It was a crisp winter afternoon in Mossywood Forest, and snow blanketed the ground, sparkling under the pale sunlight.

Klaus and Ole stood in the clearing, their paws sinking into the fresh powder.

“What if we built a whole snow kingdom?” Ole suggested, his tail flicking with excitement.

“A kingdom?” Klaus echoed, his ears perking up.

“Yeah! With walls, towers, and a grand castle.” Ole spread his paws dramatically. “We could be the richest and most powerful cats in all of Mossywood!”

The idea was too good to resist. They started small, rolling snow into thick blocks for their foundation. The first day was spent crafting the base of their fortress, stomping down snow to form a solid floor and stacking walls high enough to mark their territory.

The next day, they added more—tall watchtowers, a throne room, and a courtyard dusted with pine needles for decoration. Their paws ached, but the excitement of building their empire kept them going. Every morning, they raced to the clearing to expand their kingdom, carving intricate details into the walls and even constructing a system of tunnels beneath the snow. With every addition, their fortress grew grander, and their pride swelled.

But as the days passed, their kingdom demanded more from them. The walls constantly needed reinforcing, the towers leaned under the weight of fresh snow, and the tunnels collapsed unexpectedly. Instead of playing, they spent all their time maintaining their creation, repairing what the wind and time had undone.

One afternoon, Klaus flopped onto a snowbank, exhausted. “I don’t even have time to enjoy being king.”

Ole sighed, brushing the snow from his fur. “Me neither. We’re just working all the time. What’s the point of a kingdom if we can’t even have fun in it?”

They sat in silence for a moment, staring at their masterpiece. It was grand, but it was also a burden. Then Klaus’s ears perked. “What if we keep only the parts we like?”

Ole tilted his head. “Like the throne room and the best towers?”

“Yeah! Just the parts that make us happy.” Klaus grinned. “The rest is just extra work.”

With a renewed burst of energy, they took down the crumbling walls, flattened the towers they didn’t need, and shaped their kingdom into something smaller but perfect. Their throne room remained, along with a sturdy fort and a snow hill for sledding.

When they were done, Klaus sat back, feeling warm despite the cold. Their kingdom wasn’t as huge, but it was exactly what they wanted. He glanced at Ole, who was busy carving new patterns into the throne.

Klaus looked at their new, smaller kingdom. They had traded some towers and tunnels, but in return, they had gained something much better.