In every child's life, they need a guardian. They need someone to protect them and keep them happy. But what happens when even a guardian themselves needs one?
Just like children, what are known as pre-myths are born everyday. Pre-myths are pre legends that are born to become guardians around the world. They're born through the smallest forms of nature; anything from a leaf to a grain of sand. If a pre-myth isn't seen as a true legend it dies, never to be born again. They normally die of starvation or weather conditions first, due to them not knowing how to care for themselves. The ones that can survive on their own usually roam the land, trying to become legend. Most are never seen by children. The only way for one to become a legend is if a guardian helps spread the word of a new legend. But even with a guardian's help, most of those die as well. Only a child has the choice of whether they want to believe in it or not.
She was born from a single snowflake, on one of the coldest, but greatest days of the year. Christmas Eve-
I remember feeling the cold chill, my bare skin against the white snow. I remember opening my eyes for the first time, trying to take in the sight all at once. The snow was falling and the trees seemed so tall, almost as if they touched the sky.
I tried to stand, holding on to the tree next to me. My ebony hair fell in my face as I tried to keep my balance. My knees were week as I tried to stand straight. I could hear faint laughter a few yards away from me. I brushed the hair from my face and tried to walk forward only to fall in the snow. I pushed myself back up and used the tree branches to guide me. I walked a few steps but fell back into the cold slush. Determined, I pushed myself up and stood holding the tree with a greater force. I guided myself through the trees one small step at a time, following the laughter.
As I kept walking the laughter became louder. I came upon a clearing with three others that looked like me. They were wrestling in the snow and throwing snowballs at each other. Three males. Besides being a female we had pretty much everything in common.
"Hey look there's another one." One shouted pointing to me. "Hey, come on. Come over here!" He was wanting me to join them. I was still holding onto a tree trunk. I still couldn't walk on my own. They were all watching me and talking to themselves.
I let go of the tree slowly and stood for the first time. I smiled as I tried to take a step and then another. I was walking for the first time. I made my way over to them carefully. I stood a few feet away from them as they smiled at me. I didn't know what was going on.
One of them grabbed my arm throwing me off balance. I fell to my knees as his grip grew tighter.
"We can't have anymore of our kind around here. Especially if we want to survive ourselves." He said. The other two grabbed each of my arms as the one in front of me grabbed my neck. This was happening too fast. I couldn't process what was happening. He pulled my neck up slowly, stretching my head from my body. I screamed as I squeezed my eyes shut. I knew I couldn't fight back; I was too weak. All I could register was the snickering around me.
Just before he could clean my head right off, I could hear the faint sound of bells.
All of a sudden the pressure on my neck fell, as well as my arms. I slowly opened my eyes to see the bloody corpses. I screamed as I fell backwards.
"Are you hurt?" I heard a deep Russian accent ask behind me. I spun my head back to look at the killer. He was tall and was holding two bloody swords. My eyes widened as I screamed again. I tried to crawl away, not trusting my legs.
"Wait, I'm not going to hurt you. You were in danger and..." I could hear his boots running in the snow after me. Tears started to sting at my eyes. I wanted to get away, far away.
He appeared in front of me and tried to stop me. I fell back tears running down my face. I didn't ask for this. I didn't want to be killed, let alone twice.
"Please I want to help. I can explain everything that just happened. They were going to kill you..." I started to crawl away again. He ran in front of me and bent down.
"Please. You're going to die out here." He took off his coat and held it out. He smiled, "You must be cold. This will help, I promise." He held it out farther. The fur of the sleeve touched my bare arm. It was warm and soft. I look up at him. He had a long white beard and a soft smile. I don't know what possessed me to trust him, but I did.
I grabbed at the sleeve. It was smooth to the touch. He stood up slowly and wrapped the oversized coat around me. It was so warm and I huddled up inside it. He slowly started to pick me up. I didn't mind so much now that I was warm. His beard was so long that it laid against my chest. He began to walk back in the other direction. I looked up at him as we walked. His face had a pink tint to it from the cold. He looked down at me. He has these baby blue eyes that make it alright to trust him, whoever he is. They tell me that it's going to be alright.
"You're safe now. Once we get to the North Pole we'll get you some clothes and a hot meal." He says smiling. I feel the vibrations in his chest as he speaks. He places me in a sleigh and sits down next to me. I huddle against him as he shouts commands at the animals pulling the sleigh. Soon enough I began to drift to sleep.
I awoke in a huge room. I had no idea where I was. I ran my hands across the scarlet red sheets I had been sleeping in. I sat up as I looked around the room admiring the carvings in the walls. There were carvings of small toys and children playing. There was a toy airplane hanging from the ceiling and a tree in the corner with lights and decorations. At the far end of the room a stone fireplace covers the whole wall.
I swung my legs to the side of the bed and stood. I didn't have as much trouble this time. I was still a little slow, but I managed. I looked in front of me to see a land covered in ice outside the window. I looked down at myself to see I had on a simple red dress with sleeves. It was a little big, but fit for the most part. I wandered around around the room examining and I found that there was a small workbench on the other side of the room and on it there was a small wooden train without a wheel. I moved on to the table near the door. There were multiple picture frames with various people. The only person I knew was the man with the white beard.
I made my way outside the room and down the hall. I could hear voices.
"She can't stay here, Mate. Ya know what happened the last time ya tried to help one of those." Someone with an Australian accent said.
"I hate to say it, but he's right. With what happened to the other, do you really want that to happen again?" A woman said.
"Imagine if you were in my situation. What would you do if you saw someone about to be killed? Would you just stand by and watch!" You recognized that Russian accent from last night. He was yelling and seemed furious.
I turned the corner into the room. They all stared at me.
"Hey you're awake." The one you knew said. He walks over to me and placed his hand on my back.
"I want you to meet some of my dearest friends." He said pointing to the others.
He pointed to a fairy and said," This is the Tooth fairy. We call her Tooth." She was covered in green, purple, and yellow feathers. She waved and smiled.
He then pointed to a rabbit and said," This is the Easter Bunny, but we call him Bunnymund." He didn't seem too interested and turned in the other direction.
"And this is Sand Man or Sandy, as we like to call him." He points to a small man sleeping.
He laughs. "And I am Santa. Santa Claus." I look at everyone and take everything in. I smile shyly and wave a little.
"This isn't right, Mate! Ya need to stop while ya can!" Bunnymund yells stomping out of the room.
"Don't mind him. He's glad you're here." Tooth says shaking my hand. I smile at her and she squeals.
"You have the whitest teeth I've ever seen! Besides Jack's of course, but still!" She grabs my head and pokes at my teeth.
"Tooth. Leave her alone. I believe we need to talk about what happened last night." Santa says. Tooth backs away and listens. He sits down and places his head in his hands.
"Last night you were born into this world as a meant-to-be-legend or a pre-myth as we call them. They are usually born with many others that are identical to one another. You and all the others born from snowflakes. Pre-myths that are born from snowflakes are special. No two look alike. With others everyone is identical, same gender and all. Anyway, pre-myths..." He pauses, "...don't live very long. Every one has the will to live so that they can become a legend for children to believe in. They'd even kill for survival. That's what was happening to you. They were going to kill you without a second thought." He slams his fist down on the table at this. I flinch and step back.
"I'm sorry. As a guardian of children it's tough to see creatures act like that, when they too want to become like us." He looks up at me, "But you. I know you're different. You didn't try to fight back. Normally pre-myths have the urge to fight like rabid dogs fighting for territory." He smiles and then frowns again. He looks up at an hourglass sitting on the table. It's turned upside down with the sand gathering at the bottom. Tooth sees him frowning and speaks up.
"Why don't I show you around the workshop? Come on it'll be fun." She says taking my hand. We leave the room and I turn to see him before the door closes. I can hear things being thrown and breaking from the room as we walk down the hall.