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Afel was only a very small boy when he first saw snow . But it wasn ’ t real snow that he saw . No , there was no real snow where he lived . He saw the snow in a picture book . The book had lots of pictures of children playing in big white fields . He asked his mother ,“ What are those white fields ?” and his mother laughed and said “ That ’ s snow !” She tried to explain to him what snow was , but Afel didn ’ t really understand .

Sometimes there was rain where he lived , but not very much , so it was very difficult for him to understand what this cold , ice rain that his mother described was . It didn ’ t matter . Even when he was only a very small boy , Afel was already in love with snow . He dreamed about snow all the time , trying to imagine how it really was . He thought of big white fields . He thought of the big , heavy clothes the children playing in the snow wore . He thought about feeling cold . He dreamed of being able to fly across the white fields of snow.

Then, when Afel was twelve years old , the next thing happened . One day he was watching the tv at his uncle ’ s house . His uncle had a big new tv , with all the satellite channels . Afel was watching one of the satellite channels , and a programme came on , and the programme was full of snow . Lots and lots of it . And not only snow – there were people flying across the snow . They looked like strange animals , like fantastic birds . They had hats which covered all their heads and big goggles over their eyes . They wore brightly - coloured clothes . And on their feet , they had things that looked like strange shoes .

What are those ?” he asked his uncle excitedly . “ Skis ,” replied his uncle , “ And those people are called skiers .” Afel was in love . Here was the snow , and here were people who were flying across the snow . It was just like one of his dreams . It was perfect . At that moment , he decided . He wanted to be a skier . He asked his uncle what the programme was . “ The Winter Olympics ,” said his uncle . “ It ’ s like the normal Olympics , but for sports where you need snow – skiing , ice skating , bobsleigh , those sorts of things . They have it every four years .” Afel found out that the next Winter Olympics was in Vancouver in Canada , in 2010 . “ Perfect ,” he thought . “ Enough time for me to become a brilliant skier . Then I ’ llgo to the Winter Olympics , and win the gold medal for skiing.