A boy and a snake sat on a bench near an apple tree. A demon and a nature spirit sat on a bench near an apple tree. A teenager and a man in a suit sat on a bench near an apple tree. A guy in sunglasses sat alone on a bench near an apple tree. It all depended on your perspective.
The boy had been sitting there, blue-toed, burying his feet comfortably into the snow for about an hour or so before the man had sat down. It shouldn't have been snowing: it was September... but neither of the two on the bench paid attention to such things.
The man slid a note out of his jacket. It was legal tender - a crisp, green ten dollars fresh off of the printer's press - but the action was quick and sneaky, like the fingers were doing something bad.
"I bet you $10 you can't freeze over the apple on the top of the tree," said the man to the boy. He gave a sharp grin.
The boy started and nearly fell off the bench.
"You're talking to me?" he gasped. The feeling of eyes being rolled seemed to emanate from the man beside him, although he never removed the shades.
"Yes," said the man. "You're pretty famous round where I live. Spirit of fun, no? Pretty awesome job. Mine's similar."
"You know? You know! This is awesome! Just wait 'till I tell Kangaroo I've nabbed an adult! Ha! He'll go green! I'll be able to lord this over him for years!"
"Yeah, yeah, keep your socks on, Bare-foot. Anyway. $10 or not?"
"Ha! You're on Suit! I'll even do the leaves in pretty patterns!"
The teenager hopped off the bench.
"That one there?"
"That one there. Top one. Can't miss it. The one which would be neon if the tree happened to be a restaurant. The top one."
"Yeah! Ha!"
A tight grip on the staff. A slight jump. A pause, six foot up in the air, as he waited for the gasp. Two minutes later, and...
"Wow," said the man on the bench, woodenly. "I'm very surprised."
"You don't sound it," said Jack. This turn of events was rather disappointing.
"Wowzers," said the man. "Fantastic. I think my sunglasses have fallen off my face. Woo. Yeah." ...He pushed his shades up his nose with a finger. "That sincere enough for you? I haven't got all day, you know. I'm an adult. Got to see a man about a dog, and all that. Hotel. Car. Responsibility. All that stuff. $10. It's not a hard decision."
Jack glared.
"Fine," he said. "Just watch."
A long, wooden staff pointed at the top-most branch of the tree. A shot of magic. One metre too far to the left. A far off twinkle as the magic landed. A sigh.
"Bad luck," said the man, pocketing the note.
"Hey, hey, hey!" shouted Jack. He snatched it back. "You never specified!"
He hit the ground running towards the tree, the man following.
"That looks kind of tight," said the man, eyeing the lower tangle of branches in distrust, and the precariously stick-like ones waving in the breeze at the top. Jack laughed.
"I'm thin," he said. "I'll manage."
"Yeah, well, maybe not that thin."
"Yeah that thin. Colonial winters were harsh, believe it or not, back when I was human."
"Huh. Fancy that."
"Yeah. You better believe it. Harsh as hell."
"I'll take your word for it."
Jack grabbed a lower branch and swung himself up onto it.
"I'm just being cautious, that's all," said the man, calmly. "Even a little squirt like you might get stuck halfway, if you're not careful."
Jack scoffed.
"Yeah, well, I may not look it, but I've been climbing apple trees since before you were even thought of," he said.
"Right," said the man. He waited until Jack's foot was well out of sight, and then carefully pulled an apple from the lowest branches of the tree. (There hadn't been one before, but nobody needed to know that.)
Several minutes later, and Jack was back down again from the prettily decorated tree. The man was nowhere to be seen. Jack swore. He stuffed his fists further into his pockets and jogged over to the bench to see if the man was there. The man wasn't. He thought about calling, but he realised he hadn't even asked for the man's name. Yelling 'man' would probably not be good enough.
The long, emerald body of a snake disappeared along one of the upper branches of the apple tree. It thought the extra frost was a nice touch. Warlock's birthday was at 5 o'clock.