"Come here, Lizzy!", he shouted, gesturing the girl standing at the shore of the lake to join him on the ice. "I promise, I'll hold your hand so you won't fall." Lizzy quickly shook her head, her hands firmly holding onto the hem of her coat. He couldn't help but laugh as he skated towards her.
He must have been here a hundred times but today was special. It was the first day this year that the ice was thick enough so he could take her skating.
Elizabeth, his little sister, but known as Lizzy to most, had just turned six. He had promised her that this winter she would be finally old enough to go ice skating with him. It had taken him days to fashion some skater shoes that would fit her and he was quite content with the result. He had even managed to scrape up enough money to decorate them with light blue ribbons as laces.
As they reached the lake Lizzy got so scared, she refused to get onto the ice. He had helped her into her shoes and carefully done the bows on the bright blue laces, smiling reassuringly at her.
She remained stubborn, saying she was not going to get out onto the ice with him.
Jack left her there for a moment, skating to the middle of the lake, encouraging her to try and follow him. He could see she was getting teary-eyed now so he quickly raced back to her.
He held out his hands and, skating backwards he slowly pulled his sister with him onto the frozen surface of the lake.
"Come, Lizzy", he said again, keeping an eye on how she was doing on her short little legs. She was quivering a great deal but managed to stay upright. He gave her another big smile, that she was too busy to return. Concentrating, she tentatively began to move her feet a little, then more, until Jack had the feeling she was quite secure in what she was doing.
"All right, little one, think you can do this by yourself now? Because I would really like to take one quick round around the lake." Lizzy's eyes got a little wider, her legs immediately a bit shakier but she nodded gravely. "I will be right back with you, just stay here in the middle so I can find you later, yes?" Elizabeth giggled at that. The lake was not very big, after all. "I won't go anywhere. I promise."
The ice sang under his blades and he sped up further, going as fast as he could. Then he braced himself for a sharp turn near where the old Willow tree stood, its naked twigs almost touching the surface of the frozen water. How he loved these winter days. Unlike the others he did not even mind the cold all that much. Besides, the mere idea of staying inside the house with his family all day crammed together like birds in cage too small to hold all of them made him cringe.
He loved his brothers and sisters like one could only love their family but he needed the space. Being with them all the time made him feel he was slowly being suffocated under a thick blanket.
The speed and ease with which he could move on ice lightened his racing heart giving him the sense of... well, freedom. He hoped one day he could explain this to Lizzy and maybe, who could tell, maybe she would feel the same way.
Gracefully making the turn his head shot towards the right, where he had told Elizabeth to wait for him. A rush colder than the air around him went down his spine then, freezing his heart. She was not there.
He raced back to the middle of the lake, desperately looking for the blonde head of hair. Had she gone back to the shore? "Lizzy?" he called out, the lump of fear in his throat muffling his voice. He called out again. "Lizzy, where are you?" Then he heard the splashing, the coughing.
Thoughts racing Jack skated back to the shore breaking off a long branch off a tree and jumped back onto the ice. There she was, near the willow tree. The ice hadn't been thick enough there and what little weight she had must have been enough to break it.
The closer he got the more he forced himself to slow down even though all he wanted to do was jump into the water to get her out. Jack dropped onto his knees and then onto his stomach crawling towards the hole in the ice. "Hold onto this!" He held out the branch to Elizabeth whose hands took a firm hold on it immediately. As he pulled her out he was aware of how pale and shocked she looked, and the tears rimming her eyes. He had promised he would look after her.
The very moment her feet were out of the icy water he took her tiny hands in his and carefully pulled her and himself back towards the shore. Everything was going to be all right. She was safe now. He would take her back to the house, put her into warm clothing and place her right in front of the fire place, until the cold was forgotten.
When he had put enough distance between them and the hole he dared to get back onto his feet again. He grabbed his sister and held her tight to his chest, her wet clothes dampening his coat. "I am so sorry about that, Lizzy, I should have been there. You should have stayed where I told you to." Elizabeth only sobbed, her face buried into his shirt, her hands firmly holding onto his coat. "Shh," he said soothingly. "It will be all right, we go home now, drink some nice hot milk, what do you say to that, hm?"
He was so concentrated on reaching the shore line, which seemed to take so much longer than usual that he did not notice how the ice cracked. Jack was too stunned to even scream as the ice broke, the bit he was standing on turned like the heaver side of a seesaw and then flipped completely.
For a disorienting moment he and Lizzy were caught under the heavy block of ice, the water so cold it turned him numb the very moment he had fallen into it.
Then Jack looked up and saw a bit of pure winter sunlight and knew where he could get themselves out.
He pushed up the ice floe as far as he could, the cold water slowing down his movements, freezing him to the bone. He gathered all strength that he had left and pushed the little body of his sister out onto the ice, telling her to run.
She spat out water and cried but obediently crawled to the shore line. Jack tried to push himself up but every time he tried putting his weight onto the ice it would just break away.
Strength began to fail him and the water was burning his skin now. He felt hot, he could not move any longer, he was tired.
The last thing he saw was his sister standing there, her clothes clinging to her body, her tiny hands clinging to the rim of her coat.
Dusk was falling and with it came the darkness. But it also brought something else, something bright. The air was crisp and clear and the moon shone down onto the small lake.
The moonshine could not reach the body floating under the thick layer of ice but that did not matter. Moon had watched it happening earlier this day and he knew were to look.
Without effort Moon pulled the child up. Out of the water and right through the ice. Moon was strong, no doubt about that. Moon gently put the sleeping child down, onto the ice that had betrayed the boy so and claimed his life today.
His skin was delicately white as porcelain, his hands and feet were almost blue. Up from his place beyond the clouds Moon sent his strongest beam of moon light.
As it touched the ice and the boy lying on it, something changed. The air became crisper and the ice thicker as the boy's chest rose and sank, his lungs desperately sucking in air. He opened his once brown eyes, pushed himself up and looked around.
His gaze wandered over to the shore, then onto the ice he was sitting on. He was not cold at all.
He looked at his feet and wondered why he wasn't wearing any shoes. He tried to remember something but the harder he attempted it the further it slipped his mind.
Standing up he noticed the wooden staff that was lying next to his naked feet. The staff was important, that much he knew. He picked it up and felt an odd warm tingling shooting up his arm.
He put the curled end of the staff down onto the ice. Little sparks shot out of the tip that leaked over the ice coloring it in glittering rainbow hues.
The boy stretched his arms and wriggled his toes. He looked down again. His feet were barely touching the ground. He jumped. And flew eighty feet high up into the air. Full of wonder he looked across the tree tops and onto the tiny houses in the distance.
After taking a round over the lake the boy hovered over a tree top, trying to land on a thick branch of the old oak. As he sat down a thought occurred to him. Who was he? What was he doing here?
The moon appeared from behind a passing cloud: "I see you are enjoying your gift", Moon said.
"What?", the boy asked dumbfounded. He squinted into the bright light.
"I gave you a gift today, boy." The child did not know what this meant. "Who am I?", he asked.
"Your name from this day on shall be Jack Frost."
Jack Frost nodded.
"We shall talk no more. Live, Jack. And use your gift wisely." And Moon said no more to Jack.
"Wait! What does that even mean? Can't you at least tell me what I am doing here?"
Jack never got an answer.