Secrets of the Snow Globe - Vanishing Voices

Louisa is captivated by a light glowing from her Grandma’s musical snow globe.  As she cradles the globe, she is disappointed to discover that the musical box is not working.  Her older brother, Jack, wants the snow globe.  As they squabble over the snow globe, it splits apart. They shrink into the globe.  Stunned, they land in the village centre and meet George, an elderly gentleman.   He explains how The Miser, a selfish villain, stole the villagers’ crystal trumpet.  He placed an enchantment on the trumpet and used it to steal their voices and music.  Without their voices, the villagers demonstrate how difficult and frustrating life is. They are miserable because The Miser has also ruined the I-Sing Music Festival.  The children are sympathetic to the villagers’ plight.  They volunteer to retrieve the trumpet from Vorgenhelm Castle at the top of the mountain where The Miser lives as a recluse.  They hope that if they succeed in helping the villagers, the snow globe will return them to Grandma’s house. George gives Louisa a diamond snowflake which has the power to help them in times of danger. On the journey they battle against ferocious weather and threatening animals. They discover courage, resourcefulness and skills in each other which they had not recognised before. They learn to share and work together. As a result, their brother-sister relationship deepens. After a valiant struggle up the mountain, they discover Vorgenhelm Castle.  They meet The Miser.  He is furious at their invasion and uses his magic against them. After a daring, desperate battle, The Miser discovers that the children have a diamond snowflake. To Jack and Louisa’s surprise, he asks if it was George who gave it to them. At the climax of the story, Jack and Louisa stumble upon the greatest secret of the snow globe. The Miser reveals that he is Harry, George’s brother. He opens his cloak to display a necklace made from, nine, diamond, snowflakes identical to theirs.  Each snowflake possesses a different magical power. The Miser relives the shame of his past actions. His attitude towards the children softens. He tells them that he and George found the magical snowflakes as children in the forest.  The Miser confesses that he was selfish.  He wanted all ten snowflakes for himself. At night he stole George’s share. Gripped with guilt, he fled to the forest. There, he used the power of the snowflakes to build his castle, far away from everyone.   His brother, George, searched for him and decided that Harry had died on the mountain.  No one knew that Harry was really The Miser. Over the years, Harry stole items from the villagers that he thought would make him happy. He stole the villagers’ voices because he had stuttered terribly as a child and everyone teased him.  He wanted them to know what it was like to be unable to talk.  He stole their music because he wanted the happiness that the music brought to the village. The children convince him to return the voices and music and to repair his relationship with his brother, George.  The character arch of Louisa and Jack is mirrored in the arch of George and Harry as they forgive the past and re-form their friendship.  Older members of the village recognise that teasing Harry as a child was wrong and hurtful.  They apologise.  Harry forgives them. As the denouement unfolds, Harry uses the magic of the snowflakes to prepare for the I-Sing Music Festival. The villagers are overjoyed that the festival will take place. Louisa and Jack say goodbye to their friends. As Jack places the villagers’ crystal trumpet in its rightful place, the snow globe transports them back to Grandma’s lounge. They find themselves holding the snow globe and the music box is now working. Grandma is delighted to see them and thrilled that the music in the snow globe is mended.  Finally, Grandma hints that she too has experienced the magic of the snow globe. This plants the seed for the prequel, ‘Secrets of the Snow Globe-Missing ’, revealing the story of Grandma’s adventure in the snow globe when she was a little girl.