Late 1980s, Black Friday
Jack Frost looked down at his clothes. They had become tattered and it made flying so difficult. His stupid cloak was getting caught on trees, whipping him in the face when flying with the wind, not to mention he got tangled up in it while working his winter magic. He'd end up either almost knocking into buildings, trees, telephone poles and what not. It was annoying.
Thankfully, he didn't have to worry about anyone seeing him when he had these embarrassing mishaps. He remembered what a clumsy oaf he was when he first learned to fly...how he just fell in a heap, landing in the snow, entangled in his own cloak and tripping on his feet on the outskirts of a little colonial village.
Not that anyone ever did see him. No human, child or adult, saw the boy. He had spent over 300 years being unseen, not knowing why he was here or who he was. All he knew was his name. It was frustrating not being seen...not to mention lonely...
On the bright side of being invisible and having winter magic, Jack could start snowball fights, make people and cars slip, blow icy winds and snow, even amusing himself with the snow blowers and plows...just anything. He would laugh after all those pranks he pulled on those fools who didn't see him.
Taking a break from flying, he decided to stop in a suburban city for a moment. Jack landed gracefully on a tree branch, looking at the passersby, thinking of ways to amuse himself. It seemed like a busy day with all these people since it was the day after Thanksgiving. They seemed to want to get their Christmas shopping done right away.
That's when he saw it in a store window: a dark blue sweater. It was perfect for him. He tossed off his tattered cloak, letting it flutter away in the wind. He hopped off the tree, carefully slipping in the open door of the store.
Four-year-old Colleen O'Shea was shopping with her mother, Maria, for Christmas presents. She held her mother's hand as they walked in a clothing store. It was so boring being here. Her mother promised they would go look at toys. She whined impatiently, only for her mother to tell her what she said the last time...soon. Soon seemed like a day!
She looked around the store at the people there...
...that's when something caught her eye. A boy with white hair! She stared curiously at him. He looked like he was homeless: his hair was tousled, he was so skinny and his clothes looked tattered...and he was barefoot. He looked like he stepped right out of the fairy tale, The Little Match Girl, that her Mommy would read to her.
It made her sad to see a boy like this; he must be so cold with his holey clothes and no shoes, especially since winter was here. She wanted to talk to him, ask him if he was hungry or cold. But Mommy told her not to leave her side. And to never talk to strangers. She watched as he approached the hooded sweatshirt display, picking out a dark blue one. She walked tentively towards the white-haired boy, wanting to get a closer look. She wanted to ask why his hair was white. Her grandmother had hair like that, but not a young boy.
Jack Frost looked at the sweater, smiling. It looked much better, less of an obstacle when flying. Though he was invisible, he was certain that people would find it a bit suspicious that a sweater just walked out of the store. He watched the door open and shut as people walked in and out. He'd have to deal with people walking right through him, which he didn't like very much. It felt like he was getting punched. Just this once, he'd have to risk it for now and deal with the shock.
He watched the door carefully, waiting for the right opportunity. Something in the corner of his eye got his attention. There, at his right, was a small child: blonde hair and green eyes. She appeared to be staring at something. But what could it be? It figured she was staring at the mannequin that had the sweater on display. He instinctively moved aside, watching the girl's eyes move with his. He furrowed his brow. Could it be the girl was looking at...him? He moved again, finding the girl's eyes followed.
"Wait..." he said. "Can you see me?"
The girl nodded slowly. He got closer, making the girl flinch.
Once it came, he grabbed the sweater and dashed towards the door, feeling some people walking through him. He felt like he was bombarded with punches.
Colleen saw the boy run towards the door, disappearing with the sweater. She knew that what he was doing was wrong. Her Mommy told her that stealing was bad. She watched the manager and the security guard see the floating sweater that flew towards the open door with a gush of wind. Colleen ran towards the door, hearing her mother shriek her name.
"HEY!" Jack heard someone shout.
He saw the store manager and a security guard coming towards the door. Thinking quickly, he touched his staff on the ground, creating a patch of ice in front of the store. The two adults slipped on the ice, falling down and toppled into each other. People stopped as they saw the . Jack leaped up with the wind onto the roof, looking down at the whole scene, laughing hysterically.
Jack looked at his prize with a smile, hugging it tightly. He pulled off his tattered shirt and vest, tossing them away and they were carried with the wind, forever lost...well, if they got caught on something, one would assume they were just rags. He pulled on his new sweater over his head. It felt so soft and good on his cold skin. He barely felt the wind blowing through like he did with his old clothes...though the cold hardly bothered him at all. He watched as frost began to form on the cloth, smiling. He tested out the front pocket and the hood. It was perfect. He hugged himself, enjoying the new material on his skin.
Colleen ran out of the store to look for the boy who stole the sweater...only to slip on the ice, falling on her bottom. She began to cry as she felt the pain.
"Colleen Siobhan O'Shea!" Maria said angrily, grabbing her hand. Upon seeing the crying child, her anger was replaced with worry, helping her up. "Are you alright?"
"I think so," she said.
Maria's worry returned to anger. "What do you think you're doing, running off like that?!" she scolded. "You could've slid into the street!"
"I'm sorry, Mommy," she said. "It's just...I saw a boy steal a sweater. I was trying to stop him."
The manager heard the small child say this. Soon, the O'Sheas were led to the back of the store to look through the footage. Colleen watched the video, looking for the boy...
"There!" Colleen said, pointing to the boy on the black-and-white screen. "He's right there!"
The adults squinted at to where Colleen was pointing. There was nobody here. They did see the sweater float like a gust of wind blew it out of the store when the door opened.
"Sweetie, there's nobody there," the manager said.
"But he IS there!" Colleen insisted. "He had white hair and clothes with holes and he was barefoot."
"We don't see anyone," said the manager.
"But he's right there!"
Her mother shushed her, calming her down. Colleen watched as the adults talked for a few minutes, shaking their heads. They wouldn't believe a four-year-old's word. Nobody ever believed her. Maria took Colleen out of the manager's office and went to get lunch, buying her an ice cream as a way to reward her for at least trying to tell the truth. She believed her daughter. She knew she would never lie about something like this.
"Mommy! I really did see him!" Colleen said
Maria nodded. "I believe you," she said.
"Really, Mommy?" she said.
"Yes," she said.
"But why doesn't anyone else believe me?"
Maria frowned. She didn't know how to explain to her child that adults usually tended to not listen to children. Colleen had a wonderful imagination. She liked playing make-believe, hearing stories and pretending that there were the magical beings.
"I don't know," she said. "People don't really listen to children when they really should sometimes. But don't worry about that."
"I wish I could find that boy again, Mommy," said Colleen. "I would've liked to have given him my ice cream. He looked like he needed it more than me."
"I'm sure he would appreciate that, Collie," she said, stroking her daughter's head with a smile.