Cindersnow Mask Carvers — Winter Festival Character Sheet

The story of Cindersnow Mask Carvers

A fictional story inspired by the artwork.

When the town put its winter masks on display, the youngest visitor walked past every painted face and stopped behind the table. The backs were smooth and pale. She wanted to know whose faces went there. The musk ox, who had carved masks for forty winters, suddenly found himself without an answer.

That evening the six carvers turned their work around. The ptarmigan penciled two small stars beside the place where a dancer's eyes would rest. The hare carved a shallow groove for a nose broken in childhood. The reindeer cut away a little wood to make room for spectacles. Soon the whole table was covered in shavings.

The leopard visited the people who usually watched the winter dance from the door. She brought back measurements, ribbons and one request for a mask light enough to wear while holding a walking stick. The ice drake spent a long afternoon shaving curls from the back of his finest carving.

At the festival, the child recognized every painted face and almost none of the dancers. A woman with a walking stick led the first turn. When she lifted her mask, two small stars were visible inside. The carvers invited her to keep them. She agreed on condition that they teach her to carve next winter.

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