At six years old, Cornelia Frost, better known as Connie or 'Hey, you!', realized something was wrong with her father. He used to play with her all the time. Snow days, snowball fights, snowmen, pranks and so much more. Once she turned five and started going to school, he sat in his room all day. He wouldn't let anyone in, and he rarely left it himself. He wouldn't even let Vanessa in, and she was forced to sleep in her old room, the one she had shared with her two best friends, Merida and Rapunzel, until they had moved out. Connie was always alone. Vanessa was busy running a kingdom alone and being a principal for a student body of over two thousand. She rarely had time to so much as kneel to hug her little girl. None of the children wanted to play with Connie, because she was the princess. If they hurt her by accident, they could get in serious trouble. The only person who ever seemed to have time for her was Jamie. He was her uncle, and her only friend. He played with her every day. That is, every day that he wasn't out doing knight things.
On yet another lonely day, Connie looked out the window at the children playing in the courtyard, having a big snowball war. She remembered the stories her mother had told her about her dad, how he had once brought the snow, started every snowball fight, dragged kids along on big sled races, and built towering snowmen. Just his laughter alone was enough to cause any child to whoop and join in the fun. Connie held on to the image of that as she stood in front of the grand door to Jack's room.
"Daddy?" said Connie. Then she knocked.
Do you wanna build a snowman? C'mon, let's go and play. I never see you anymore, come out the door. It's like you've gone away. We used to be best buddies, but now we're not. I wish you would tell me why. Do you wanna build a snowman? It doesn't have to be a snowman.
"Go away, Connie," was Jack's response. Connie hung her head and took on a defeated posture.
Okay, bye.
Connie went back to her room and cried. It wasn't fair. She'd never done anything to him, but he blatantly ignored her on a daily basis. Was it because she was adopted? It wasn't hard for her to figure it out. Vanessa and Jack were pale-skinned, white-haired, and blue-eyed. Connie had caramel colored skin, purple eyes, and hair that was dark brown at the roots, and faded into pale blonde at the tips. She had a natural ombre effect, which was totally bizarre. Connie just hoped it wasn't because he hated her.
Five years later, on an equally snowy day, Connie thought she'd try again to coax her father out of his room. She hadn't tried once since she was six, and she thought it might be different this time. She went up to that foreboding door and knocked lightly.
Do you wanna build a snowman? Or ride our bikes around the halls? I think some company is overdue, I've started talking to the pictures on the walls.
She pointed at a sombre portrait of a regal woman. "Hang in there, Joan," she said. She had dubbed it Joan after learning the French word for yellow, because of how yellowed the old thing was.
It gets a little lonely, all these empty rooms, just watching the hours tick by.
Jack said nothing, and Connie walked away with a heavy heart. Jack was sitting right in front of the door, arms wrapped around his knees, hood up, and with his face buried in his arms. His eyes were constantly pink from the amount of crying he did every single day. He couldn't stand what he'd become, but he didn't have the will to stand up and face everyone. He knew he was being unfair to Connie and Vanessa, but every time Connie laughed, he pictured her as Diana, and every time Vanessa smiled, he was reminded of whet he'd lost. He had been so excited to have a family. He had his mother, he had his sister, he had his wife, he had his nephew, but he didn't have his daughter. As cruel as it sounds, Connie wasn't enough. Diana's eighteenth birthday would never come soon enough. Just as the tears started welling up in his bloodshot eyes, he heard another knock. He was expecting Connie, but was surprised to hear that it was Vanessa.
"Jack?" she asked. He said nothing. A moment later, Vanessa's voice piped up again, only choked with tears that were being held back. "Please."
I know you're in there. People are asking where you've been. They say have courage, and I'm trying to. I'm right out here for you. Just let me in. We only have each other, it's just you and me. What are we gonna do? Do you wanna build a snowman?
Jack said nothing. Vanessa, hopes dashed, let her tears come out. She stood outside the door, wracking with sobs for a few minutes, then ran off to cry in her room. Jack took a shaky breath, laid his head back down on his arms, closed his eyes, and prayed he'd wake up the day before he'd read the letter that had ruined his life. When he opened them, all he saw was the frozen ruins of his room, the mirror shattered like his dreams and the snow blanketing everything. The room looked exactly the way he felt; dead inside.