The Legend of the Carnival
Residents cheered as the sound of music blared across the small town of Willow Creek. The summers were relentlessly hot and the annual carnival was a beacon of joy and cold treats.
Yet this year was not without controversy. A stranger had joined the crew with an electric plane and a strange contraption strapped to its back. He claimed he could conjure snow.
“Mark my words. That man is nothing but an old-fashioned conman,” the cynical Mr. Jenkins remarked. “I’ve seen my share of tricksters who have sold the town on empty promises. Snow? In Willow Creek? It hasn’t happened in decades.”
“Don’t be so quick to judge, Mr. Jenkins,” the sweet Mrs. Bunker chimed in. “He’s not trying to sell magic. The papers say it’s all science. If he says he can bring snow, we should give him a chance.”
The carnival setup overnight. The noise was unbearable, and few were able to sleep the whole night. Big tents self-assembled as the pieces snapped into place. Clowns put on their best makeup and went around the grounds in funny clothing. Though everyone’s attention was on this man and his plane.
“I’ll tell you, Gemi,” Mrs. Bunker said to her wide-eyed daughter. “If he can bring snow in this heat, it would be quite something.”
“You can say it’s science, or it’s magic, but I refuse to believe it,” Mr. Jenkins grumbled.
“Wow, we’ve got quite a crowd here,” the pilot said with a great deal of enthusiasm. “Good morning! Are you ready for some snow?”
The children cried out in excitement, but the adults remained silent.
“Very well. Stand back now.”
The rotor on his plane began spinning and he began lifting into the air. Everyone stared in amazement as it raced into the clear, blue sky.
He dove up and down, pulling off fancy tricks which appealed to some of the crowd, but there was no indication of snow.
Then the man turned on the machine. A thin trail of white vapor started streaming behind. The skeptics chuckled, unimpressed by the attempt.
But then, the impossible happened.
The tiny crystals of ice began shimming in the sunlight like diamonds. They started to gather together in clumps, casting a shadow upon the ground.
“Is that it then? Just a few clouds?” Mr. Jenkins chortled.
“No, look!” Gemi pointed at something very faint.
A soft, feathery snowflake danced across the sky, falling slowly towards Gemi. As it came close, she opened her mouth. As it landed on her tongue, she squealed with delight.
“It’s raspberry!” she shouted.
“What was that dear?” Mrs. Bunker didn’t understand.
“The snow tastes like raspberries.”
“That can’t be dear.”
Another flake fell down and landed in her mouth. She tasted the snow as it melted in her mouth.
“It’s lemon and lime!” she exclaimed.
Every snowflake seemed to contain a different, delightful flavor. The children erupted with laughter as they raced across the grounds to taste them all and compare which cloud was the most delicious.
Mr. Jenkins held out his hat and began to collect different flavors.
“Well Mr. Jenkins, are you still skeptical? He must’ve seeded the clouds with flavorings.”
“I thought I’ve seen it all,” he laughed at himself. “But I guess the world can still surprise us sometimes.”
The shaved ice made that day was an ethereal treat which became a legend in Willow Creek. When the circus returned the year after, the stranger didn’t return. His whereabouts are still unknown, but he delighted people everywhere he went.
The carnival transformed into a celebration of the impossible, a remembrance of the day a town of skeptics turned into believers.
While weather machines are typically seen as wild speculative fiction, we can kinda do it. Or at least we understand the science of how to do it. Cloud seeding is a method of geoengineering to increase clouds, which is one theoretical way to reduce sunlight and heat in an era of climate change. Maybe you could use it for other novelties as well.