"Ghosts crowd the young child's fragile eggshell mind."

Jim Morrison

~Elsa~

It had been an accident. Elsa hadn't meant to cause that storm. She tried to calm herself down, to stop her emotions from feeding the clouds. But she had been so angry.

The 7 year old had been punished when she froze the ballroom in order for her 5 year old sister, Anna, and her to go ice skating. Elsa's parents had reprimanded her, telling her that her power was getting out of hand. They told her it was reckless of her to be using the power so frivolously. She had tried to defend herself, saying that she was getting better at controlling it and that she wasn't hurting anyone.

Her parents retaliated, claiming that it was only a matter of time before someone got hurt or even worse, killed. Following that statement, the sent the girl to her room, scolding her as they shut the door in her face. Elsa had never been more furious.

She clenched her hands tightly, making four shallow crescents in her palms. She felt the shards of ice prickle along her skin. Heavy snow showered around her and dark ice swirled underneath her feet. The storm inside her clashed and battled against her self control. It pushed and pushed, being continuously fueled by her fury. She thought of her parents' judgemental faces as they slammed her bedroom door. She thought of them chiding her for a force she had no real control over. Her rage ended the war as Elsa let out a long cry of frustration, releasing the blizzard into the outside world.

She didn't know Anna was downstairs playing hide and seek with their housekeeper, Gerda.

She didn't know her parents were out doing business in the city as the storm unfurled, eddied, and froze everything in sight.

She only knew something was wrong when Gerda came up to her room and said something so simple yet so shattering.

"You need to get your coat, Elsa." She could see the tears shining in her eyes. "There's been an accident."

An accident.

The hospital wasn't a far drive, luckily. But that short passage of time felt like an eternity. The child glanced continuously between the window and her younger sister, who sat blissfully unaware of what was going on.

When they got to the hospital, the doctor approached them at an agonizingly slow pace wearing a somber expression.

He said that her parents had been driving home, when the car had swerved on a large patch of ice and then crashed.

He said that the storm had prevented the ambulance from arriving at the scene faster.

He said there was nothing that could have been done.

But Elsa knew that was a lie. There was plenty that she could have done. If she had just known how to control it. If she had just behaved and concealed her anger and emotions.

It had been an accident.

~Jack~

Jackson watched with a gleeful smile as his sister skated across the pond. The moonlight casted a silver shine on her chocolate brown hair. Pippa had insisted that they go skating that night as soon as she saw that the pond was frozen. And Jackson was never capable of denying her anything.

Jackson started skating around the pond as well, he began chasing after his sister. Pippa giggled as she tried to skate away, but a sharp crack beneath her feet caused her to freeze in place. Her brother stopped directly behind her and looked in horror as the ice began to break beneath her feet.

"Pippa," he yelled. "Don't move."

Jackson started taking off his skates and put them down beside him. He noticed his little sister wobble on the ice. She gasped when she heard another sharp crack beneath her feet. His heart jolted in his chest.

"It's okay, it's okay," he reassured her quickly. Jackson was desperate to distract his sister from the danger beneath her. He watched the spider web cracks emanate beneath her feet with a weary gaze. "Don't look down, just look at me."

"Jack," she whispered in fear, "I'm scared."

"I know. I know," he said softly, trying to calm her. "But you're gonna be alright. You're not gonna fall in. Uhh, we're gonna have some fun instead."

"No we're not," she yelled at him.

"Would I trick you?" he said jokingly, trying desperately to ease his sister's nerves.

"Yes!" Pippa yelled back. She was fighting back tears of fear. "You always play tricks."

He laughed at that, even though there shouldn't be anything to laugh about. "Well, alright," he laughed softly, trying to inch closer to her without jeopardizing her safety. "Well, not, not this time. I promise. I promise. You're going to be...you're going to be fine."

Jack fixed his gaze on her, even as her eyes filled with fearful tears that were hard for him to look at. He kept his focus on her and forced himself to be calm.

"You have to believe in me," he told her truthfully, because he knew that without her faith in him, he was doomed to fail.

Pippa took a big gulp of breath and gave him a small smile through her fear.

With that brave smile given to him as a gift, he felt a bright fire light up within him. Her bravery transferred to him and he gave her a bright smile of his own.

"You wanna play a game?" he asked playfully. "We're going to play Hopscotch! Like we play every day!"

Pippa nodded eagerly, feeling more reassured with her brothers calmness.

"It's as easy as one," he reached a long leg out to the side and hopped over. And when he hopped on that leg he wobbled dramatically. "Wooaaah!"

Pippa giggled a bit at the sight.

Jack jumped again, landing on his other foot.

"Two."

He kept his eyes on his baby sister as he made another leap. He was closer to her, but not close enough, if only he could reach her. From the corner of his eye, he saw a long stick that curved like a shepherd's staff. It looked long enough.

He jumped again and landed beside the stick, only a few metres from his sister.

"Three," he finished with a proud grin. His arms were spread wide when he turned to face her. He bent to pick up the staff and extended it towards Pippa. She looked at him nervously.

"Alright, now it's your turn," he held the stick out to her.

She took her first step and the ice cracked. A sound that made him feel sick. She stepped again, and he inched closer to her. And then with her last step, he hooked the curve of the staff around her waist and flung Pippa to the side. The force of this movement propelled her to safety and forced him onto the cracks in the ice.

He watched his sister tumble across the solid ice, out of harms way. The sight of his sister safe made him smile, but then he heard a loud crack beneath his feat. Before he had time to process the danger he was in, he was plunged into the freezing water. Jackson heard his sister scream out his name.

Jackson was sinking in the water, deeper and deeper. He could feel his heart seize in panic. He tried to swim upwards, but he lost all control of his muscles. He was too cold. And he couldn't breathe. His lungs were burning and begging for oxygen. But he couldn't breathe. He felt his heart pounding in his ears. But the rapid beat was slowly becoming weaker and weaker.

He couldn't move.

He couldn't breathe.

It was so cold.

He closed his eyes.

...

The darkness was the only thing he could see. The he could only feel the piercing cold on his skin. Fear was the only thing that raced through his mind.

But when he caught the sight of the moon shining above him, he felt the fear and darkness being chased away. He felt the cold seep into his skin and flow through his bloodstream. The silver shine of the moon seemed to pull him up from the water.

The ice cracked above his head and he was pulled by the brightness into the light. There were chips of ice clinging to his skin when he was pulled out from the water and into the crisp air. He couldn't remember anything. Who he was. What he was. Where he came from. He only knew the cold.

The cold and the moon.

He was bathed in the silver beams of moonlight and pulled up high above the lake, so that he was suspended in the air. He heard a whisper as he stared at the big bright moon. It was only one thing. A name.

Jack Frost.

That was his name. He was sure of it. And as he was lowered to the icy floor, the cracks from where he emerged were smoothed over when his feet touched the surface. It was like he refroze the surface on his own. He looked at the moon again, it's bright silver glow enveloping him and making him feel content and safe, despite the lack of knowledge of himself and the cold night. He smiled up at the moon.

Briefly, he felt a tug at his chest and he gasped for air, even though he didn't feel the need to breathe. But the moment was soon forgotten as he stumbled onto an odd looking stick lying on the ice. The end was curved like a shepherd's staff and when he touched it with his toes, a thick layer of frost lined the outside of the wood. He knelt down to examine it and picked it up gingerly. Accidentally, he dropped one end of the stick and when the end hit the ground, frost patterns erupted from the staff and onto the ice. He looked at the staff in amazement. His blue eyes widening in awe.

Jack felt the tug at his chest again, this time it was much stronger and he felt himself jerking forward violently. But then it was gone. He stood there in shock, catching his breath. It felt like something was trying to pull him somewhere, somewhere that he felt he was supposed to be.

He shook off the feeling and turned his attention back onto the staff. He approached one of the surrounding trees and touched the curved end of the staff to the bark of the tree. Swirls of frost erupted from the staff and coated the tree. He tested the tree on his other side and watched as the ice designs entrapped the trunk. A wide grin split across his face.

With joyful laughter, the boy began to run, trailing the staff behind him and creating elaborate frost patterns on the frozen pond. He couldn't contain his excitement. He continued to laugh and run, until suddenly he was lifted up into the air. The wind had blown him off the ground as if he were no more than a piece of paper. He screamed in excitement as the wind threw him around. This feeling of freedom and exhilaration was incredible and addictive. He looked down at the lake from his place in the sky and a wide grin split his face. His grin vanished when he was once again pulled by a strong powerful force. But this time it didn't stop. He was plucked from the sky and an invisible force whipped him through the air at a frightening speed. He flew past the forest line and then past buildings and houses. Jack didn't think he would ever stop being pulled, until finally he finally hit something with a smack.

...

Jackson Overland sat up with a startled gasp. Wide brown eyes looked around in alarm. He was sitting in a hospital bed hooked up to and IV and a plethora of machines. All his memories flooded back to him. He remembered he and his sister skating. He remembered falling into the ice in after he saved his sister from the same fate. He remembered his strange and brief time as Jack Frost.

What the hell had that been about?

"Jack!"

Jackson turned his head to look where the shout had come from and saw his little sister standing in the doorway with a giant grin on her face. There were tears cutting paths down her face as she ran to her big brother and jumped on the hospital bed. She wrapped him in a suffocating hug, crying hard into his chest.

"They said you wouldn't ever wake up," she sobbed. "But I knew you would make it. I just knew it."

Jackson looked down at his sister with a look of confusion.

"What happened Pippa?" He asked the little girl softly. "I thought I fell through the ice."

She nodded, not tearing her face away from his chest. "I went to get help, but when we pulled you out of the water, you weren't breathing and you were cold as ice," she cried hysterically, he had trouble understanding her. "They said it was a miracle you survived but that you would never wake up from your coma, but you did. You woke up."

The hospital gown was soaked from her tears. Jack could only stare down at her in shock.

"I was in a coma?" He whispered in disbelief. "For how long?"

She looked up at him with puffy red eyes. "It was weeks," she answered. "But I knew you would wake up. I never stopped believing in you."

He smiled down at her softly and wrapped his arms around her torso. His mother soon came in and he was once again attacked with a tight hug and smothered by his mother's worrying questions.

Being surrounded by his loved ones filled him with a profound warmth that spread through his entire body. That is, except for a small portion of his heart, where he could feel a numb and cold piece of him that refused to disappear.

Jackson's mind wandered over to Jack Frost, and he wondered if it truly was just a dream.