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Tokyo-Montana Express: The Smallest Snowstorm on Record
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The Smallest Snowstorm on Record

by Richard Brautigan

The smallest snowstorm on record took place an hour ago in my back yard. It was approximately two flakes. I waited for more to fall, but that was it. The entire storm was just two flakes.

They fell from the sky in a manner reminiscent of the pratfall poignancy of Laurel and Hardy who, come to think of it, the two flakes resembled. It was as if Laurel and Hardy had been turned into snowflakes and starred in the world's smallest snowstorm.

The two flakes seemed to take a long time to fall from the sky with pies in the face, agonizingly funny attempts to maintain dignity in a world that wanted to take it from them, a world that was used to larger snowstorms, two feet or more, and could easily frown upon a two flake storm.

After they did a comedy landing upon snow left over from a dozen storms so far this winter, there was a period of waiting as I looked skyward for more snow, and then realized that the two flakes were a complete storm themselves like Laurel and Hardy.

I went outside and tried to find them. I admired their courage to be themselves in the face of it all. As I was looking for them, I was devising ways to get them into the freezer where they would be comfortable and receive the attention, admiration and accolades they so beautifully deserved.

Have you ever tried to find two snowflakes on a winter landscape that's been covered with snow for months?

I went to the general area where they had landed. I was looking for two snowflakes in a world of billions. Also, there was the matter of stepping on them, which was not a good idea.

It was only a short time before I gave up realizing how hopeless it was. The world's smallest snowstorm was lost forever. There was no way to tell the difference between it and everything else.

I like to think that the unique courage of that two flake snowstorm somehow lives on in a world where such things are not always appreciated.

I went back into the house, leaving Laurel and Hardy lost in the snow.


Richard Brautigan
The Tokyo-Montana Express