The forest was quiet, the chirping of birds barely audible on the forest floor the soft crunch of dying yellow leaves underfoot each step a hollow reminder of the autumn season taking its toll on the world, animals ran to their holes with what little food they could find, straggling birds took to flight headed off to a warmer climate for the season, the trees seemed to sadden wilting as the leaves fall to the ground. Tooth hated autumn and she hated winter the seasons drove away all life and while autumn was at least a bit more lively winter was dull, white, cold and harsh. It stripped everything of what little remnants of life they desperately clung to during the fall leaving them bare, sad and forgotten as winter toiled plotting the destruction of all that spring and summer had worked so hard to build in almost half the time.
She would often visit this forest during the spring or summer when she wanted to take the edge off if work at the clinic had been hard or even if it was just a bad day the forest always found a way to calm her, the soft shadows cast through the canopy, the chittering of animals as they scurried across the ground, the chirping of birds as they mingled and played among the treetops. She always had enjoyed nature, as a child she would watch birds fly through the trees, squirrels roam the ground for fallen forage and rabbits hiding in their holes. Holidays were also very important to her the Easter egg hunt was one of her favourite events as a child, when she and all the kids from town would run into the forest and collect brightly coloured eggs left by the "Easter Bunny", and Christmas the one thing that saved winter if only a little in her books, the presents under the trees, lights in air, the wonder in people's eyes as they wandered the streets. The Christmas season kicking into full swing bringing merriment and joy to everyone.
But by far her favourite as a kid was the Tooth Fairy a small sprite that came through in the night taking teeth that had fallen out and leaving gifts as rewards depending on how well taken care of they were, which lead to Tooth's almost fanatical behaviour when it came to the quality of her teeth and was a prominent reason in why she had become a dentist. She wanted to make sure other people's teeth were as healthy as they could be, especially the children's, oh how she loved how they would smile and laugh with glee at another lost tooth to be put under a pillow and spirited away replaced by a gift to be discovered by them in the early hours of the morning so she vowed to protect their smiles, even if it meant they would bite her fingers or be too scared to enter the check up room she wanted to ensure they were happy and could smile for their entire lives.
Tooth was shaken from her thoughts when her teeth collided with her tongue crushing it instead of the peppermint gum in her mouth, opening her mouth in pain the gum slid out and onto the forest floor which Tooth didn't notice until the pain had subsided. Frowning a bit Tooth pulled out the gum packet she kept in her jacket pocket and opened it only to recall that the piece of gum on the ground right now was her last. Upset Tooth shoved the packet back into her pocket and continued walking further into the forest. She didn't think that she had ever been this far in before the trees were thicker and closer than they were before, until suddenly they opened up.
Before her was a small circular clearing, the trees that grew overhead covered the area in a roof of leaves save for a hole that shone light down illuminating the area and bringing attention to something that definitely didn't belong here. A large victorian style window was stood in the centre of the clearing large enough to almost break the canopy behind it three or four trees grew and inside the window was another a forest that looked exactly as it looked behind the window with one exception. It was covered in snow everything was covered in snow, small bushes stuck out from the ground and trees extended into the sky seemingly infinitely unburdened by leaves as they grew into the sky, Tooth would say it was beautiful, if she didn't hate winter. It was definitely a sight to behold but Tooth saw through it for what it was, or at least what she saw it as, a cold unforgiving and harsh environment where all life would perish if they ventured into it.
Walking around the mirror it showed the path that Tooth had stumbled upon to get to the clearing just without any leaves or life and blanketed in snow barren and lifeless, which is why it came as a surprise when a figure wearing a cute grey scarf, blue jacket, black gloves and a pair of black pants, stunning white hair crowned the approached boys head which was facing the ground, his feet trudging in the snow as he walked closer he looked up a frown on his face and a sad gleam in his eyes quickly swept up by shock and surprise his features changing upon seeing someone on the other side of the window his reaction showing enough surprise to indicate he hadn't expected to see anyone in the window.
Jack walked down the now familiar path, his eyes downcast as he watched his feet crunch in the snow, he was heading to the window again it had been awhile since he had been there last. His day hadn't been the best and that was saying something he was normally upbeat and happy, laughing and playing as was his nature but not today. Sophie had been particularly angry at him and it baffled him as to why and Jamie had shut himself off from the world and refused to let even Jack see him no matter what he tried, so he was coming to this clearing back to the window that stood in the centre of a clearing. Looking up Jack expected to see what he always had, an empty window that showed somewhere else, a place separate from his own a world that worked out of sync with his.
When Jack looked up the last thing he expected to find was a pretty girl of short stature wearing an orange jacket that matched the colours of the fallen leaves around her with a blue scarf and long black pants that stuck to her skin and a thin strip of golden blond hair the streaked backwards over her head and out of sight that contrasted to the deep brown of the hair on her head. Her arms were holding the edge of the window frame as she leaned over the side of the window staring through one of its three great panes that consisted of the windows structure with a semi-circular pane at the top.
Tooth watched as the boy approached the glass his eyes fixed on hers, he stopped a couple feet away from it and looked at her inquisitively he seemed to sweep his eyes up and down her, Tooth took a step back and felt a burning sensation in her cheeks as a blush spread across her face. She tried to look at the stranger through the glass but found it was difficult to maintain eye contact with him, what she did gather however was that he was at least a head taller than her and his hair fell in messy locks that kind of piled on top of his head he also seemed to be wearing a orange shirt beneath from what she could see sticking out from underneath his jacket. His shoulders relaxed a bit and he walked closer to the window and placed his hand on the glass pane closest to the ground, that window sill included was still taller than him and his face turned a light shade of blue which showed easily against his pale white skin.
Jack was in awe never had he seen anything like this girl in front of him she was significantly shorter than him just under his shoulder the gold streak in her hair stood out even more now that he was closer and it seemed to extend to just below her shoulders where the hair seemed to end, he couldn't help but wonder if it was natural that was when he noticed her eyes, they were a deep shade of magenta and open wide in what seemed to be equal awe as she looked up at him from across the glass. Jack deciding he wanted to show off a little shut his eyes and focused for a while before opening them to reveal that the lowest pane of glass had been covered in frost, taking his finger he started to draw shapes taking bits of frost with the path his finger tracked.
Tooth finally managed to maintain eye contact with this stranger and saw a pair of blue eyes, with a tone that rivalled the ice blue of the frost that edged the glass, they contrasted majorly against his white hair and pale complexion, she could get lost in them easily she found as she had lost track of time until he took a step back and shut his eyes in evident concentration as he held his gloved hand to the glass. Tooth stood confused wondering why he was doing this until the pane started to frost over when it stopped tooth could hardly see through it, surprised at the sudden appearance of the frost and even more so when it seemed to originate from this boys hand, she saw little shapes begin to be drawn into the frost, one takes the shape of a rabbit and others snowflakes, little eggs and little birdlike fairies. When however they break off from the glass and started to fly around her leaving trails of frost and snow.
Jack watched as the girl opposite him twirled, her eyes chasing the animated drawings he had made fly around her then once they had reached a certain height they exploded softly into snow and slowly fell to the ground around her. Tooth held out her hand and when some snow landed on her hand it melted instantly, leaving behind an empty palm and a lingering feeling of disappointment, she turned to face the boy across from her. He looked at her hopefully a smirk spread across his face, by now the frost on the window had disappeared entirely, she could see him standing there watching her face for a reaction, so when she smiled so did he.
This piece is inspired by an artwork by the amazing Aleikats. This also happens to be my first piece, criticism is welcomed thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed.