Frozen Heart

Prologue

BURGESS, PA-1990s

It was a snow  day and school was closed. Jack Frost walked on a picket fence, pleased  with his wintery work he had done to the place. Snow still continued to  fall from the cloud covered sky. The white, cold particles touched the ground, creating a thick blanket as they layered up.

He heard a door open to the house to which the fence belonged and watched an eight-year-old girl  walk off the porch. She had blonde hair plaited into pigtails, wearing a  grey winter coat, knitted green mittens and a matching scarf, and navy  blue boots. An elderly, yet spritely woman emerged from the house soon  after the girl.

Just as the girl was about to skip to  the playground down the street, her grandmother stopped her. Neither of  them noticed Jack Frost striding gracefully on the picket fence, his  staff over his shoulders. He watched the girl and her grandmother talking.

"Y'don't  want Jack Frost t' be nippin' at yer nose, do ye?" she said in a heavy  Irish brogue, pulling the Irish knit hat on her granddaughter's blonde  head.

"He doesn't nip it, Gramma," the girl said, moving a loose strand of hair away from her face. "He kisses it."

"O'course  he does," laughed her grandmother. "Especially pretty girls like ye.  Now go and have fun. Be safe out there. Don't talk to strangers."

The little girl nodded and went down the street to the playground.

"Kiss the nose?" Jack laughed lightly. "Haven't heard that one yet."

He  decided to follow the young girl as she went to the street. He floated  with the wind, a trail of snowflakes fluttered down in his wake.

The  girl sighed in boredom and disappointment as she kicked the fresh snow  on the ground. She was happy it was a snow day, yet she felt out of  place and lonely. It was another day in a new town, knowing  well enough that nobody was going to play with her. It seemed every time  she settled down, it was time to move again. Leaving friends. Leaving  home. Starting over. It wasn't fair.

Well, that was the life of an Army brat.

Plus her Daddy was away again overseas. The only good thing about moving was her grandmother came with her; she took care of her while her Daddy was away. Though she was old, she still played with the girl, telling her stories and encouraged her active imagination.

Still  it wasn't fair that they had to move all the time, often in short  periods of time, staying put for three to four years tops. She  felt it wasn't good enough that her Daddy wasn't home. Though he called  when he could, telling that he missed her and loved her.

As  she walked down the street towards the playground, she passed some  shops and paused for a moment to look at the toys for Christmas in the  windows. She sighed, knowing it was going to be a lonely  holiday this year. There was nothing in the whole toy store she wanted.  There was only one thing she wanted and she asked for it every year. Just for Daddy to come home.

Of course, if there was that miracle that he did come home, she would be overwhelmed with joy. Most of the time, it was disappointing. The Army chaplain and the Family Readiness Group counselor told her the same thing: it  was the duty for soldiers to put their country first before family. But  that didn't mean her Daddy didn't love her. Yes, her Daddy did love  her. Though she wondered if it was true or not since he wasn't the same  since Mom died. He was so distant and buried himself in work.

Jack  Frost watched the girl and decided to have his own type of fun. With a  wave of his staff, he used the wind to blow snow at her from behind. She  shivered as the cold wind and snow blew up from behind her, making her  pigtails flutter.