Oblivion (Short Story)

February 24

It was not very nice to see a road blanketed with thick white fur-like snow, but for Janna, it was a perfect view. Chilly Saturday morning plus gingerbread scented room and a mom holding a cup of hot chocolate can never be even better than any other days.

"Dear, just call me when you need anything, a'right?," and a soft lips touched the top of her head. 'Oh this is life,' her mind continued to tell as she took a sip on her steamy hot chocolate. Wonder if she noticed that it was not the usual cocoa her mother uses?

She sprung from her bed towards her phone on the bedside table, grabbed and opened her contacts. Surprisingly unsurprising for her, she had only one name in the contacts. Her mom. She sighed deeply like it came from the underworld and stared from afar. The road seemed empty just like her heart.

"I wonder if they still remember me...," she mumbled before sipping once again. But something hit her head.

"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed before she realized that the snow ball didn't hit her head, only the window's glass. Her cup of hot chocolate spilled on her sweater because of her sudden jolt in nervousness. The steam from the hot cup seemed to shoot up to her nose as she fumed in anger when her favorite sweater got some splatter.

She got up from the couch and stormed right away to see who almost "hit" her with a snowball on such a good day. For her, at least. She even wore her bunny slippers just to get some grip of herself, thinking that wearing such childish thing would make her look any fiercer. But in reality, it didn't. Upon banging the door open, a cute little boy was already in front of it but was taken a little bit back because of the impact.

Twinkling eyes. Pouting little red lips. Wind messed chestnut hair. About 3 1/2 feet tall. The kid in front of her was impossible to be shouted or even just reprimanded because the moment you laid your eyes on him, the sight will melt your heart.

"I'm s-sorry. My brotha dodged it to you. Sorry," he said with his hands on his back. He didn't even looked her. He just stayed and looked downward. So cute that she wasn't able to resist to pinch his reddish cheek.

"Okay. Apology accepted. How can I even resist such cuteness?" she uttered. She even forgot about her almost hitting event and the spill of her hot choco. All thanks to this little cute guy. A smile lit up from his face and pointed to the far side of the road.

"I'm Jack, that's my brotha, James," he mumbled almost soft as a whisper. Her gaze followed his point and saw another cute guy but he's a lot older than Jack. He's in her age, she thought. He's scratching the back of his head and his face is red as Jack's lips, well, almost.

"Hey, did you just let this little guy here go on his own and you just stand over there?" she toned her voice a pitch higher and squinted her eyes towards that guy. How could he let Jack knock on a stranger's door alone?, she thought to herself. But the guy from the other side didn't answer. Instead, he bent down, rolled a handful of snow and throw it to their direction. And as expected, the ball landed directly on her face. And a burst of laughter echoed from the man.

"Wth? You got serious problem, dude!" she exclaimed as she tried to wipe off the snow from her face and hair. The little guy beside her let go of a soft chuckle, not like something to be mad of but something adorable. She shot dagger glares to the boy on the other side of the road as if it's going to kill him. But of course, looks can't kill but snow balls do, sort of. She rolled her pink knitted sweaters up 'til elbows and start making a huge snowball for revenge. The guy got his eyes grow wider with a hint of shockness but excitement followed.

She ran towards the other side of the road and Jack ran after her. They threw massive snowballs to the weird guy, of course Jack's only got cute sized balls but still quite helpful. Their tandem went smoothly until after few seconds, they got the boy laying down on his back with a face and half torso covered with snow. It's was then their turn to laugh their asses off.

Janna was too busy laughing that she didn't realized that James got on his feet and stared at her. When she felt a sudden awkwardness and a little bit self-consciousness, she stopped and fixed her clothes and hair. That made the guy smile.

"I'm James, sorry for a war-like introduction. This is my glacier kingdom, Ice Princess.", he said and took her hand. She didn't know what to do so she just let herself go with the flow. He reached for her hand and soft lips touched it. Maybe it was unnoticeable but it was clearly obvious that Janna turned stiff like a log and red as her cherry lipgloss.

"My pleasure to meet you, Ice Princess," he said in a glorious manner. That made Janna blush even more. She slowly took her hand and bowed a little. Until it hit her that a minute already passed yet she didn't still introduce herself.

"I-I'm no Ice Princess. Janna's the name," she muttered silently, almost soft as the softest whisper. Maybe it was even inaudible but it didn't matter to her at least. She still couldn't get her gaze straight to his eyes but she sudden remembered why she started the 'Ice War'. Anger shot up again.

"Hey jerk, why did you let her cross the road alone? Didn't you know that it was too dangerous for him? The road is slippery and wet! And why did you throw me with snowballs? What the heck is wrong with you? Are you nuts?" she retorted. Amusement was all painted to James' face and it was clearly obvious why. One second she's a princess, a warrior in another. 'She's something,' he said to himself. But she didn't expect that the little guy would answer for his brother.

"Don't be mad with my brotha. He's kind, Janna! I steal his chocolates from his bag but still he put it on the same pocket every day," he innocently said. He tugged the hem of her shirt to catch attention. Another 'aww' escaped from Janna's subconsciousness. He's too cute that even her subconscious was becoming aware of it.

"He's really my brother," James said boastfully as he patted Jack's head. Jack looks like James' younger and smaller version literally. The only difference is that there's a small cut scar on James right eyebrow. Almost unnoticeable at first look but if you'll stare at his face for a moment, which is what Janna did, it was pretty distracting, though the view's still magnificent. She let go of a loud sigh and looked back to Jack then James after.

"Okay, I'll let this go for now. But be sure that you'll take an eye on this cute little guy...," she said in a surrendering voice but in threatening way. She moved closer to James, cuffing Jack's ears with her hands as she whispered, "Or I'll kick your nuts off and say good bye to your future babies, you understand?" The way she said it, you'll know that she meant it. James swallowed hard and scanned her face. 'Damn, she's gorgeousf,' he said to himself but the kicking his nuts thing would be the most probable thing that will happen if he said it loudly.

"I get it, I get it. But don't you want have babies? I mean, you'll murder our future imagination babies!" he said, almost out of his mind. She then again shot dagger by her looks. "Okay, okay just kidding. I'm sorry, okay? The next time, I'll go with him when crossing the road. Jeez, you're scary," he answered with a surrendering look. He eventually realized that he could never get off with this girl. There's something in her that made him want to be with her a little much longer.

Their scene took a while when they heard a woman's voice calling out for Janna. It was her mom.

"I better go before I do something that relates with murdering future babies," she scorned at James and bent down to kiss Jack's cheeks. That made him smile, both of them. "Tell me if he does something crazy to you, a'right? And please, be careful in running down the road," she smiled at the boy and went back to her home. But before she closed the door, she heard a manly yet friendly voice shouting something.

"Welcome to our neighborhood, Janna!"