The next day, he came.
It was exactly how I dreamt it; coming through the window, laughing as I attempted to throw a snow ball at him outside. Everything was perfect. He wished me a happy sixteenth.
And then I fell in love with him.
He had an amazing laugh, a fun personality, and a sweet sense of humor. His hair snow white, skin pale yet fitting, eyes blue as ice. He was perfect. Everything was perfect.
Later on, we took a walk. The neighborhood next to mine had a lake in it with a smooth sidewalk winding around it. I laughed as he slipped clumsily on an unexpected ice patch, so he got me back by tapping the ground in front of me with his ice staff. I slipped and fell face forward, but he caught me just in time. I felt as though we were old friends.
“So,” I asked him after a while, “why me?”
He laughed. “Well, that’s a bit vague.”
“I mean, so many other kids in the world believe in you…Why did you come to see me?” I asked, looking him in the eye as we walked.
He looked up slightly, eyeing the dark snow clouds. He smiled. “Because you…you have something about you, something….something that surrounds you. It reminds me of, well, me, actually. Fun. Willing to have a good time. Not all serious and sad, but…fun.” He stopped walking at a bench. Sitting down, he tapped the spot next to him. I took the cue and sat down. “I’ve visited other people, and they all have something about them that draws me to them, you know? I don’t have much free time, being a guardian and all, so I have to pick my visits wisely.” His eyes darted up to mine and lingered there as he said, “You’ve got something special.”
My cheeks warmed, despite the freezing temperatures. My eyes flickered up to his, and I whispered, “Thanks.”
He laughed lightly. “Well, I’m not sure if it’s a compliment yet, but you’re very welcome.” I laughed with him and hugged my arms to my chest, trying to warm myself. “I’d warm you up, but…”
“Yeah,” I said, already knowing the coldness of his touch from him catching me when I fell. It was like ice wrapping around my wrist. “Maybe walking a bit would warm me up.” We got up and started walking again. In a bit of an awkward silence, I breathed out, watching the fog come from my mouth. When I did it a second time, Jack breathed out with me, and the fog turned into tiny pebbles of ice, which continued to slowly drift through the air. I laughed, astonished, and tried again. It still worked. Continuing to show me his tricks, he tapped a falling snow flake lightly with his ice staff, and it crystallized instantaneously. He held it in his hand, and gathered more, connecting them again and again quickly to form a beautiful ice flower. He gave it to me, and I held it lightly, careful not to break it.
While we talked, I realized I was the happiest I had been in a long, long time. At home, I hardly ever laughed or spoke, since I was so easily outnumbered by my six needy younger siblings. But with Jack, I felt free and at peace; like nothing mattered. We ran, threw snow balls at each other, laughed, and overall had…fun. Something I hadn’t had in a long while.
And something that I wouldn’t have for a long while.
