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Ow! Grey—is that you?
Jeez, Josie, you nearly killed me! Yes—it's me.
Hurry! I'm scared, Momma's gonna kill me if she catches me out of bed!
Okay, so hurry--follow me!
Did you bring the map?
Did you bring the shovels?
Papa closed the warehouse before I could sneak in.
I'm sorry, Grey... I really am. Does this mean we can't go? Does this mean I can't be
your playmate anymore?
No, Josie. Well, the trip might be a bit longer but I think we'll make it. We have a lot of
time. And, look—
Greenland is on the same side of the earth. Here we are...
...and there it is!
It can't be too far. Once—
Why are we going to Greenland?
I thought you wanted to see snow?
I do! But... are you sure Greenland has snow? It sure doesn't sound like it. Shouldn't it
be called Whiteland or something?
Of course Greenland has snow! Mrs. Frahler told me today, she did.
Oh! Then is it called Greenland because... because the land is green, under the snow?
So when the snow melts, the land will be green again? Is that why?
Exactly!
But... We can't go there now, because of me... because I forgot the shovels.
That's okay, Josie. Once, Momma took me on a plane to California! See—California is
far away, and the ride was short!
Really? But... planes are faster than anything else!
Oh, well... Ha! Hardly. I have the fastest digging arms in the world! I beat Bill at
digging today at recess, I really did. And I just used my hands, too. No shovels!
How fantastic! Then can we still go?
Of course! But we've wasted a lot of time jabbering.
Grey? Will Greenland have ice?
What?
Will Greenland have... ice?
Probably! Probably—there's snow, so there'd better be ice, too! Snow and ice are both
cold so....
Well that's what you said.
Then of course it's right! Now c'mon, help me dig, or we won't make it back before it gets
light!
Grey....
What is it, Josie?
Do you think I could... bring back some ice?
Sure, anything... Why aren't you helping me dig?
Grey...Grey?
What is it, Josie?
Do you want to see snow, too?
Why of course I do, Josie!
But not as much as I do, right?
Well... well maybe not as much as you do. But only because you talk about it all the
time!
Oh, just to see snow! I can't imagine how pretty the little white flakes are, falling
from the sky! Why doesn't it snow down here? But, you do want to see snow, don't you?
Of course I do!
But not as much as I do, right?
I guess not.
Then what do you wanna see as badly as I wanna see snow?
I'm not sure, Josie. That's a good question.
Your dog? Remember the little one that died as a pup, remember him? Don't you wanna
see him?
Yes. But Papa says he went very far away. I think it's too far to dig.
I think you can do it! Your beat Bill today at recess! You're the best in the class, aren't you!
Yes!
Then we can go to where your pup is, can't we?
Hey! I have an idea! Tonight, we can dig the tunnel to Greenland, and then tomorrow we
can go find your pup!
That sounds nice!
And then, sometimes, we can just dig and dig and dig and dig and dig until our
arms fall off; then whenever that happens we can pop up our heads and see where we've ended up.
That way, after a while, we'll see everything!
That sounds awfully nice. You're real nice, you know, Josie, for letting us go somewhere
else sometimes. Especially to see my pup.
I think you're very nice, too, for taking me to Greenland! Nobody has ever taken me
there before!
Well that's because nobody is as good a digger as I am. We can dig all night, right? Or until
the sun comes up?
Hm... Well it doesn't look like we're getting very far along yet.
My arms are getting tired...
We can always come back tomorrow.
Yes, can we do that? I think after (yawn) tonight's rest, I'll be (yawn) better rested
and stronger....
Sorry you couldn't get your ice tonight, or see the snow.
It's okay, Grey! There's always tomorrow.
Why'd you want ice anyway? Wouldn't you rather want snow?
Yes, but my daddy loves ice. You see, he and momma love cold ice drinks because of the
warm weather. So I just thought that maybe I could bring some back for them. Momma is
always filling Daddy's cup up, even when he doesn't even ask—she just gets up and fills
the cup and all. Sometimes, even, she gets up seven more times, just to fill up his ice
cup! I used to think she would get so tired, so then I asked her why she would fill it
up, even when he didn't ask, and she told me that it's because she loves him.
Is that love? To fill up the person's ice cup when it's hot out?
Well, that's what momma said. And I wanna bring back some ice, because I love my Momma
and Poppa so much.
That's so nice. Josie, you're so, so nice.
Thank you, Grey. I think you're very nice, too.
Josie?
Hm?
One day, when we're older, do you wanna sometimes fill up my cup with ice? I mean, you can sometimes
fill mine and I can sometimes fill yours. We can do that for each other, and nobody
else will have to. Would you like that?
Hm... Sure, Grey, I think I'd really like that.
Well, I'll see you tomorrow then? Don't forget the shovels... I'm getting kinda tired of
using my arms...
Don't worry, I won't forget. So meet you at the same spot? I'll bring the shovels, then
we can see snow, and then we can get ice, and bring 'em back to our mommas and poppas
back home.
Okay.
Do you think they'll smile when they see the ice?
Yeah.