Frost

The Boy

Prologue

There was a time that I almost died. I was only five. I was lost in the forest in the bleak mid winter far from home. I don’t remember how I got lost, but I remember the fear that I felt and how cold I was. I was colder than I had ever felt.

“Help! Help! Somebody! Anybody!” I kept screaming, hoping that someone would hear me. It was getting dark; it was already night and it the chill was coming on fast ready to kill. I had walked for miles with no sense of direction and the snow started to fall.

I soon came upon a clearing and saw the most beautiful lake that I have ever seen. It was frozen over and it looked like diamond shining like a star in the sky. The snow glittered and I was drawn to it like a soul to The Light. As I walked I tripped on a tree root and fell on my face and I started to cry.

“Are you alright?” a kind and gentle voice asked. I looked up to see a boy much older then me, staring down at me with concern eyes.

He was very tall, had pale skin, so pale, yet it didn’t look sickly on him, rather it suited him. His eyes were a bright blue and his hair was silver white. He was very beautiful and yet he was strange, when I saw his clothes: he wore brown pants that were torn and fringed at the end that only touched the bottom of his calves, he wore a long dark white sleeved shirt and he wore a dark brown cloak with a hood with fur trim. He held a long wooden staff that was covered in frost and snow and I swore with blue stones. But perhaps the strangest of all, was that he wore no shoes at all.

I was silent for a while.

“I’m lost.” I whispered.  And he surprised me when he removed his cloak and wrapped me in it.

“Don’t worry! I never get cold!” he said in a voice that was filled with laughter and mischief. He bent down to me and smiled.

“I will get you home, where do you live?” he asked.

“Frysta.” I said. His eyes lite up with recognition and said, “I know just where to go!” and with that he lifted me with ease and placed me on his back.

“Hang on tight.” He warned and he ran.

We travel at such speed I thought we were flying. We glided over hills, and we danced through trees and his staff, it seemed, to emit a strange glow that made the grown things froze. I was laughing and so was he. Finally we reached the woods outside of town.

“Here, I will show you were I live.” I said and I guided him to a house on the edge of town near the woods.

I walked up to my house and he opened the front door. My grandmother would later tell me that a breeze of snow air came through the house and she saw the boy and I, and she was oh so happy. I remember her fretting over me but I do not recall what happened next, only that he played with me for the rest of the evening and we had fun. My brother Hans came in and we had dinner. But what I most remember is that later that night I woke up and went down stairs, and saw my savior leave.

“Wait!” I called out and he froze at the door.

“Why are you leaving?” I asked him.

“I have to go, now.” He said.

“Will you stay for the night?” I begged him. He shook his head no.

“I can’t. I have to go now.” He explained.

“I don’t want you to go!” I pouted. He laughed at that and he came to me and bent down so we saw eye to eye.

“I know you don’t. But, I have to go. I have to do my job, but don’t cry, I will be back.” He told me.

“Do you promise?” I asked. He held out his pinkie finger.

“I promise.” He said and I took my pinkie in his.

“Soon?”

“Someday.” He responded and with that we sealed the deal.

“Wait! Let me get you something!” I said and went to look for something; my brother Han’s shoes. I think they were around the same age and he had a pair that was old and he did not wear anymore. Once I had found them, I rushed back to the door, only to find that he was not there. I opened the door and raced outside to where he was; just on the edge of the wood.

“Hey! Wait!” I called out. He turned around in surprise.

I was out of breath when I got to him but I showed him my gift. He raised his eyebrow.

“Shoes. You need shoes.” I said breathless. And he laughed at that.

“My dear, I do not get cold at all! But I will take them as a gift.” He said.

“Its for saving me.” I explained. He smiled as he placed them on his feat.

“Ay, it was nothing at all.” And once they were on his feet he began to walk.

“Wait! My name is Anya!” I suddenly shouted. He stopped and turned around and looked at me. And he spoke in a voice that sounded it was filled with snow.

“I am Jack Frost, the Guardian of Winter, Ice, and Snow.”