Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn – Read and Print

By Rachel Dunstan Muller, copyright 2022

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There were once four sisters who lived in a castle high above the world: Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn. Now, as you’ve probably guessed, these were no ordinary sisters. As the world spun around the Sun, they would each come down in turn to spend time walking on the Earth.

Spring was the youngest of the four sisters, and each year she would skip down from the castle, filled with excitement. “Hello world. Oh, how I’ve missed you!”

There was so much to see and do, Spring hardly knew where to begin. “Wake up, sleepyheads!” she called to the field mice and the bear cubs, curled in their warm dens.

Spring peeled back the snow, and the first blades of grass pushed up from the ground. She ran her fingers over bushes and trees, and the first blossoms appeared.

Everywhere Spring turned, there was new life: baby birds, baby rabbits, baby chicks and lambs and calves. It made Spring so happy, she couldn’t help but dance. And when Spring danced, the whole world danced with her – the leaves on the trees, and the birds in the air, and children’s kites soaring high up in the sky.

But as the days got warmer and longer, Spring began to grow sleepy. It was time to return to her castle home, and for Summer to take Spring’s place.

Now, Summer enjoyed her time on the Earth as well, but she didn’t skip and dance and run like her younger sister. She came down from the castle slowly, gracefully, with her head held high.

Still, the whole world was happy to see Summer. The Sun rose early and stayed up late – as if to spend more time in Summer’s company. The stars sparkled like diamonds – as if they were trying to get Summer’s attention. In fact, it seemed like everyone wanted Summer’s attention: honeybees buzzed around her; wildflowers bloomed wherever she walked; the grain in the fields grew tall and turned to gold.

It made Summer very happy to see so much life. And when Summer smiled, the Sun shone even more brightly, and the birds sang even more sweetly, and the fruit trees grew heavy with ripe plums, and peaches, and cherries.

Summer’s closest friends wanted her to stay forever – especially the children on holidays. But when Summer began to yawn, she knew it was time to return to the castle, and for her sister Autumn to take her place.

Now, Autumn was a bit of trickster. No one ever knew quite what to expect when she showed up. Sometimes Autumn came racing down from the castle as if she were the wind itself. And in truth, Autumn and the wind were best friends. They would get into all kinds of mischief together – rattling windows, tearing clothes from the line.

But Autumn wasn’t always getting in trouble, of course. She would spend hours walking from one end of the Earth to the other. She loved to feel the rain on her cheeks and the wind in her hair. She loved to see all the leaves changing colour – to red, and orange, and gold. And she especially loved watching the animals scurry around, getting ready for the cold and the snow.

“Hello there, Squirrel,” Autumn would call. “What an impressive pile of nuts you’ve gathered!”

“Hello there, Beaver family. That’s a fine looking lodge you’ve built this year.”      

“Hello there, Mama Bear. Almost time to curl up with your bear cubs.”

As the days got shorter and colder, it was Autumn who tucked the hibernating animals into their dens. “Sleep tight,” she whispered. “My sister Winter will be here soon.”

And then, as the last geese flew overhead, Autumn returned to her castle home, and Winter came down to play.

Oh, Winter! She wanted to be everywhere at once, to turn the whole world white. Back and forth she danced, twirling and spinning, painting frost on windows, hanging icicles from trees and roofs. Everywhere Winter went, the ground froze beneath her feet. Ice formed across puddles and ponds, and snow fell until it covered the world like a thick blanket.

The winter animals were very happy in Winter’s company: the snowy owl, and the black-capped chickadee, and the winter chipmunk. Of course, the animals weren’t the only ones who enjoyed the ice and the snow. There were also the children who loved to skate, and sled, and make snow forts.

But then one year, Winter decided that she didn’t want to return to her sisters in the castle. When it was time for Spring to take her place – Winter didn’t budge.

Well, Spring was very confused of course. “What are you still doing here, sister?” she asked Winter. “Aren’t you tired? Don’t you want to go home and sleep?”

“I’m not even a little bit tired,” said Winter. “I’m having far too much fun.”

“But it’s my turn,” said Spring. “It’s always my turn at this time of the year. All the birds and flowers are waiting for me.”

“Well, they’ll just have to keep waiting,” said Winter. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Poor Spring. She tried to wake the sleeping bears, and to coax the first crocuses from the ground. But when they peeked out and felt the icy wind – when they saw how much snow still covered the Earth – they just shivered, and went back to sleep.

Summer came down from the castle next – and she was not happy. “What are you doing?” she said to Winter. “You know you don’t belong on the Earth at this time of the year.”

“I like it here,” Winter said stubbornly. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Now Summer had a very hot temper, and her sister’s words made her angry. And as she grew angry, all the ice and snow around her began to melt. But as soon as Summer moved on to a new spot, Winter came up behind her and froze everything again.

This went on for some time – Summer stretched out her hand and melted the snow, and Winter came behind and froze it. It was very confusing to all the plants and animals. They didn’t know what season it was.

Finally, Summer gave up, and Autumn took her turn.

“Oh, sister,” Autumn said to Winter. “You can’t keep the world frozen forever. It’s not fair to the birds, or the bees, or the fruit trees. It’s not fair to the farmers who grow the world’s food, or the children who want to put their winter coats away.”

But Winter wasn’t listening. Instead she covered her ears and began to spin. She spun so fast that an icy wind began to blow and a blizzard formed around her. The snow fell, and fell, and fell – until the Earth was completely white. 

“What will we do?” Autumn said to her sisters when she got back to their castle. “The animals can’t stay curled in their dens forever. They need food – and so do the people. But there will be no more food if our sister Winter doesn’t leave.”

The three sisters were still trying to come up with an answer – when far below their castle, they heard a little bird. The poor bird was singing to try to keep itself warm. But it gave Spring an idea.

“I know what we can do,” she told her sisters. “We can sing a lullaby to put Winter to sleep.”

“Winter will never listen to us,” said Summer. “She’ll just cover her ears.”

“But what if everyone sings together,” said Spring. “Not just us – but the birds, and the bees, and the animals too. She’d have to listen to that.”

And so it was that for the first time since Time itself began, Spring, and Summer, and Autumn all went down to the Earth together. And together they coaxed all the creatures of the Earth to sing a lullaby to Winter, to put her to sleep. It was the most beautiful lullaby anyone had ever heard. Bees buzzed, and birds chirped, and human mothers hummed. Kittens purred; bear cubs growled; even the whales sang far beneath the waves.

This lullaby did not have any words, but somehow, when you closed your eyes and listened, you could see things in your imagination: morning dew on a spider’s web; shaggy ponies in a summer meadow; trees swaying gently in an autumn breeze.

And did Winter listen to this lullaby? She did! And as she listened, her eyes got heavier and heavier. She yawned – and the ice around her began to crack. She stretched – and the snow began to melt. It wasn’t long before Winter was fast asleep. While Summer and Autumn carried Winter up to her bed in the castle, Spring tiptoed across the Earth, whispering at first, then calling louder and louder, until all the sleeping animals were awake, and all the baby birds had come out of their eggs, and all the buds, and flowers and leaves had begun to stretch and grow.

And as for Winter? Some years she still likes to stay a little longer than she should. But when she does stay too long, her sisters know just the lullaby to put her to sleep.

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