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Midwinter had come to the small fluffy forest, which had become fluffier than ever with the white glittering snow piled up on the pines, birches, and little rose hip bushes. Everything was round, soft, endless, and white like the biggest cloud in the world. Here and there, the faces of small forest animals peeked out from the snowy branches, jumping around to keep warm, and snow fell from the branches.

Fli could watch this snowy picture for hours through the window of the room, but every time Ber suggested they go for a walk, she sighed sadly.

"This snow is so deep and vast. I'll fall into it and you'll never find me again."

Indeed, the snow reached up to Ber's knees, while Fli was so tiny and delicate, the size of a small black snowflake.

However, Ber thought it was unhealthy to sit inside all the time, so one day he came up with some special equipment for Fli, namely a long thin stick with a flag at the end.

"Here," said Ber, "we'll attach it to you, and even if you fall in the snow, I'll always know where you are."

"Oh," whispered Fli admiringly, "I don't know what to say."

This was probably the closest thing to a compliment that Fli had ever uttered, and Ber secretly smiled.

The two of them decided to go to the forest snow slide on Saturday. The entire Friday before that, there was feverish preparation in the Ber's cottage. Ber was waxing his skis to slide faster, while Fli was knitting gloves and a hat from the spiderwebs in the corner. The spider was a little concerned because it watched her fixedly with all four pairs of eyes, and if she got too close, it would snap its jaws. So Ber had to come and respect the spider while Fli took the necessary amount of spiderweb.

"He doesn't need all of it," Fli justified herself. "Besides, a new spiderweb can always be made, right, spider?"

The spider replied with a strong tingling of its teeth, but Ber threatened it with a finger, causing it to back away. Then Fli made beautiful gloves, a hat, and a scarf from the gathered spiderweb and didn't take them off all day, even though Ber laughed at her.

"You'll sweat like that."

"No, no," Fli puffed and sweated. - No, no - Muh was puffing and sweating.

In the end, she took them off because it was time for an afternoon snack, and everyone knows how hard it is to eat with one-finger gloves and a scarf. After that, Ber made Fli an amazing sled from a bean pod, and there was nothing in the world that could get Fli off the sled. It wasn't until evening, when her eyelids began to droop, that Ber delicately picked her up and carried her to her bed.

Fli woke up and murmured, "Is it time to ski?"

"Almost. Go to sleep now."

 

 

"I won't be able to fall asleep," murmured Fli. A second later, she was already sound asleep, flapping his wings.

Ber checked if his skis were smooth enough, then lay down too. In the morning, he managed to get up before Fli to make sandwiches and hot tea, which he poured into a large thermos. Then they both got dressed, Fli put on his silk gloves and hat, while Ber slipped on his massive boots and even more massive coat. Before they left, Ber tied Fli's easy-to-spot equipment around him. Fli flew around, hiding behind a bookshelf and calling out,

"Do you see me?"

"Y-y-yes," Ber yelled back.

"And now?" Fli shouted from behind the teapot.

"Y-y-yes," Ber replied again.

"Well, now?" Fli persisted.

"And now I still see y-o-o-o-u," Ber confirmed. "And why are we shouting?"

"Just in case," Fli said.

"Come on, enough dawdling," Ber hushed her. "It's time to go."

"It's time!" Fli exclaimed bravely. Then she fell silent for a moment and added softly, "Ber, I'm a little scared. There will be all kinds of animals there and they'll be moving fast. And I'm scared of the icicles."

"Don't be afraid - reassured her Ber. I am with you. No icicle can harm you when we are together."

"Okay then," Fli gathered his courage. "Let's go."

"Let's go-o-o," Ber opened the door with a flourish, and the two of them went out.

Fli hid for a moment in Ber's fur when she saw the endless deep snow in front of her, but quickly get herself together and started flitting around. The two walked along the beaten path. They passed the curve and Fli shouted, "Let's go-o-o!"

"Yes, let's go-o-o!" Ber shouted. His shout shook the branches of the trees, and snow fell around them.

Soon they came to a wide clearing, where all the hills could be seen lined up one after another and dressed in their white snowy clothes.

"Look at them, like little sheep," Fli rejoiced.

"Even more beautiful," said Ber.

Unknowingly, the two arrived at the forest slide, where there was hustle and bustle. The animals were sliding down the hill on their sleds, laughing and laughing. The sun illuminated their reddened faces and frosted mustaches.

Fli was laughing too.

"Come on, let's slide down too," she said.

"Let's go, let's go," Ber smiled. They climbed to the top of the slide. Ber put on his skis, and Fli sat in her awesome sled made of bean pods.

"We're doing it," Ber said reassuringly.

"Yes, we're doing it," Fli said, not entirely convinced.

"Don't be afraid, I'm with you."

"You're the scared one," Fli retorted. "Not me."

"That's right," Ber agreed and pushed the small sled down the icy slope.

Then he pushed off with his ski poles and flew down. From the sled could be heard joyfully and excitedly shouting, "Wheee! I'm flying!"

Indeed, Fli was skilled at skiing and slaloming between the other animals with their sleds, and guess what, she was even faster than them because Ber had made a really great sled. When they reached the bottom, Fli exclaimed in excitement, "Let's go again!"

"Let's go," Ber agreed.

The two climbed up and skied down all afternoon until they became completely snow-covered and wet. The sun was slowly setting in the west when Ber said, "Okay, enough, it's time to go back."

"Aww," Fli protested. "Let's go just one more time."

"Alright," Ber agreed.

They skied down just one more time at least five times, and finally, Ber said sternly, "We're leaving now."

"Alright, alright, just one last last time!" said Fli pleadingly.

"Okay, but really the last time," promised Ber.

They climbed up the hill again, and just before they descended, Fli looked up.

"Ber, look, it's snowing."

Ber looked up.

"Yes, indeed," he said, sticking out his tongue, on which a fat snowflake fell.

"They look like little flies," said Fli.

"They do," agreed Ber, secretly spitting out the snowflake.

But Fli wasn't looking at him, she was waving her arms with all her might at the snowflakes.

"Oh, how beautiful they are and how many there are! They must have come all the way from St. Petersburg."

"Hmm, maybe," said Ber.

"Do you know any of these snowflakes?" Fli asked him seriously.

"Well, I don't remember meeting them before," replied Ber.

"Maybe I can name them," Fli exclaimed. "This one will be called Maya, this one will be Iva, this one will be Petra, this one Gala, this one will be Yasmin, this one Deby, this one Bobby, this one Virginia, this one Carmen, this one Odeta, this one Isabella, and this one Maeva."

Ber watched the delicate dance of the snowflakes falling on the forest, trying to remember their names: Maya, Iva, Gala, Yasmin, Bobby, Deby... was there a Lilly? He sighed and gave up, deciding instead to remember the heartwarming picture of the little fly sitting in its bean shell sled, trying to come up with names for each snowflake.