All I Want For Christmas – Jack Frost
Part 1 – We Need A Little Christmas
The ground was littered with leaves in glorious hues of orange and red. The trees were bare and the air held a chill. It had yet to snow, which was strange considering it was Minnesota. There was a slight skip in my step as I walked down the street to meet my best friend. It was December 5th. One week after Thanksgiving. Twenty days until Christmas. My soul bubbled at the thought of the oncoming decorating and cookie baking with my friends.
My best friend's name is Harmony. I shook my head. Of course she was late! She never left the house when she said she would! When would I learn? Our houses were directly across town from each other. The city park sat directly in the middle. Shaking my head I continued to walk in the direction of her house. I hadn't taken two steps when I felt a snowflake land softly on my cheek. My head tilted back and my eyes landed on the sky above me. A warm smile spread across my face as the snow fell on me. Giggles escaped my lips as I continued on my way toward Harmony's house.
She came into view when I was almost at her driveway. I still hadn't gotten used to how long her hair was getting. Her golden locks flowed down to the middle of her back, right where my own curly dark hair used to sit before I chopped it off to sit right above my shoulders. Her green eyes met my brown ones and she waved. Well, sort of. She flopped her arms in the air, sort of like a penguin.
"You're so late!" I slapped her in the arm when I reached her.
"It's cold outside! Let's go get hot chocolate!" She turned to go back to her house, only to be met with me pulling her arm in the direction of the park.
"You've literally been outside for two minutes. Besides we're supposed to meet Liza at the park."
"But it's snowing." She whined but kept walking anyway.
"I know, right! Finally!" I couldn't shield the excitement in my voice. Harmony shot me an annoyed look and I cleared my throat. "I mean, uh, snow. Evil stuff, snow." She laughed and hit me in the arm. We walked into the park grass and sat on a bench under one of those shelters they have for picnics.
"I hope Liza gets here soon so I can have some coffee." The snow was steadily picking up and getting heavier. I silently wished I had brought a heavier jacket. I was about to point out to Harmony that earlier she had said hot chocolate, when a sharp wind flew at my face and stung my nose. My hands immediately went to cover the reddening flesh. "What?" Harmony cocked her head at me.
"My nose just got really cold. You didn't feel that wind?" I looked at her and slowly lowered my hands from my face.
"No, I didn't." She started chuckling. "Maybe it was, you know." She tried to contain her laughter. "You know, Chestnuts roasting on an open fire." She laughed after she finished singing the phrase. I rolled my eyes at her, earning a smack on the arm.
"Jack Frost nipping at your nose." I continued, sticking my tongue out at her after I finished.
"Yuletide carols, being sung by a choir, and folks dressed up like Eskimos." We sang together. The snow had stopped falling.
"Way to go Harmony, you scared all the snow away." I teased as I brushed some of the powdery fluff from my hair.
"Me? It was snowing perfectly fine when I was singing." Before I could come up with a witty comeback a blue Jeep Cherokee pulled up to the curb. "Liza!" Harmony stood up and ran over to the car, quickly claiming shotgun and clambering into the seat. I shook my head and pulled open the back door and climbed in.
"Hey Liza!" I chirped as I put my seatbelt on. Liza turned around to greet me. Her green eyes sparkled and her medium length brown hair fell into her face. The sun reflected off of it and shone hues of red and gold.
"Hey!" She turned back around in her seat as she was bombarded by Harmony's questions regarding hot beverages.
"Will you please drive over to the gas station so I can get some coffee?" She buckled her seatbelt. "I'll buy you some!" Liza chucked and headed in the direction of the gas station. I looked out the window at the light covering of snow that dusted the fallen leaves. The snow had picked up again and was coming in thicker than before. I couldn't look for long, though, because soon my window frosted over. I let out a slightly frustrated sigh.
Liza pulled into the parking lot and Harmony shot out of the car so fast she gave me whiplash. Once she entered the building she went straight for the coffee. We had fairly similar taste. We both instantly went for the White Chocolate Caramel coffee. Liza settled for plain vanilla. Harmony paid and we loaded back into Liza's Jeep.
"The snow is getting so heavy!" Liza turned on her wipers to clear off the dusting that clung to her windshield and obstructed our view. The ground was now completely white. The road was slick with a thin layer of ice. "If this keeps up we might get stuck in town if we go see that movie." Liza was talking about Catching Fire. We've seen it already, of course, but it was a Thursday in December and we had nothing better to do.
"Don't we want to risk it? We're Minnesotans! We're hardcore." I uttered as I sipped my coffee.
"That's true, but if I wreck this car or get stuck all of our parents will kill us." Liza muttered the last part under her breath as she drove in the direction of my house. "Your parents are on vacation right? That means nobody to bother us while we play video games."
"That's some foolproof logic you got there." I shook my head as we turned down my street and headed towards my house. She pulled into my driveway and the three of us shuffled into my house. Once my winter clothing was shed I plopped down on my couch with my coffee. Harmony felt the need to lay her feet in my lap and take up the entire couch. Liza was left sitting on the floor.
"Turn on the weather report will you?" Liza quipped at me from her spot on the carpet. She brought her coffee to her lips as she waited for me to comply. I rolled my eyes at her and flicked on the TV.
"We have no idea where this storm came from folks! But it doesn't seem to be letting up any time soon! We'll be back at ten for an update." I switched the TV of f and sighed. I went to take a drink of my coffee only to be disappointed that it was empty. I furrowed my brow; surely I hadn't drunk the entire thing that quickly? I popped the lid off and almost dropped the foam cup in surprise. My entire cup of coffee was frozen solid.
"Uh, hey, Harmony, care to explain how my coffee is frozen?" She sat up and peered into the cup.
"Don't look at me! I don't have anything capable of flash freezing coffee." She poked her pinky nail into my coffee-sickle and made a half-moon indent. "Do you want a spoon?"
"I want to know why my coffee went from too hot to frozen in like three minutes." Liza had stood up and walked over to where we were sitting.
"Maybe it was from being outside?" Before I could point out to Liza that her theory was completely insane, coldness found its way sharply to my nose. My hands instinctively rushed to cover my face, making me drop my frozen coffee in the process.
"What the hell was that?" Harmony looked at me dubiously as she bent down to pick up the frozen chunks of coffee.
"I felt it again." My hands left my face and I touched my fingers lightly to my now cold nose.
"What are you talking about?" Liza looked between the two of us, not liking to be the last one to know information.
"Before you got to the park Jack Frost nipped her nose and now he's done it again. Maybe he has a crush on you." Harmony walked into the kitchen to dispose the frozen coffee into the sink.
"Ah, yes. That explains everything." Liza rolled her eyes at our useless information.
The remainder of the night was spent playing board games on the dining room table. Cards Against Humanity was the favorite of the night. It was Liza's turn to pull a black card.
"'The best thing before sliced bread was..." Liza read as she slid the card into the middle of the table and looked away. I bit my lip and glanced at the five cards in my hand. I decided that all of my cards sucked and to just pick one at random and lay it down. Harmony laid her card down on top of mine.
"Okay Liza you can look." She turned her attention back to the table and picked up the two cards laid before her.
"Okay we have 'Stephen Hawking talking dirty' and 'vigorous jazz hand.' Wow guys." She looked back and forth between Harmony and I and I stifled a giggle. "I'm going to go with Stephen Hawking." I groaned and Harmony pumped her fist into the air and collected the black card.
"I swear you two are collaborating against me." I grumbled and pulled a black card from the deck. "Oh boy. 'maybe she's born with it, maybe it's…'" I laid the card down on the table and turned my chair to look away.
"All clear!" Harmony shouted and I swiveled my chair back around and picked up the two cards. "Guys. Really? 'an erection that lasts longer than four hours' or 'a big black dick'. I hate both of you." They both burst out laughing and I rolled my eyes and weighed my choices. "Fine. I choose an erection lasting longer than four hours."
"Yes!" Harmony's arms once more pumped to the ceiling as she claimed the last card she needed to win.
"Beginner's luck." I stuck my tongue out at her and Liza put the cards back into the box.
"I don't know about you two but I'm going to bed. I'm exhausted." Liza stalked off to the living room and grabbed some pillows and blankets and made herself comfortable on the couch.
"Yeah, I probably should too." Harmony walked upstairs, she often claimed the spare bedroom when she stayed at my house, leaving me to put the games and the chip bowls away.
I shuffled up the stairs and pulled out a pair of gray cotton shorts and a blue tank top to wear to bed. Plopping down on said bed, I let my eyes drift and crept into sleep.
Rolling over in my bed, I pulled the blankets tighter over my shoulders. It's freezing in here. I groggily opened my eyes and sat up. I patted the bed beside me looking for my Galaxy Stellar. My fingers found the phone and clicked the button on the side. The screen lit up and the white numbers told me that it was 3:15 in the morning. I set my phone back on the bed and shivered in the cold air. Why is it so damn cold? Then I spotted it. The window was open.
Throwing the blankets off of me, I walked over to the open window and pulled it shut, closing the curtains after. I have to pee. That was the intelligent three in the morning thought that coursed through my brain. Sighing, I walked to the bathroom to do my business and returned to my bedroom. I was about to plop down on my bed when I noticed that the window was open. Didn't I shut that? God, I'm going crazy. I pushed the window shut and locked the latch.
I shuffled down the stairs in the morning to find a half-asleep Harmony being given coffee by an awake as ever Liza.
"Your house looks so sad! Look! It must have snowed four feet last night and the inside of your house does not match the winter wonder!" Liza gestured to the living room.
"Can we decorate?" Harmony suddenly perked up at the thought.
"Liza, go get the decoration totes from the basement, Harmony help me get the tree out of the attic." My friends grinned at me and Liza ran downstairs and Harmony and I up.
We met back in the living room and started to take the tree out of the box. Don't get me wrong we would have a real tree, except we have a cat. A cat that never learned not to climb and pee in trees. Liza was handing Harmony the pieces of the tree to put into the base, it was my job to fluff out the branches.
"Haul out the holly, put up the tree before my spirit falls again." Liza sang under her breath as she handed Harmony a branch.
"Fill up the stocking, I may be rushing things but, deck the halls again now." Harmony's glorious voice was a soft whisper as she clicked the branch into place.
"For we need a little Christmas. Right this very minute. Candles in the window, carols at the spinet." I sang as I pulled and prodded at the branches of the tree. I was handed the final piece of the tree and clicked it into place at the top.
"Yes we need a little Christmas, right this very minute, it hasn't snowed a single flurry but Santa dear we're in a hurry so-" the three of us sang together as Liza opened the first tote to reveal an array of Christmas lights. Harmony chose white lights and we plugged the string in.
"Climb down the chimney; put up the brightest string of lights I've ever seen." Liza sang as she started wrapping the string of lights around the base of the tree.
"Slice up the fruitcake, it's time we hung some tinsel, on that evergreen bough." I continued as I helped Liza straighten out the lights.
"For I've grown a little leaner, grown a little colder, grown a little sadder, grown a little older, and I need a little angel, sitting on my shoulder, I need a little Christmas now." Harmony was in the dining room with the second tote, pulling out glass houses and little glass people for my mother's Christmas village.
"haul out the holly, well once I taught you all to live each living day." Liza started pulling out ornaments to hang on the tree and I grabbed the third tote and headed over to the fireplace to hang stockings and place fake snow.
"Fill up the stocking-" Liza continued
"But Auntie Mame! It's one week, past Thanksgiving day now!"
"But we need a little Christmas! Right this very minute! Candles in the window! Carols at the spinet! And we need a little Christmas, right this very minute. It hasn't snowed a single flurry but Santa dear we're in a hurry so-" the three of us worked. Harmony set up the village over a blanket of fake snow, Liza chose only the best ornaments to be hung on the tree, and I lined the fireplace with garland and stockings.
"Climb down the chimney, it's been a long time since I've, felt good, neighborly!" I stepped back from my work as the line fell out of my mouth.
"Slice up the fruitcake, it's time we hung some tinsel, on that evergreen bough." Harmony plugged in the string that would light up the windows in the little houses in the village.
"For we need a little Christmas, right this very minute, candles in the window, carols at the spinet." Liza placed the final ornament on the tree.
"And we need a little Christmas, right this very minute, we need a little Christmas now." The three of us looked at each other and grabbed the remaining garland and hung it up in the archways of the living room.
"We need a little Christmas now!" I sang as I plugged in the end of the cord on the garland, multi-colored lights came on and lit the archway with a friendly glow.
"We need a little Christmas now!" The three of us finished together.