C'mon! C'mon! Could the clock be moving any slower? Only 20 minutes left before we'd be starting our Christmas Break. Two weeks off and I was gonna love every minute of it! One thing I was especially looking forward to was the annual snowball fight between Faraday Grammar School and our arch-rivals, Waterford Elementary.

After the bell sounded at 3 o'clock, everyone bolted out the doors to catch their school buses. On the way home, my buddies and I huddled together to discuss our strategy for this year's snowball fight. Our leader was Jerry Douglas. We had never won a battle until Jerry transferred to our school last September. He had the reflexes of a jungle cat and made the best snowballs so we put him in charge. 

The kids from Waterford Elementary had been let out a half-hour earlier so we had to be careful as we headed for home. They could be lurking behind a pile of snow or some cars at the side of the road. The first snowball of the year was fired off just as Jerry exited the bus. But this was no ordinary snowball. It caught Jerry right in the back of the head sending him to the ground. When we ran over to check on him, all that remained was a pile of snow. 

"What's the big idea Bro?" my friend Dusty shouted at one of the kids from Waterford. "Wasn't us dude. I have no idea who threw that snowball. We play by the rules. And rule number one is never aim for the head." Soon two more snowballs were thrown, this time they took out Dusty and the other kid. Much like Jerry, the pair were also reduced to a pile of snow. 

The ground beneath us began to rumble as if we were having an earthquake. Ice pellets started to fall from the sky peppering my face as they soon turned into balls of hail. Once the storm had ended, a massive creature stood before us holding a fiery snowball. "I am The Ice Giant and this is my battleground!" the creature roared. "Snowball fight!" one of the kids from Waterford cried out as he hit the monster in the head with a snowball. "Uh oh!" he muttered. Bad move bro. He was abruptly turned into a pile of snow.

Some of the lucky ones from our group managed to escape the giant's wrath. Unfortunately I was trapped with a collection of students from both schools. We all stood around in a daze afraid to speak to one another. "I think it's time our two school call a truce and join forces" a kid named Bryan suggested. "I agree" my buddy Elliott interjected. "We need to get away from that monster and come up with a battleplan" Sasha added. 

While the other kids and I went to find a hiding place, the Ice Giant continued his rampage. He was turning everything and everyone into piles of snow. It seemed as though nobody was going to be able to stop the marauding giant. As he continued to lay siege to the city, our group began having its own problems. The silly rivalry between our two schools had been going on for decades. I don't know how or why it started. It's just the way it was. That rivalry continued to fester as we tried to come up with a plan to stop the monster.

Even in an emergency situation we couldn't put our petty differences aside and work as a team. Bryan and Sasha stood in the background as a kid named Carl tried to take over. Elliott and Emerson were seething but refused to say a word. "Listen, this whole thing needs to end. It seems as if we're always in competition. Whether it's at a spelling bee or basketball game, we're always trying to outdo one another. Enough! Like it or not we're in this together and that's the way it is. Now, who's with me?" I roared.

Much to my surprise everyone agreed to join the fight as a team. Apparently I had become the leader which was pretty cool. There was a small problem however. I, uh, had no plan. "Hi, I'm Sasha." It was the cute redhead from Waterford. "Great speech. You're so brave" she swooned. I always get tongue-tied around girls and so I just gave her a thumbs up. I know, real smooth Bon. Looks like I was going to have to do something heroic now. But what?

"So, what's the plan?" Carl asked in a sarcastic tone. He was such a little jerk but I couldn't lose my temper. "We're all incredible snowball fighters. Both of our teams are so good that no other school wants to challenge us. I say we start packing some snowballs and then let The Ice Giant have it. I'll go first." I picked up a snowball and threw it as hard as I could at the massive monster. "Okay fellas, fire away!" But my makeshift army of snowballers had all run away. The Ice Giant tossed me aside before he scooped up Sasha. 

"Ice Giant! Where have you been?" "Mama Ice Giant? What are you doing here?" "Have you been trying to destroy mankind again? Bad boy! If you don't drop that girl and come home with me right now I'm gonna call a jolly, chubby friend of mine." "You don't know Santa Claus" The Ice Giant scoffed. "Oh no? Well I just happen to have him on speed dial. Here I go....." "No! Don't!" the Ice Giant began to sob.