3rd December

Vince slept late again until the girls woke him up by bouncing on his bed. Reluctantly he took a shower and put on fresh clothes. He wondered if he had enough clothes for a full week because originally he had planned to visit his uncle and his aunt would have washed his clothes. He was too shy to ask Stacy about it. The breakfast was much livelier with Stacy and the girls. They asked him all kind of things about the city, school and other species that he barely had time to eat. They were very curious about everything.

"Let him eat, will you?" Stacy scolded them. "I am sorry Vince. The girls did only once leave this valley to visit one of their uncles but this also was just a few kilometers away. We teach them here because school is too far away." Vince nodded and finally got to drink his cocoa and eat something. His answers had been very short because he still was shy around them and being the center of attention embarrassed him a bit.

After dinner Stacy looked for some warmer clothes for Vince because everything he had was not fit to go outside in this snow. She found a few old clothes from her deceased husband. They were a bit too big for him but with a belt and his normal clothes underneath he could at least wear them without falling over his own feet. Tracy and Lilla dragged him with them outside and they met up with other children on the street.

"These are Mia and Alia Purrington." Tracy explained. "They are our best friends and our mothers have been friends since their childhood." - "Miles Purrington" A boy, a bit taller than all the other snow leopard children he met yet reached a paw out to him. "Nice to meet you, finally someone who is not all giggling." He shot a glace to his sisters, Tracy and Lilly who were whispering and giggling.

"I am Vince Woods." The wolf pup shyly answered and took the paw of Miles. "Are all in this town snow leopards?" He realized that the question was a bit blunt but he could not take it back. He watched his feet in embarrassment. "Not anymore. There is now a wolf here." Miles answered and laughed at the funny face of Vince. A short while later Vince laughed as well. Miles was warm and friendly and Vince directly knew that he liked him. For some reason it did not matter that Vince was shy. Miles just took the lead and did not mind it.

"Snowball fight!" Tracy called and a snowball landed on the shoulder of Miles. "Now you did it." He shouted back and started to create his own snowballs. "Come on Vince! We will show them! Boys against girls!" Vince was a bit hesitant. "I never did this before. How do I play it?" Miles looked at him a bit surprised but then he explained. "First you have to form a snow ball like this." He showed Vince by creating a snowball. "Make sure it is hard enough so you can throw it but not too hard so it does not hurt." He squeezed the snow to make a nice ball but showed Vince that it still was soft. "Then you just throw at them. Try to not hit the head in case the ball is too hard. But everything else is allowed." With these words he jolted the ball and hit Mia at the legs.

The snowball fight escalated quickly and soon even Vince laughed and shouted excited tossing snow balls around. He got excited about this new game. He never had played in the snow before but he already liked it. Except for it being cold it was wonderful. It was soft under his feet or when he fell down and the snow balls were just right for the game. They did not hurt but they flew where he tossed them.

After the fight they took a break and then the other kids showed him how to build a snow man and form angels in the snow. Vince played as excited as them and when they went home in the evening he was exhausted from the play and for the first time was not sorry for him ending up in this valley but happy for this nice new experience. Within this one day he already wished to stay here for the rest of the vacation. Sure he liked his uncle Jaimy but it was something else to play with children. And this here was an experience he would never get with Jaimy. He just wished this week would not end.