Through the scratched and grainy surface of the window he could see the dark silhouettes of items scattered around the room. The bed. A few collectibles on the ledge of a shelf tacked to the off-white wall. Luminous lights in through the open doorway. A laptop on the desk, orange light pulsing on and off.
On, and off.
On, and off.
And then the sounds. A chant, then laughter. Tinkling, bell-like laughter. Music being played, somewhere far away. The sound of merriment, the essence of joy.
A shadow blocked the doorway, barricading his view of the faint light cascading and pooling onto the floor. And it reminded him of just how distant he was. How distant he was becoming with the rest of the world, to the doorway, even.
And all because of one boy, and one day.
He sighed, and turned around his mop of white hair to meet the wise face of the radiant moon shining its beams onto his face. It felt as if a cold block of ice had slipped into his throat. He leaned onto the windowsill, and stared.
All he did was stare at the glowing white circle hanging in the obsidian sky.
The light burned onto his vision.
The door slammed shut, waking him from his stupor. Jack blinked away the staggering afterimage left on his retinas and spun around to the sudden noise. A faint voice penetrated the still air. "Jamie, where are you going?"
"Nowhere, just outside, of course."
He couldn't resist but follow the sudden draft of wind that propelled him to float towards the front door. And there he was, standing right there, as if expecting something. Or someone.
"Jack?" Jamie asked hopefully, and suddenly Jack's heart hammered against his chest. It's no use.
"Jack?" the brunet repeated, with a degree of concern. Jack landed in front of the boy softly, touching the frost-covered ground with the tips of his feet.
"Are you here?" Jamie looked around. Nothing.
Jack smiled softly, floating upward to meet the height of his friend. "I'm here," he whispered, reaching forth a hand and stroking the boy's hair. Even as his hand passed through the boy, as if he were just a mirage, he kept on brushing his fingers through the brown tufts.
He felt utterly betrayed now. As if a giant hand had gripped around his waist, he found himself winded and out of breath. This wasn't supposed to happen. No one told him this was going to happen. He discovered this little tidbit of information himself; even though it was supposedly blatantly obvious, he did not believe such a thing would be real.
Except it was now. And it hurt. It ached and bore a hole into his essence.
But Jack knew he had to force down his sadness and embrace the truth: his friend was all grown up. He was eighteen. He could take care of himself.
He was no longer a child. And to Jamie, the boy who had believed in him, the boy who became the sole reason he was a Guardian now, the boy who related to him in many, many ways: Jack was no longer there.
It was time for both of them to move on. There were plenty of other children out there, in the whole world. On the globe, lights were twinkling over the seas and land. Of course, he would never forget the fond memories he had made together with Jamie. Those would stay with him, and be something to keep them close, something to cherish.
"Jack!" the young man pleaded, anxiety bordering his voice.
His hand grazed the empty space, where Jamie's heart should have been, for him. "I'm always here," Jack's hand slowly retreated back to his side. And then with a spiral of snowflakes, he flew towards the darkness, immersing himself in his own thoughts and hopes. The crystals continued to drift down onto the earth, raining tiny ice shards that embedded themselves into the ground and sparkled in the light of the moon gazing down on the world.