Introduction

“Ice Age...meh...Home Alone...horrible film...Frosty the Snowman...juvenile...Frozen...” Sonia paused. “That one might work.”

“I agree”, said Angela, “We’re both done our work, so let’s watch Frozen!”

Ensconsed in the library after a long day of school, Sonia and Angela scrolled through Disney+ as they waited for Madi and Sumin to arrive at the Cuspidor editors’ meeting.

But not ten minutes into the movie, the two sensed a sinister presence in the library. Pausing the film, Sonia turned around in her seat.

“Who’s there?”

A gust of freezing wind, blowing in through the now-open window, was her only response. The air quickly grew chilly, prompting Angela to look behind her as well. Her eyes opened wide in shock, but before she could run, or even open her mouth to speak, the cold took her as well.

____

Entering the library a few minutes later, Sumin was surprised not to hear the voices of her fellow editors. As she approached the couch where Angela and Sonia had been sitting, she let out a scream. Instead of two editors, two ice statues resembling them sat in their place. At that moment, Madi entered the library as well.

“I’m sorry I’m late--is everything okay?” she yelled, from her position by the door. A few seconds later, she saw for herself what had happened.

“How could this have happened?” asked Sumin, once she had finally recovered from the shock.

“I don’t know,” replied Madi, “But we have to save them, somehow...”

As the two un-frozen editors inspected their frozen counterparts, Sumin noticed something.

“Look, Sonia’s hand is pointing at something!” she said, looking in the direction of Sonia’s outstretched frozen finger, “She’s pointing at her laptop screen...maybe she was trying to tell us something.”

Madi glanced at the screen.

“Only an act of true editorship can thaw a frozen heart,” she read, from the subtitle to the movie paused onscreen. “What’s an ‘act of true editorship’?”

“Maybe if we finish the Cuspidor issue...” began Sumin.

“...We can save them.” finished Madi, grimly. “Let’s get to work.”

____

After several hours of editing and InDesign-wrangling, Madi and Sumin exported the final Cuspidor as a PDF. Right on cue, as if by magic, the ice statues of Angela and Sonia began to defrost.

“You did it,” cheered Angela, “You saved us!”

“Anytime,” said Sumin, smiling, “But can we close the window now?”