The snow queen stands in her castle tower overlooking her domain. Her world is covered in a thick layer of snow. The air often has the swishing sound as snow softly falls to the ground. Her world glistens as the reflection of the sun returns. While the snow queen is surrounded in such beauty, her heart is still filled with sadness because she longs for a different beauty, a beauty that is filled with colors other than white. She calls upon her servants and sets them out on a journey, each with the same task. Their task is to bring her color to add to her life. Each servant starts out on their dutiful journey, yet each takes a different path. All of them hope that they will be the one that pleases the snow queen. Surely they feel there will be a great reward for taking away the queens sorrow. They know not what they seek or how long of a journey they must take, they only know that only one will be successful and will be held in high regard. The snow queen can not rest after the servants have vanished over the horizon and she is seen staring over the landscape, impatiently waiting for a servants return. Weeks pass by and to her each day seems to go on forever. Finally, a silhouette becomes visible in the far distance. It is indeed one of her servants returning. The queen runs down the stairs of the tower and waits for the gates to open. What is it that my servant has brought to me she wonders. The gates open and the servant enters the castle carrying a small bundle in his hands. He bows before his queen and offers her the treasure he has found. The queen takes the bundle from him and is surprised that beneath the drab colored cloth is a bird cage. She pulls back the cloth and gasps how beautiful! what type of bird is this she inquires? "It is a hummingbird, my Lady, they are the acrobats of the air." The queen admires the bird and such a smile comes on her face, because she has never seen so much color. Every look she takes at the bird makes her gleam with delight as it sits perched upon her finger. While the queen admires her new treasure, she forgets that such a fragile creature needs tender loving care and she exposes it too long to the cold, thus the bird slips from her finger and rests in the palm of her hand. The bird lies motionless and the queen soon realizes that she has taken something that was so hard to get, that took so long to come to her, and was such a special gift of life; and has destroyed it. She drops the bird to the ground as tears begin to whelp up in her eyes. The first tear to fall freezes upon her face as she runs up the tower stairs back to her chamber. Her life was momentarily filled with beauty and happiness; yet by her own neglect, it once again fills with sadness, and she cries, every night, her frozen tears.