1The courtyard was quiet that morning. Fresh snow lay over the old stone tiles. Anna stepped through the side door and made the first deep bootprints.
2Elsa followed, her pale braid catching the winter light. She looked at the blank courtyard and smiled. She knew exactly what to grow.
3Elsa raised her hands. Small snow flowers rose beside the wall, the old stone bench, and the frosty archway.
4Anna pressed neat curving paths between the flowers with her boots. "A garden needs somewhere to walk," she said, and Elsa laughed.
5Then sunlight reached the first flower bed. The snowy petals softened and drooped. "They're melting!" Anna said.
6The sisters looked toward the cool north wall. "We'll move them," Elsa said calmly.
7Elsa lifted and reshaped each flower in the shade while Anna pressed the paths again. Their breath made small clouds as they worked together.
8"One more thing," Elsa said. She drew both hands upward, and a sparkling snow arch rose over the widest path.
9Anna walked under the arch and looked up. Snowlight glittered around her as she turned to her sister through the shining frame.
10The small garden shimmered in the shade, made by two pairs of hands. Anna reached out and took Elsa's hand in the winter quiet.
