The air carried the scent of winter and with it—Jack Frost. With a wooden staff in hand, he rode the blustering gale, taking him who knows where. Below him, cities and small towns sped by until a massive sea of blue filled the ground below.
"Let's see, where to now?" he said to himself.
Ahead, white-tipped mountains peaked over the blue horizon, a small kingdom perched at the foot of it.
He smiled. "Wind, take me there!"
On command, the wind grew stronger as he flew towards the city. It carried him to a bustling sea port where men were loading and unloading ships in the early morning. Jack fumbled in the air, trying to keep his balance, before the wind died down and dropped him on all fours.
"I really have to work on that landing."
He peeked from under his brown cloak, which had flipped over his head, and looked around. Men and women passed by, not paying any attention to him when he descended. Two children, a boy and a girl, ran through him, unfazed by his presence. Jack stood up and brushed the dust off his pants. He was used to it.
He took off running down the street, his staff held out. It dragged along the ground and walls and windows, leaving behind a trail of frost. His icy touch swirled and stretched out on the window panes like flowers of winter. Jack laughed as he ran, leaving winter's mark on everything he touched. Whenever he passed by someone, they would shiver.
Everything he touched, he frosted. Every candle that sat by the window sill, he snuffed out. To everyone in the world, he was invisible. To most of them, he was called a nuisance. Though, he did love to prank someone and play around every so often. The world was his playground to play in, a canvas to paint on. With the world to himself to do as he pleases, there was never a moment where he didn't feel lonely.
With the crook of his staff, he swung on a large fountain sitting at the center of town and landed on top of a spurt of water, now frozen in its ascent. A puff of mist escaped his lips as he breathed. He looked at his work.
"Not bad," he said to himself.
He chuckled when a baker almost slipped on ice upon leaving a bakery. Women bundled themselves in layers of fabric as they talked among each other and complained about the cold weather. Children played in the snow: boys and girls pelted each other with snowballs and rolled in the fresh white blankets. Jack noticed two women talking to each other as they walked.
"Did you hear that the queen is hosting a ball in a few weeks?" asked one of the women.
Driven by curiosity, Jack glided towards the two women and stood next to them. "A ball? Where?"
"Yes, I can't wait to see the palace," replied the other. "And the princess will be bringing the man who courted her."
Jack left the two as they started their gossiping. "The palace, huh?" He glanced at the plainly noticeable castle that sat across town. "I wonder where my invitation went."
The wind picked up again, and he soared into the air, as light as feather, in the direction of the castle. His bare feet touched the roof of the enormous castle that towered over the town. He could see everything from where he stood.
"Hey, nice view."
He walked along the edge of the roof, precariously balancing himself. The cold of the snow under his feet never bothered him; it was just the opposite. The snow crunched under his feet, getting between his toes.
Without an ounce of caution, he jumped from the roof and floated in front of a window. He peered inside, the frost creeping out from the corners of the window. Inside, there were maids tidying a room. He jumped to the next window and peeked. It was a young red-headed woman trying to wake up a sleeping man. She left the room and brought in a reindeer to lick the man's face.
Jack left for the next window when he heard a disgusted shout from the man. "Well, that's one way to wake someone up."
He came upon another window and froze. Inside, there was a woman. Her skin was pale and unblemished. Her braided light blonde hair came past her shoulders. Her gown, the color of the sky, was stunning. When she turned around after putting on her crown, he saw her face. His eyes were drawn to her captivating blue eyes.
He placed one hand on the glass but pulled it back when frost began to form. When she drew closer to him, he fled to the roof and looked down. The windows opened, and he saw her. She breathed the crisp morning air as she looked over the town. Gripping his staff tightly in his hands, Jack flew down from his hiding spot so that he was face to face with her. Her expression didn't change. He floated from side to side, tilting his head to look at her from every angle.
"Wow…" he said at last.
When his eyes met her eyes, she turned around and headed out the door. He followed her in, taking great care not to touch anything. His eyes went everywhere as he floated beside her. Every open door he passed by, he peeked in. Each room was lavishly decorated with portraits and armored statues and expensive furniture.
He whistled. "Nice place you got here."
They reached a large dining hall, which consisted of a table that stretched across the room and hanging chandeliers. She took her seat, leaving Jack standing next to her. Servants filed into the room, carrying silver platters hoisting every kind of delectable good. Jack flew up to each servant, eying each item with envy.
"Nice spread, too!"
He leaned on his staff as he watched her eat in the most graceful manner he had ever seen. He glanced at a lone croissant that sat furthest away from her out of all the breakfast items.
"She's got all this food. I bet she wouldn't notice if one croissant was missing."
He swiped the croissant from the plate and began scarfing it down. It was warm and fresh, though it quickly lost that warmth in a matter of seconds.
"Delicious," he said. "Give my compliments to the chefs."
Of course, no one heard him.
When the woman reached out toward where the croissant was, she took on a perplexed expression.
"Strange…" she murmured.
One of the servants in the room came to her side. "Is something wrong, Your Majesty?"
Jack glanced at the woman. "Your Majesty?"
She shook her head. "Oh, it's nothing. I could have sworn there was a croissant here."
"Oh my goodness, I am terribly sorry," spoke the servant. "I will have another fetched right away."
"No, no, it's fine. I am just about finished."
She stood up and made her way to the door, as the servants took her plates away. He followed her out the room, hovering on his staff over the woman
"Wow, a queen too? Sure must be nice."
They approached a man and a woman—the couple he saw before.
"Morning, Elsa." The red-haired woman smiled.
"Morning to you too, Anna," said the woman he had been following.
The large man beside Anna tried to stifle a yawn behind his hand. "Good morning," he said.
"Are you coming with us to eat?" asked Anna.
Elsa shook her head. "Sorry, Anna, I already ate. I have to go now, but I'll have dinner with all of you tonight."
Anna waved goodbye. "Okay. Bye, Elsa."
The couple departed, leaving Jack with the queen. As Jack watched the blonde haired woman walk away, he couldn't help but whisper her name.
"Elsa…" Her name rolled off his tongue.
He followed her for the rest of the day. He watched over her shoulder as she read and signed a mountain of paper work. He stood by her side when she listened to reports of her kingdom. Though, Jack grew tired of that quickly and opted to making faces at the nobles. But even that grew boring, so he flew to the windows and made intricate frost patterns on the panes.
Jack took a glimpse of Elsa's face. Sitting on her throne, she looked at her subjects with a solemn expression, never changing as the day grew long. He shook his head.
"I don't know how you do it," he said to her. "I'd go crazy if I had to sit in a room like this."
At last, the mind-numbing work was over as the last of her subjects left the room. Elsa's form seemed to deflate as soon as it was over. She rubbed the temples of her head in circular motions, letting out a groan as she did so. He wasn't the only one bored out of his mind. Jack floated in front of her.
"Finally! So what's next?"
Elsa left the room tiredly, and he followed. The day waned as the sun sunk behind the mountains. The shadows elongated and crept out from their slumber. Since leaving the throne room, she had done nothing but work. Jack feared he would lose interest in her. He didn't want to go back to wandering the world, looking for fun again. The appeal in it would last for only so long.
They came to a door that led outside to the courtyard. Stars painted the dark canvas above, and a moon hung above them. With a forlorn look on his face, Jack glided into the air. He gazed down at Elsa, thinking he would never see her again. He watched her shift her eyes warily and do something he never expected her to do. She smiled.
She ran, laughing as she kicked up the snow. Armfuls of snow were thrown in the air. The face she had put on throughout the day was thrown away in an instant. Where a queen once stood was now a little girl playing in the snow. She didn't seem cold at all despite what she wore. She was too busy having fun.
His mouth curved into a smile, and he dived toward the ground to join her. He flipped and circled around her, his staff slid against the powdery snow. By the time she slowed, she was breathing heavily, a smile still etched on her face.
"So you can have fun," Jack said.
When she caught her breath, Elsa raised her hands out. He was caught by surprise when a flurry of snow shot out of them, forming a large mound of snow.
"Whoa! How did you do that?" he asked.
All of a sudden, the mound of snow began to pile up. The flurry of wind and snow kept pouring out of her hands. Like an artist and her art, she began sculpting the pile of snow, her hands molding it into the shape of a snowman. It was a simple snowman with three large, immaculate snowballs. Using her fingers, she carved out the eyes and mouth.
"Not bad," he said, "but let me change it a bit."
With a touch of his staff, the snowman began taking a definite shape of a man. The snowman grew skinnier. Arms made of snow protruded from both sides. Two legs replaced the round bottom of the snowman. The head looked more human than before. Jack made sure to get the snowman's hair just right. Elsa watched the snowman change, dumbfounded. When he was finished, the snowman looked like a young man with wind-swept hair.
"Ta-da! How do you like it?" he asked her.
She slowly walked up to the snowman, circling around it with a befuddled look on her face. "H-how did…? Did I do this?"
"No, Your Highness. It was yours truly." He smirked.
She looked closely at the face of the snowman. It was missing most of its features, like its eyes and mouth. "Who are you?" she asked to no one in particular.
Deciding to have some fun, Jack moved the snowman. It took a step back and bowed to her, like a subject to his queen. Elsa let out a yelp and fell back into the snow. Jack laughed as he watched her. He moved the snowman again. The snowman offered a hand to Elsa. She looked at the hand and back at the expressionless face of the snowman, before warily grasping it. It pulled her up to her feet and then shook her hand.
"Um, hello. Who are you?" she repeated.
The snowman ran off. It crouched to the ground and took a handful of snow and presented what it had in its hand to her. It was a snowball.
"A snowball? Do you want to play with me?" she asked the snowman.
It nodded, before reeling its arm back and sending the ball of snow flying toward her. It hit right on its mark—her face. She smiled and let out a giggle she couldn't hold.
"I see how it is."
A snowball formed in each hand, and she let each one fly at the snowman. Their greeting devolved into a snow war. With Jack and his snow puppet and Elsa and her powers, they pelted each other with snow. When the fiery heat of their snow struggle died down, the snowball-throwing ceased. Clumps of snow stuck to Elsa's gown and hair, while Jack's snowman looked worse for wear after being hit by countless snowballs.
"You're pretty good there," Jack said.
With another touch of his staff, the snowman smoothed itself out until it looked good as new. She laughed, and so did Jack. Though, their merriment was cut short by one of the maids.
"Your Majesty, is that you? What are you doing out here?" asked the maid.
Elsa hastily brushed off the snow and fixed her hair. She cast a glance at the snowman. "Oh, um, nothing! Nothing at all."
"Well, I am here to tell you that it is time to prepare for dinner."
"Yes, I will be ready shortly. Please tell the others."
The maid went inside. Before Elsa left to go inside, she asked the snowman, "Will you be here tomorrow?"
Jack tilted the snowman's head up and down. "Sure, I'll be up for a rematch."
"Well, okay. Goodbye," she said.
And she left.
Alone once again, Jack flew up to a tree and rested on one of its bare branches. Thoughts of tomorrow's plans filled his head. "Tomorrow is going to be a great night," he said.