Snow White looked at the little chair she nearly tripped over. Her face broke out into a bright smile.
“What a cute little chair!” She laughed, turning to sit on it. It was so small, even for her, but to its credit it was built very sturdy. As she looked around she saw more of them. Counting out how many there were, not around the dinner table but strewn around. “There’s seven little chairs.” She stood back up and noticed for the first time how small much of the furniture was.
“There’s little furniture everywhere. Must be for seven little children. This must be a children’s house!” Snow White reasoned. Which explained perfectly why there was no one home. Children would be out playing, or in school, or wherever their mother was. Snow White’s eyes adjusted to the dark and noticed how filthy the house was.
“Seven untidy little children.” She said, moving to the crowded table. Piled high with used dishes.
“Look at all of this!” She said, rounding the table her attention was taken straight to the large pickaxe embedded in the table.
“A pick.” She noted,
“A stocking,” She picked up the striped stocking that was hung on it. She could smell something foul in the soup pot. Snow White held her breath and opened the lid, only to be surprised.
“A shoe!” She said, picking up the small leather boot. She dropped it back in the stock pot and the bluebird family perched on the ax whistled in disbelief. She moved from the table to the fireplace on the wall, the main source of cooking in the house. As shown by the build up of ashes in the fireplace. A laundry line was hung on the mantle with random clothes haphazardly draped on it. The mantle itself was decorated in a chaotic clutter of carved statuettes and unused beer steins.
“Look at this fireplace.” Snow White said, taking in a breath and then blowing on the mantle just out of curiosity. A cloud of dust flew up into the air making the critters unfortunate enough to be on the mantle sneeze.
“And those cobwebs!” Snow White pointed up into the rafters, cobwebs so thick and heavy with dust they looked like lace decorations.
“That pile of dirty dishes, my, my, my.” She looked up at the dirty dishes stacked on every available surface.
“Oh!” She cried suddenly rounding the fireplace to look at a little broom that was caged in cobwebs. “Just look at that broom, why they’ve never swept this room!” Snow White could only hold out her arms in disbelief.
“You would think their mother-oh!” Snow White covered her mouth in sudden realization. It was so obvious she couldn’t believe it was only dawning on her now. “Maybe they have no mother.” Her heart filled with grief as she sympathized with the poor uncared for children.
“That’s so sad.” She said. Placing her hand over her heart as she felt tears in her eyes. Remembering how lost she felt after the loss of her own mother. A baby deer leaned on her mother, who instantly comforted her.
“I know!” Snow White perked up excitedly. “We’ll clean the house for them! Then maybe they’ll let me stay.” She unclipped her cape and went to hang it, only to be approached by a pair of song birds who took it from her and hung it up. She looked around as her new friends came, ready and willing to help her. She took stock of what needed doing and how many groups she had.
“Now, you wash the dishes.” She pointed to a crew near the dinner table.
“You tidy the roof.” She pointed to another crew in the rafters.
“You clean the fireplace.” She directed the last crew before taking three strides to the corner and swept the broom up from its forgotten place.
“And I’ll use the broom!” She said lifting the broom into the air. On the table baby bluebird sounded a bugle call to get everyone started. The dishes were swept from the table and dust started falling from the rafters as the cleaning groups chose their starting places and began their work.
“Just whistle while you work,” Snow White sang, whistling her little tune as she picked a corner and began to sweep. “And cheerfully together we can tidy up the place. So hum a merry tune.” The fireplace crew started sweeping the ashes and dust off so Snow White could sweep it up. The tidy crew started picking up the discarded clothes and making piles of things that needed to find a home.
“It won’t take long when there’s a song to help you set the pace.” Snow White swept the room like a dancer, the thought crossed her mind that she was rather like a dancer. “And as you sweep the room, imagine that the broom. Is someone that you love and soon you’ll find you’re dancing to the tune.”
The dishes were being cleaned by the dish crew. Raccoons handing dishes one by one to each other in a line that stopped at a fawn liking the dishes clean.
“Oh! No, no, no, no!” Snow White gasped as she turned around. The dish crew looked up at her confused. “You wash them with the tub.” She directed. Miming how dishes were meant to be washed. After a minute the dish crew got the idea and pushed the supposedly clean dishes into the tub. The fawn running around and taking hold of the pump lever faucet and pumping hard to get the groundwater into the tub.
“If hearts are high, the time will fly. So whistle while you work.” Snow White continued her song. Getting back into the swing of her song. Sweeping her first pile out the door and seeing the piles of laundry getting bigger.
“Oh dear. We need another team for laundry!” She said. “There’s a river right there, why don’t you get to work on this?” She directed a few more woodland critters that were still waiting outside. They came in and began picking up the dirty laundry to take it to the stream for washing. While Snow White swept the rug she turned and noticed a pair of squirrels using their tails to sweep.
“No, no. no.” She corrected as the squirrels started sweeping the dust under the rug. “Not under the rug.” They looked at the dust and then around. Seeing a mouse hole, they gained an idea. Sweeping the dust straight into the mouse hole and looking at each other proudly. A second later all the dust they swept into the mouse hole came blowing back out, the two squirrels dove for cover under the rug. Out of the mouse hole came a mouse, chattering angrily at the squirrels for dirtying up his home. Kicking the last bit of dust into their face. The two critters looked up at Snow White who laughed.
“Serves you right,” She said. “A job worth doing is worth doing right. The first time.” Snow White turned and vocalized her little song as she showed what to do with the dirt as she swept her own pile out the door.
With most of the dust off the floor, Snow White rested the broom and took a rag. Beginning to dust every surface, starting with the strangely carved pipe organ. Looking at all the very well crafted details of the organ. It was made almost entirely of wood. She wanted to try it out when she got a chance and it was clean enough to play.
Around her, the critters also swept the dirt onto the ground from rafters, shelves, and mantles. Snow White held her rag out ahead of her once it was absolutely filled with dust. Shaking it out the window, keeping her face away from the smell of the dusty rag. One of the squirrels that had been dusting saw her shaking out the dust, smiled and jumped to the windowsill and started shaking out his tail. Dust flew out of his fur, leading to him sneezing repeatedly and propelling himself out the window. More squirrels jumped around the rafters twirling their tails in the thick cobwebs to wind them up and clear them out.
A little chipmunk watched the squirrels and decided it looked fun. She jumped up on a dusty cuckoo clock and stuck her tail into a cobweb and found it much more sturdy than she expected. She pulled and rounded her tail but found herself stuck tight. She pulled until the web snapped and she fell. Tumbling head first into a stocking that had been hanging from the coat hook.
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She wasn’t deterred, the little chipmunk climbed back up to the rafters and took an end of the web. Winding it like a ball of yarn. She felt so proud of herself until a hairy house spider slid down the web to look her straight in the eye. After a second of staring at the spider. The chipmunk fled, leaving the cleaning of the rafters to bigger animals.
“Oh, excuse me!” Snow White called, seeing the spider in the rafter. “I’m awfully sorry, but I believe you’ll be more comfortable outside in the garden.” She took a chair and stood up onto it. “May I take you there?” The spider stared hard at her but her smile won him over and he stepped down onto her hand and let her take him out to the garden.
Birds flew in the open windows, bringing fresh flowers into a vase. Cleaning up the fallen leaves and petals. Rearranging the bouquet and bringing a clothful of water to fill the face.
The house was becoming clean, and every inch that was scrubbed clean revealed more clothes and things that needed to be put in their place. The clothes all were brought to Snow White who hung them on the antlers of a buck, putting as much as he could carry on and letting him head out of the cottage and to the laundry team in the river. Birds and the buck dropped the laundry into the river where the team of mostly raccoons were hard at work. Scrubbing the clothes on boulders. Among them was our plucky little chipmunk. Using the shell of a turtle to scrub a shirt. Scrubbing until a pair of birds swooped down and took the clean shirt up into the air. Squeezing the extra water out of it by twisting until the bulk of the water had fallen from it.
Then they went to the laundry line and tied the sleeves into a loose knot. Leaving it to hang on the line. Snow White was busy herself in the garden. Rabbits and gophers helping her find the root vegetables that were ready for harvest. Deer and raccoons were out hunting for firewood for dinner. Bringing it back and piling it neatly on the side of the house. Snow White returned to the cleaned kitchen and began preparing dinner. Washing the roots and cutting them for a hearty vegetable stew. Imagining the poor children probably hadn’t eaten properly in a while, she also got to work on making neat dinner rolls. Working hard to make sure the children’s homecoming would be truly magical.
As hard as she was working, across the mountains were the homes' true owners. Carving out the inside of a mountainside were seven dwarven brothers. Inside what was beginning to take shape as an entry hall, were four of the brothers. Tools in hand and working hard. Carving the intricate details with just as much importance as the vaulted ceilings.
Their work gave the mines a pulse. A low beating from the depths. Married with the heartbeats of the brothers.
We dig
Dig
Dig
Dig in the mine the whole day through
A chant followed the pulse. Deep rumbling voices of the brothers harmonizing in their work.
To dig
Dig
Dig
Dig is what we’re born to do.
The mines were lit by a singular oil lamp near the front of the mines, as the dwarves worked best in the darkness.
A house don’t need a stick nor brick
If you dig, dig, dig with a shovel or a pick
In a mine
The echo made their four voices sound like hundreds.
In a mine
The rumble of a minecart on tracks rumbled from the piles of debris where a fifth brother was parking the cart, pulled by a stag. He shoveled the unwanted rock and dirt into the empty cart.
Where a million diamonds
Shine
Once the cart was full he pulled the cart forward to the turn around and led it back out the entrance of the mines.
We dig
Dig
Dig
Dig from early morn to night
The fifth brother shielded his eyes as he left the dark mines and was flooded with sunlight. A fly flew in and landed on his nose, making him shake his head and swat at it. But the fly easily flew out of reach.
We dig
Dig
Dig
Dig
Dig up everything in sight.
The brother dug around in the back of the cart until he found a root branch. Watching the fly carefully, the brother brought the switch down hard. He missed the fly but hit the stag, who did not take kindly to the sudden slap. Kicking the cart hard enough to throw the fifth brother into the dirt.
We dig up diamonds by the score
Thousands maybe sometimes more
On a makeshift table to the left of the mines was the eldest and the youngest brothers together. The jewels were shoveled into a secure contraption that resembled a water wheel. The jewels were lifted from their place on the wheel and dropped into a sturdy silo that had a chute that dropped onto a box where the eldest brother was inspecting the jewels for authenticity and purity.
We dig them up to build the horde
We dig
Dig
Dig
Dig
He adjusted his glasses and picked up a beautiful diamond and held it up to the light. Watching it glisten. He narrowed his eyes and picked up a jeweler’s hammer and gave it a couple of hits. Hearing it ring like a bell. Pleased, the eldest brother separated the diamond into the diamond sack. He then picked up a ruby and looked at it in the light, before giving it a few taps. His face souring at the horrid clanging noise the ruby made. He tossed the ruby over his shoulder. Turning his nose up at the imperfect gem.
The ruby bounced along the ground and fell to the youngest’s feet. He swept it up with the rest of the gems that were imperfect. Sauntering off to the edge of the mountain side and threw it off. He came back to his eldest brother’s side as he picked up a brilliant spring green emerald. The eldest brother took a small jeweler’s glass and looked deeply into the emerald, hunting for imperfections. The youngest watched but his eyes traveled down to a pair of diamonds sitting on the desk. He got an idea and picked them up. Grinning from ear to ear. The youngest brother was the only one of the seven who didn’t seem able to grow a beard. So though he had the same round rosy cheeks, his chin seemed nearly non-existent.
The eldest felt a tug on his sleeve and he turned around and was startled by the scene. The youngest had put the diamonds in his eyes so that his blue eyes were reflected in every face of the gems. When his brother looked at him, he made a silly face and wiggled his ears. His brother bit back a smile.
“Stop that.” He said and playfully knocked the gems out of his brother’s face. He shook his head as his brother giggled, wiggling his ears. A mechanical click got their attention. Carved into the nearest tree was a large clockwork clock. Its face showed five and its insides opened up and revealed a pair of wooden dwarves that came out and struck the anvil. Ringing out five strikes for the hour.
The boys grinned. The eldest turned and called out over the humming from the mines.
“Heigh-Ho!” His voice rang and echoed through the walls. The remaining five brothers paused their work and looked up to the mouth of the mines.
“Heigh-Ho!” They called back. Snuffing out the lantern and falling into step one behind another. Marching out of the mine with their axes on their shoulders. Meanwhile, the eldest and the youngest cinched up the bags of jewels and threw them into the hastily made vault. The youngest tripped and rolled into the vault with his bag. Rushing out a minute later and locking the vault up tight.
He ran to follow his brothers only to realize he was still holding the key. He ran back and looked around. Confused about where he was supposed to place the key before hanging it on a peg beside the vault door.
“Heigh-ho, heigh-ho. It’s home from work we go,” The chant rang out through the mountain road. The eldest leading with a lantern and the youngest bringing up the rear with another lantern.
“This walk kills me.” One of the brothers huffed.
“Well, it uh, it won’t be long now, men. Our new home is coming along ricely, eh no, ticely, ah. Nicely!” He cleared his throat to clear his stammer.
“Feels like it’s been forever since we seen our girls.” Yawned one near the back.
“Yeah, and our little cousins.” Said another next to him. “They’d be getting big enough to raise their own little axes, about now.”
“Soon we’ll have our girls and littles runnin’ round this mountain like rabbits!” Laughed the third in line.
“Hope so. Starting to even miss the sound of ‘em colicky ones.” Said the second eldest.
“Buck up men, look at that sunset!” Said the eldest. Pointing over the edge of the mountain cliff and to the swirling colors of the sun setting. Leading them all to sigh and continue their march along the fallen trees used as a bridge and toward their home.
