I wasn’t planning on writing this, but people keep tagging me, so here we are. First things first: I didn’t “run away.” Something happened the night I woke up in Kovazia. I don’t think everyone has the full story, and honestly, I’m not sure I do either. One moment I was a snowman someone built for comfort, the next I was very aware that I wasn’t just decoration anymore. Koko tells it like I came to life and immediately left her. That’s not wrong… it’s just not complete. There was a moment between those two things. A conversation that wasn’t really a conversation. A choice that felt made for me before I even understood it. I remember the scarf. I remember being expected to stay. What I don’t remember is agreeing. I walked until the lights blurred and the snow stopped crunching so loudly. That’s when I ran into Bubbles. He was sliding back and forth like the world wasn’t ending, which was… grounding. We didn’t talk about Koko. We didn’t talk about why I was there. We didn’t talk at all. That mattered. I still see Koko around. She’s not wrong when she says she was alone. But alone doesn’t always mean abandoned. Sometimes it just means someone else didn’t know how to exist yet. I’m not asking anyone to take sides. I just want it known that the story didn’t start and end the way it’s usually told. Some parts are still missing. — Alfie

My favourite treats are snowcones!