Why Don't You Love Me?

Chapter 4: Lady of Light

"Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within." ~ James A. Baldwin

Jack smirked as he pushed a large pile of snow off the roof, and with a loud bang, the pile hit the almost completely cleared driveway. The red-faced man below howled in frustration and scurried toward the pile, waving his large shovel up in the air. Jack laid down on the roof and happily watched the man slave away at the mess.

Normally, he didn't torture adults this much, but this one. . .this one was special. With a snap of his fingers, the snowflakes came tumbling down again. The man shook a fist at the sky and began shoveling harder than ever.

Jack leaped off the roof and began stomping at the snow shoved to the sides, scattering snow across the driveway, He glanced frequently at the windows of the house, which showed a scared teenage girl cowering inside. He could see the bandages on her forehead, which was where her father had hurled his empty bottle of beer at her.

With his jaws firming in anger, Jack made the snow fall harder and faster. The longer this freak was working outside, the longer his family would have to take a break from him, and the more tired the man himself would be. After several more minutes of ruining the man's work, Jack sprinted across the lawn, and toward the backyard.

He stopped to break a particularly large icicle off the gutter and happily licking it. There was a large cooler on the icy patio, and Jack spotted it immediately. He strode over to it, shoved the lid off, and stared down in hatred at the many gold-tinted bottles collected in there.

With a large puff, the contents of each and every bottle was frozen solid. Jack heaped snow from the yard on top of the bottles, and then with his mind, knitted the snow together so tightly that nothing and nobody could dislodge the bottles from their new prison.

Nodding, Jack looked up at the swirling silver clouds above his head, bent his knees, readying himself for the jump into the sky, when out of the corner of his eye, he noticed movement. Jack jerked his gaze down to see a small toddler and his mother staring at him in shock, and his eyes widened, because grown-ups usually didn't believe.

The tired mother gave a thin smile, and mouthed out the words, "Thank you."

"Thank you," Rapunzel mouthed at him as he held a branch back for her to walk forward.

He smiled in return, and for once, deciding not to say a word as a response. Jack simply watched her twirl around the trees, giggling and running her toes through the snowdrifts. She stopped, sucked in a cool breath, and cartwheeled along.

When she stood up again, she giggled. "Jack," she called softly. "You try!"

Jack smiled and cartwheeled after her, and he was now standing just inches from her. She smiled widely at him, and he shrugged meaninglessly, while trying to force his feet to step back. They eventually obeyed, but he was surprised at how reluctant he was to move away.

Jack felt worse when he saw Rapunzel's shoulders slightly drop. She looked down at her toes and tugged at a lock of her own hair. Glancing around, Jack smiled nervously, and worried over what to say to her.

"So," he said, huffing out a white cloud, "What you do want to do, besides enjoy the snow?"

Rapunzel's cheerful glow returned, and she excitedly bounced on her toes.

"I don't know, but there's so much to do!" She gasped, as something lit a spark in her eyes.

Biting her lip, she shyly tugged at her hair again. "I. . . I've heard sledding is fun. I don't know much about it, but. . ."

Jack grinned widely. "Don't worry, you'll love it," he blurted out, while nodding enthusiastically.

Immediately, he spun around, with his eyes searching through the forest for a good sled.

"We need a sled first, but it can't be that hard to find one." Jack added.

He noticed that she had snowflakes in her eyelashes, and stopped to watch her eyes widen, and then, her eyelashes fluttered again. Shivering and shaking his head, he dove over to a huge tree and curled his fingers beneath cracks in the bark. With a loud, echoing crack, he ripped a huge slice of bark off the tree and proudly grinned at Rapunzel. She laughed and gave a round of applause, clapping her hands. Peering through the trees, Jack tried to pinpoint exactly where there was a good hill.

Rapunzel looked back from where she had come. "There's a small hill near the tower."

Jack nodded, and then an idea quickly blossomed in his mind.

"Hey, wait," he said, dropping the bark to the ground. "Sit on this."

Rapunzel flopped down and neatly crossed her legs, with her eyes gleaming with curiosity. With a twist of his wrist, the wind dove beneath the "sled" and pushed it up above the treetops. Rapunzel squeaked, and her fingers became pale, as she gripped her sled.

"Calm down," Jack said, carefully controlling the wind. "I won't drop you." He added, and propelled it toward the tower.

Rapunzel laughed in delight, and slowly lifted her hands in the air, wiggling them in the freezing breeze.

Jack also laughed, but his jaw dropped when he heard her call "Jack, the sled's big enough for two!"

He jumped on the breeze and sped by to hover by her side, while she giggled and scooted forward on the sled. Jack eyed the vacant space behind her, and half of him wanted to be free, to fly on his own. However, the other half of him won over by reminding him of things he didn't quite understand.

Hesitantly, he dropped his knees onto the sled, and Rapunzel nodded. "Good job!" She said.

Jack felt himself leaning down, and he sucked in a quick breath as his arms dropped across her shoulders and hung, clasped together, in front of her. The lower he leaned, the closer his head was to hers, and finally, his lips were right next to her ear.

"Hi." Jack whispered.

Rapunzel quietly giggled. "Hi."

Jack lightly slapped his cheek and smiled at the pair of the perplexed mother and her daughter in the window. He waved to them, while sheepishly ruffling his hair, and then the wind yanked him into the sky.

He closed his eyes and listened to the prayers of a thousand children in a thousand different worlds. "Snow, snow, snow!"

Where to go? His heart tugged him toward a familiar tower, but he bristled at the thought. He couldn't go back, he never could, and this hurt him as he doubled over, slowly feeling himself sink down on the ground. In an effort to calm himself, he began pushing the wind, and himself towards Southeast America.

Surely, he tried to convince himself, believing that shocking the locals and delighting their children with a surprise snowstorm would be fun. However, Jack still found himself imagining Rapunzel by his side, flying on her sled, and talking about all the places she wanted to visit. Bowing his head, he sighed at the earth below and continued on.