A RADIATOR that once lived in an apartment had gotten tired of waiting for the housewife to turn the heating on. Every time she passed in front of him, he tried to wave at her, hoping that maybe the time had come and that he had been neglected. Yet, she simply ignored him, and, the moment she had left, he hid behind the curtain to protect himself from the cold.

"It’s no use trying", a thermometer that was long forgotten at the tabletop nearby told him. "The housewife prefers the stove and the air heater to you". The radiator found it hard to believe. It, then, came to his attention that she would indeed close the door of the kitchen and stay inside it for as long as possible, avoiding the other rooms that were cold. "It's unfair that I have to feel cold because she prefers... stoves and air heaters!", the radiator complained. As soon as he asked the other radiators in the house, however, he got disappointed even more, as the housewife had not lit  them even once. After analyzing the situation, they decided to call a meeting with the other radiators of the apartment block and discuss the issue. If it became apparent that they had been wronged, they would ask to be moved to another apartment altogether.

That same night they all met outside, wearing blankets and scarves to protect themselves from the cold. "The housewife has not even lit us once this year", our good radiator said, and explained how the stoves and air heaters had taken his job, leaving him in the cold. Then one after another each and every radiator of the block admitted they had been equally neglected, and if their owners didn't switch them on soon, they would freeze.

"Maybe there's a problem in the boiler room", a radiator that lived on the ground floor, told them. As soon as they searched the basement, however, they discovered that the boiler was left without fuel. They, then, looked at the bulletin and found the answer to what was puzzling them: the announcement explained that the house lords of the block decided not to use the central heating this year so as to cut costs.

"How could they possibly decide something like this without us?", they all wondered. Then, they kept on discussing for hours, suggesting and counter-suggesting back and forth, never to reach a conclusion. In the end, and seeing the first snowflakes falling outside, they returned back to their apartments. "This is probably my last  night", the poor radiator exclaimed as he covered himself with the curtain for what he thought was his last time.

The next day that he woke up, a surprise awaited him: the house was very warm, and the stoves and air heaters sat idle in their corner. "Seems like they decided to urgently turn the central heating on", the other radiators that had already made the house warm told them.

A simple look at the window outside satisfied his curiosity for the reason behind this seemingly unexplainable stroke of luck. Everything outside was covered with white snow!