"Be careful, honey." Jack's mother urged him, as she always did.
As always, Jack just smiled. The quirky smile that had made him the trickster of the village, as well as lady's favorite, though he always denied that.
"We will. " he assured her, herding his eight year old sister, Lily, out the door.
He was taking Lily ice-skating, and despite the fact he had complained, he really didn't mind. Lily was fun to be with sometimes, in spite of the seven year age difference.
Jack started skating, loving the wind rushing past his ears. He closed his eyes for a bit and just skated, until he heard a cry. Lily, not a practiced skater, had drifted over to some thin ice. There were a couple cracks under her skates. Jack moved swiftly towards his little sister, then realized the ice beneath his feet was cracking too.
"It's okay," he said. "Don't look down, just look at me."
Lily whimpered. "Jack, I'm scared."
Jack knew how serious the situation was. On a frozen pond, a couple cracks could be deadly. But he didn't let his worry show.
"I know, I know." He started to take a step forward, then stopped, because it was cracking there too. "But you're gonna be alright. You're not gonna fall in. We're, um, we're gonna have a little fun instead."
"No, we're not!"
"Hey, would I trick you?"
"Yes, you always play tricks!"
"Well, not this time. I promise, I promise. You're gonna be fine. You have to believe in me." Lily took a deep breath. "You want to play a game? We're gonna play hopscotch, like we play every day. It's as easy as one." Jack took a careful step towards his sister. "Two. . ." He took another step and pretended to almost fall over. Lily giggled. "Three." He knelt and picked up a stick with a hook on the end. "Alright. Now it's your turn."
He smiled at her. Lily smiled back, and took one brave step towards her brother. "One." said Jack, as she stepped. "That's it. Two. . . Three!"
. The ice cracked fast, but Jack was faster. As soon as Lily was close enough, he hooked the stick around her middle and flung her to safety.
Lily sat up and smiled adoringly at her big brother. He laughed and started to stand up- and the ice cracked. There was one horrible second of realization. One single moment when Jack knew what was about to happen. His brown eyes widened, and he flung out his long skinny arms. But it was no use. Jack fell under the pond's skin of ice.
Jack disappeared, leaving his sister calling uncertainly, "Jack? Jack!" But he couldn't hear, because his whole world had turned into a silent ice cold void. Jack was a relatively strong swimmer. But when you're dying of cold, it doesn't matter how strong a swimmer you are. It wasn't much of a fight. Jack didn't want to, but in the end, he had to give in to the freezing water.
Through the numbing cold of the ice, Jack felt his strength leave him. His eyes couldn't see anything but moon, so they closed. He couldn't feel anything. Everything was cold. So, so cold.
Jack would see the surface again. But it would be too late. By that time his rosy cheeks would turn pale as death, his hair white as snow. Jack would see the world through eyes of ice blue. But no one would see him.