended up no bigger than Marinus, as he was the tallest of the three and had to lift the other two up. It had a silk cap, stick for a nose, and buttons made of embers on its belly. It was not the best snowman on the playground, but it was theirs, and they loved it.

“How are we going to name it?” Asked Darion as he appraised their work.

“How about Albert? I heard grandma Thinker call grandpa Thinker that,” said Theanore, and a dark shadow passed through Darion’s face. He felt immense guild for what he had done. When this snowman melted come spring, he would feel like he had let grandpa Thinker down again.

“How about something else?” Asked Marinus as he saw the guilt on Darion’s face. “Like Arthur or Rufus.”

“I like Rufus. It sounds very refined,” said Theanore, and then she placed a hand on Rufus’ belly. “Hello, Rufus the snowman.”

Then, something happened. Rufus’ eyes blinked and his mouth moved.

“Hello,” said the snowman, and the three backed away from him.

“How can you talk?” Asked Theanore, trying to overcome her surprise.

“These are dungeon grounds. You are a dungeon core. I can even walk, see?” Said Rufus, and then two feet materialized from below his body and he made one wobbly step forward.

“We need to move you to the ice room. Otherwise, you will melt out here,” said Darion. If the snowman had been normal, then it wouldn’t have mattered. But it was a living being now.

“Theanore, no naming or touching the other snowmen,” said Darion, this time to Theanore.

“Ok. Rufus, I have a vital question for you,” said Theanore with all the seriousness her eight months old mind could muster.

“And what is it, dungeon core?” Asked Rufus.

“Will you be my friend?” Asked Theanore as she extended a hand towards Rufus’. The snowman gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

“I’d love to, Theanore.”

“Now, let us show you your new home. Come through the house,” said Theanore, happy she had made another friend.

They passed through the house with some difficulty. Rufus had nearly melted when he had gotten too close to the stove. He couldn’t feel pain, but it had been a close call. They kept him away from the stoves after that, and he was soon in the ice room.

“Ok, this is your home now. Do you need anything else, Rufus?” Asked Theanore, shivering from the cold.

“Perhaps another snowman with whom to speak. I presume none of you will stick around for long?” Said Rufus. He wasn’t looking forward to being all alone all day.

“We will ask the rest of the children if they could spare a snowman,” said Theanore, and the three left Rufus to explore the crates with food. Outside, the air was crisp, and the snow was falling just as heavily as before.

Darion led the two children to the center of the playground, and Theanore cleared her throat.

“Everyone, a minute,” she said, hands cupped before her mouth, so the sound can carry further. “We made a snowman, but it came alive. Rufus would like another snowman to share his home. Can one of you spare their snowman?”

The children all crowded Theanore with questions about how it had happened. She had no answer for them and merely waited for them to volunteer their snowmen.

Diana and Dereck stepped forward and waved their hands in the air to be seen.

“You can have ours. And you can name him Carl,” said Diana, and Theanore rushed to her side. She touched Carl and his eyes blinked. A trip through the house later and Carl and Rufus were exchanging a handshake.

Dereck looked around the ice room. The food that came from the dungeon was stored here and it was so much. The deliveries for the orphanage were eaten the same day. He had no doubt that if the deliveries were late, the family of Theanore would use their stores to feed them.

The boy watched as Rufus broke some ice from the wall and ate it. Carl followed suit. That got Dereck thinking. Couldn’t the snowmen expand the ice room? Then they could receive bigger deliveries and store them here.

“Darion, if we get more snowmen here, can’t they expand the ice room?” Asked Dereck, and everyone turned to him. “I mean, then we can get bigger deliveries for the orphanage.”

“That is a wonderful idea, Dereck,” said the gremlin. Then he turned to Theanore. “Time to create a bigger labor force, supreme overlord.”