Jack be nimble

Jack be quick

Jack sent to hell

With a candle stick

On one of the coldest days of the year, seeing a group of six children heading tentatively towards the frozen lake on the edge of Burgess would not be considered the norm. When most residents in the small town would be huddled in their living rooms with hot chocolate and slippers, Jamie Bennett had more ambitious ideas. By preparing himself with three layers of clothing, two pairs of gloves and four pairs of socks, he was ready to face any cold wave Jack threw at him. He was accompanied by the group of friends who were beginning to be known as 'the gang' by a few of their fellow classmates. It was true enough that the ragtag bunch of kids, who had once incidentally saved the world from darkness and terror (with considerable help from the guardians), were nigh inseparable.

Everything they did was done as a unit. From homework to repainting Monty's fence, Claude, Cupcake, Jamie, Monty and Caleb came at it like a team. In this instance, they had decided that on what was generally considered to be Jack Frost's birthday, a day of ice skating would be an appropriate way to celebrate. They were hoping that the birthday boy himself would actually turn up, since they hadn't exactly been able to ask him personally, but Jamie was certain he would. Jack, despite his flighty nature, was oddly reliable for such a childish guardian.

"And you're sure this ice is thick enough? I mean, you hear stories about kids like us who think it's all-"

"Yes, Monty, we're sure."

For the something-nth time since the gang left Claude and Caleb's house, Monty voiced his concerns, only to be swiftly reassured by Cupcake that no, he would not fall through the ice at this time during the season. It was halfway through January, for goodness sake!

With a grin, Caleb poked Monty in the back of the head and commented, "Stop worrying so much."

"Yeah, it'll take all the fun if we have to keep stopping to pluck up your courage," Claude agreed.

Jamie admitted silently that his oldest friend seemed to be acting more concerned than normal, but he was soon distracted by the sight of his sister absently wandering towards the main road. Sure, there wasn't a car in sight as the road was practically iced over, but he still suffered a mini-aneurism as he saw her foot hit the pavement.

"Sophie! Stop! That's the main road!"

He rushed forward, past where Monty was wringing his hands and grabbed Sophie's shoulder. She stumbled backwards and he breathed a sigh of relief. Cupcake gave him weird look over his panic, since there were absolutely no cars anywhere near, but he didn't care. Knowing his sister, whether or not there were cars didn't make a difference. She'd wander through a battlefield just to chase a butterfly.

"Look before you cross, okay?" He insisted and Sophie just nodded with a toothy smile in response. Jamie sighed, knowing that his words would fly in one ear and out the other, when it came to Sophie.

Although, when Jamie looked across the road and saw their destination waiting patiently on the other side, he grew slightly impatient, himself.

"C'mon guys!" Caleb laughed, clapping Jamie on the shoulder as he rushed past. To his credit, Caleb did check both ways…he just did it halfway across the street. He was followed instantly by Cupcake and Claude who ran after him with whoops of laughter. The sight of the town's pond iced over spectacularly was one that inspired a lot of excitement. Especially since Jamie's ice skates had been collecting dust in the corner of his cupboard for a long time. He wasn't even sure if he remembered how to skate. With the thought of what Jack would say to that fresh in his mind, Jamie decided that quickly jamming as much practice in as he could before the winter spirit turned up was incredibly necessary.

"Coming!" He yelled, taking Sophie's hand and making a show of checking for cars before crossing. Next to him, Sophie had grabbed Monty's hand and was practically dragging the other boy with them despite Monty's obvious nervousness.

By the time the three of them reached the lake's edge, Claude was already taking hesitant steps on the ice and gaining confidence rapidly. With every meter he covered without falling, his smile grew bigger. Caleb was pulling on his second skate with fierce impatience, obviously wanting to be on the ice, showing up his brother. Cupcake seemed to be taking her time, in no hurry to skate, but she was nowhere near as bad as Monty. The boy was a mess – obviously torn between wanting to hang out with the group, but too scared that he was going to fall to an icy death. It seemed that Sophie was the one to make the decision for him.

She skipped the ice skates completely and dragged the two boys right onto the ice after her with a giggle. She had decided that chasing Claude was in her best interests and he started fleeing with a panicked look, not steady enough yet to bear the inevitable weight of Jamie's little sister on one of his hands. He started to head in the opposite direction of her, but in his panic, he forgot that simply moving his feet was not enough on ice and he ended up throwing himself off balance enough to fall flat on his back. By that time, Sophie had gained enough momentum to crash into him at full speed, and together, they went spinning across the ice in an untidy heap.

No one in the group could hide their laughter over the incident and by the time Jamie had gotten his amusement under control, Cupcake had gracefully skated over to help Claude and Sophie to their feet.

"Shut up, you idiot!" Claude snapped at his brother who was still rolling in the snow, roaring with laughter.

"You just got taken down by a girl," Jamie snickered, "and she hasn't even finished third grade."

"Hey, girls can be tough," Cupcake protested with a look that suggested Jamie should shut up immediately. That stopped his laughter since he remembered all too well the times that Cupcake proved how well she could take care of bullies. Especially the few times she'd helped Jamie out.

"Yeah, I just meant-"

Jamie was cut off by a very well placed snowball to the face.

The entire group went silent at that, and while Jamie clenched his eyes shut against the cold, he held his breath. He wiped his face off in excitement, just knowing who threw that snowball.

"Don't let Tooth hear you saying stuff like that," Jack advised.

"Jack! You came-"

"You're here-!"

"Happy birthday!"

"How long have-"

The simultaneous greetings seemed to overwhelm the guardian since his eyes widened at the collective enthusiasm and he leaned back into a sitting position on his staff. He was perched in the centre of the pond and Claude was already skating unsteadily towards him with a wide smile. Caleb, having abandoned his attempt to figure out how his skates were strapped on, took up the challenge again with renewed vigour. Cupcake was following Claude with more grace than one would expect from her burly frame. Jamie took a moment to consider whether or not she'd ever had lessons. Then he shook his head to clear the random thoughts and set down where he stood on the ice to lace up his own skates. All the while, Jack welcomed the kids gathering around him.

"Happy birthday?" That's new," he commented while Claude tried to stop in the middle of the ice and failed miserably.

"Well we thought that being the spirit of winter and everything, your birthday would be the coldest day of the year," Monty explained, not daring to move just yet, in case the ice cracked like he feared.

Jack considered his words for a moment before nodding abruptly and announcing, "I like it!"

The group grinned collectively, glad that Jack agreed. Or course, his next words made them freeze up in surprise.

"Doesn't that mean I should be opening presents now?"

Jack glanced around at their surprised and guilty expressions with a hurt expression, before he grinned and laughed, "I'm kidding, guys! A day of fun in the snow is more than enough for me."

Jamie was ashamed to say that he let out a silent breath of relief at Jack's genuine acceptance at the idea of his only present being the responsibility of overseeing a group of children on their play date. If he tried this on his mother or father (despite their instance that 'no they don't need anything for their birthday, it's fine, really') he would definitely wind up being sent to bed without dessert. At least.

"Come on, I am itching for a game of red rover," Jack laughed, taking off in the direction of the opposite shore, "and I'm willing to bet you're all in need of some high-speed chase practice."

Jamie laced his skates up with enthusiasm making his hands fumble with the cords. He couldn't wipe the smile off his face when he remembered that Jack had turned up after all and that now he had an entire day to spend with the spirit of winter. He wouldn't normally be so pleased over that, but today seemed to be a little different. Of course, he'd always get excited when Jack stopped by (a frighteningly rare occurrence nowadays) but lately, it seemed to Jamie that he needed a little boost to work his friend up into the kind of childish enthusiasm that he still found naturally.

"Jaaaamie," Jamie was pulled from his pondering thoughts by his little sister's whining voice coming from his elbow. He glanced down to see her tugging on his sleeve with a pout. Her shoes were strewn near the snow bank marking the beginning of the pond and the end of stable ground, showing that she'd thrown them towards the shore already. The only problem was that Sophie hadn't exactly learnt how to tie her laces yet and her feet were probably freezing next to her ice skates. With a sigh, Jamie turned a temporary deaf ear to the laughter and mock-threats coming from the other side of the pond and looked down at his sister's shivering feet.

"Alright, alright," he sighed, reaching for her left ice skate, "remember now, Soph, we've done this a thousand times."

Jamie looked up at her to make sure she was listening before exaggerating his motions while commentating, "This one makes a bunny ear-"

"Bunny!"

"Yes, remember Bunny? One of his ears – see" Jamie made a twitching motion with the loop and could fight the grudging smile when Sophie clapped in laughter, "and then this one comes around the bunny ear and slips through the rabbit hole! See? Easy as pie!"

Sophie seemed to have lost track somewhere, since when she attempted to tie her right skate, she ended up making a large, rather untangle-able knot.

Jamie sighed again, "alright, let's go over this one more time…"

He repeated the same instructions, hoping that maybe this time Sophie would listen, but he had no way of knowing, since the second he was done, his little sister shot off across the ice like a rocket. Sure, she fell over every few feet, but she was sure gaining a lot more distance than Jamie. That is, until he felt the wind suddenly increase and the ice under his feet slide by faster than he'd ever felt comfortable attempting before. He was halfway around the pond when he realised the pressure on his shoulders was not a violent death looming and boxing him in, but rather Jack's hands, steering him around corners and his friends like a pro.

The look of shock on his face must have been pretty obvious since every one of his friends chuckled or hid a grin as he passed them. Then he realised his mouth was hanging open and he shut it abruptly. Jack's laughter echoed from behind him and Jamie twisted his head so that he could see the boy guiding him.

"What are you doing?" He asked when Jack glanced down with a large smile on his face.

"You looked like you were learning to walk all over again! I thought you could do with some help."

"But you're flying! That's cheating!"

"Helping out a friend doesn't have an 'end game' – I can't cheat in making sure you don't break your nose," Jack shot back without missing a beat, then he paused before adding, "plus, isn't it more fun this way? If we were to gang up on that bunch, we would dominate in a game of tag."

Jamie considered Jack's words for a long moment before responding with a vehement, "Cheaters never prosper."

"Spoil sport," Jamie heard from somewhere just above his head, and then the hands on top of his shoulder disappeared and suddenly he was flying towards a snow bank at what was surely nothing less than ten miles per hour. He clenched his eyes shut and prepared for a violent end when his hand was caught and Jamie was spun in a large curve. His eyes shot wide and he found Cupcake's smiling expression attached to the hand that caught him. Then he continued down the line and saw that Claude was holding Cupcake's hand, and Monty was holding Claude's and Caleb was acting as the buffer between Monty and Sophie. Finally, Jack was on the end, twisting so that the line of squealing kids found themselves showing the slow motion arc of a whip. First, Jamie broke off again, followed by Cupcake and so forth, down the line until Jack was left spinning in a circle with a giggling Sophie clutching his leg for support.

Jamie's line of sight was cut off as he pitched head first into a mound of snow. Next to him, Caleb seemed to grasp his bearings a lot sooner than Jamie managed to, "Wow, dude that was awesome!"

"That was scary, man."

"Can we do it again?"

"I want to be on the end this time!"

Shouts were heard across the pond as the scattered kids gathered once more in the centre of the makeshift ice rink. Sophie was still firmly attached to Jack's person, but he had managed to pry her off of his calf and was allowing her to use his left hand as a balancing tool. She was gripping it in both hands and her feet were sliding in every direction. Jamie thought back to a clip he had once seen of a lamb first learning how to stand up, and he smiled.

As the group arranged themselves into another line, this time, Cupcake acting as the pivot point, Jamie wobbled across the ice towards his friends. Behind them, Jack had willingly ducked out of their second attempt at creating the 'whip' and was directing Sophie much like he had Jamie. Of course, this time he was tall enough to hold her hands outstretched from behind her, but the technique was the same. She seemed to have incurred the 'beginners speed' though, something which made Jamie both envious but a little smug about. Although his immediate reactions were interrupted by the expression he saw on Jack's face. Where Jamie had normally come to expect a beaming smile or carefree laughter, Jamie noticed something that looked dangerously close to what was either nausea, or Jack's version of sadness.

Jamie's attention was soon yanked back to the present at Caleb's shout, though, and he turned away from his sister's ice skating lesson at the question, "Come on Jamie! Are you up for a high-speed snow ball fight or what!?"

"You'll wish you hadn't challenged me, Caleb! You are going down!"

"Jamie – Jamie, man – that jump was awesome! I mean it looked a little painful, but it was totally worth it! You actually got some decent hang time! And for a second I thought maybe you were gonna take off…"

Jamie smiled again as he watched Jack restage Jamie's impact with the ground after a dangerous attempt at a jump, with his hands and loud sound effects. Egged on by Cupcake, Caleb and Jack, Jamie had managed to get one foot off the ground before landing in a very messy heap on the ice – and since it had also become something of a tradition whenever Jack became involved in a group outing, Jamie's left baby incisor had slid along the ground after him. His group had caught sight of the small amount of blood on the white surface and predictably, Monty nearly fainted, but the cheers from the rest of them assured Jamie that his ice skating antics would surely be added to the ongoing mural in the tree house. He had been carried off the ice like a war hero and showered with both praise (That jump was sick man) and also a few half-hearted criticisms (you could have died).

Their outing had been called to a finish after that though, since the sun had already been sinking low on the horizon and Sophie was nearly falling asleep where she had perched on Jack's shoulders. Jack had found it kind of difficult to keep her balanced at first, but it soon turned out that Jamie's sister had a grip of iron, not just in her sleep, but when Jack decided to participate in a game of tag, even with a large disadvantage sitting comfortably behind his head. Sophie had even done a decent job of steering him, ignoring the pained winces he'd let slip when her tugs at his hair were a bit too enthusiastic.

All in all, the trek home to the Bennett's was a weary, but satisfied stretch of sidewalk. Caleb and Claude branched off first, saying something about not realising how late it was and that their mother would skin them if they got home after their curfew. Monty just waved in farewell when they passed his street and wished Jack happy birthday again. Finally, when only Cupcake, Jack and the Bennett siblings were standing outside of Jamie's door, Cupcake seemed to realise that she'd missed her street and retreated sheepishly, waving goodbye until she reached the front gate. Jack watched her go with a smile – everyone in the group had grown up very sneakily. Including Jamie.

Once inside the Bennett's house, Jamie's mother had congratulated Jamie on his missing tooth, but she had made sure to remind him that knocking them out through such violent methods couldn't possibly be very good for his jaw. He had just nodded in agreement, promising his mother that, 'okay, I'll be more careful with my friends, I will – sure!'. Sophie, having been passed into Jamie's arms from Jack's shoulders on their doorstep, tugged at her mother's skirt with an expression pleading for an early dinner. Jamie, too, was roped into a five o'clock meal since his eyes were drooping and he had school tomorrow.

Jamie had attempted to worm his way out of the room so that he could let Jack know that he wouldn't be able to escape again until after school the next day, but by the time Jamie managed to poke his head out into the living room, the other boy had disappeared. Jamie had eaten his meal in a sullen silence at the idea that his big birthday celebration for Jack had ended in such a way, but he'd resigned himself to the promise that he'd make it up to him next time there was a few hours to play outside.

He had been fully prepared to go to sleep early – maybe sneak a few hours of reading in too, if he was being honest, however when Jamie had opened his door to his room and found a fort made from pillows and blankets rather than his normal bed, desk, chair and bookcase, all thoughts of sleep fled.

He'd not been able to see over the mound of pillows sitting on his bed, and there was an odd looking shape protruding from the foot of his mattress. The crooked top of the pole suggested Jack had used his staff as a tool for building this particular cubby. It was being used to prop the sheet up as a roof over the bed below and Jamie had a sneaking suspicion that Jack was inside, preparing to boast over his ingenious design. Jamie had to admit, though, that he'd have to agree if that was the case. The fort looked incredibly inviting.

"Jack?" He asked with very badly suppressed excitement bubbling over into his voice, "What is all this?"

"Come and see," was the cryptic reply.

Without hesitating, Jamie bolted over to the bed and wriggled through the gap between the pillows and the sheet. When he poked his head inside, he grinned at Jack, who was lounging casually against the headboard. He smiled back and tucked his feet up so that Jamie had room to sit comfortably on the bed as well. It seemed Jack had managed to dig out Jamie's old torch from his desk drawer and was using it to light the 'cave'. He was making shadow puppets against the white sheet-roof when Jamie joined him and the boy managed to catch the end of what looked like a rabbit's violent struggle against an alligator. Oddly enough, the bunny managed to win and even come out perfectly intact.

"Do you like it?" Jack asked with a gesture around at the interior.

"Yes!" Jamie whispered animatedly, nodding fervently, "this is so cool! Why did you- never mind. More importantly, when did- no, that's not important either. I know!"

Jamie wriggled back out from beneath the sheet and tiptoed towards the door. His mother and father probably assumed he was going straight to bed, since he'd been dead on his feet when he and Sophie had arrived home, but Jack's creation had breathed some new life into his weary mood. He glanced back at the fort to see Jack peering curiously out, his head lying flat on the mattress in an effort to see through the pillows and sheets. Jamie held a finger up in the universal symbol for 'give me a moment' before darting silently out the door and down the hallway.

When he returned, his arms were laden with bowls and packets of every kind of snack and candy imaginable. Well…to an extent. His parents only stocked the kitchen with so many sweets that would 'rot his teeth'. But he had enough to satisfy every childish craving that he felt would soon become impossible to ignore. That seemed to happen a lot around Jack, he'd realised. When he'd re-entered the room, Jack had greeted him with a cheerful whoop and made space for him to clamour into the cubby by holding up the sheet.

"I got everything I could see. Do you like Hershey's kisses?"

"I only like him as a friend."

"Jack! You know what I mean."

Jack laughed at his own wit and relented with a shrug, "I've never tried them. Are they any good?"

"Oh my gosh, yes! Here! Have one!"

Once Jamie had surrounded Jack with a small mound of junk food that he just had to try, the two of them began to recall the day's events.

"I mean I was actually convinced that you'd picked something up from that last time we flew."

"It wasn't that impressive," Jamie denied Jack's enthusiastic praise despite his proud grin.

"I wouldn't be so sure – you didn't see Cupcake's expression. Her jaw nearly hit the ground," Jack laughed as he unwrapped yet another chocolate, "I think Monty nearly feinted too. When he saw your landing. Did I mention – ouch?"

Jamie chuckled at the range of expressions that crossed Jack's face as he talked. They varied from wide-eyed sincerity to a smirk when he mentioned Jamie's only female friend's approval. He took another spoonful of ice cream – which was being kept nice and chilled against Jack's side – and pointed to the mound of wrappers in front of his friend. In an attempt to change the subject to something that didn't remind Jamie that now he was missing two teeth, he asked curiously, "You obviously like the Hershey's. And you really haven't had them before now?"

Jack shook his head and swallowed the mouthful he was chewing before answering with a cheery, "nope. I haven't eaten anything for…" Jack paused while he did some mental calculations, "about seventy years or something. Do these come in different flavours, by any chance?"

Jamie gaped at Jack, trying to process that last tidbit of information, "What?"

"Different flavours. You know, like white chocolate? Or strawberry, maybe? Oh- oh do they make mint? 'Cause mint is-"

"No, no, no – you haven't eaten for seventy years?"

"Oh that."

Jamie shut his mouth slowly, ready to beat some answers out of Jack if the spirit dared to leave it at 'oh that'. He was not disappointed, though.

"Well, I don't exactly have to eat to stay alive like you guys. I mean, I can and I can taste things, but I just don't need to. Manny brought me back with flesh and blood, but I guess when magic gets involved things like eating and sleeping just kinda get all muddled up. I can still sneeze though! That's one thing that I always found weird. I mean – what is sneezing, anyway?"

"You…" Jamie was dimly aware of the ice cream on his spoon melting and sliding dangerously close to the edge, but his main concerns were focused elsewhere. Namely, the boy – was he technically a boy? Did that only count for humans? Was he human? – sitting across from him, licking the wrappers of the chocolate in an effort to make sure not a speck went to waste, "You don't…need to eat. Okay. Or sleep?"

Jack shook his head.

"But you still breathe?"

Jack nodded, already working on his second wrapper.

"And you have, like, flowing blood and stuff?"

"Yep. It's super cold though. I think. Last time I scratched myself on a tree branch it was cold, but that might have just been my skin."

Jamie leaned back onto his hands and breathed out in a whistle, still trying to process. He didn't know why he was so surprised, though. When he thought back over all the times he spent with Jack, there wasn't any instance where Jack ate a single item or slept a wink. Then again, Jamie didn't exactly spend his time tracking his friend's movements for signs of normal human needs and behaviours. In his mind, all the times he didn't see Jack eating didn't mean that Jack didn't eat. It just seemed like Jack wasn't hungry. That had made much more sense than a friend who didn't need basic sustenance.

"Do you want those?" Jack broke through Jamie's thoughts with a gesture towards his share of the chocolates.

"Huh? Oh – yeah. No, you take them," Jamie offered the bowl up with a absent nod, "I mean, you should make up for seventy years of no Hershey's, but I don't think we have enough in the house."

Jack laughed and Jamie chuckled weakly in return, his head still spinning at the thought of not tasting his favourite dinner for seventy years. He slowly began to regain the ability to uphold his end of the conversation as surprise gave way to curiosity. Jamie poked and prodded Jack for every bit of weird or even slightly irregular trivia, eventually leading to an in depth discussion about the 'duties' of a guardian.

"So you really don't have to do anything but make it snow?" Jamie asked in disbelief.

"Pretty much. It's great! I mean, every once in a while I have to reign in a rouge blizzard or redirect a hail storm down to Antarctica, but all in all, I just relax," Jack replied with a shrug.

"What about protecting children?"

"Ever since Pitch got thrown down his own well, there hasn't been much to defend you guys against," Jack reasoned, "Sandy's been dolling out some of his best works, but there hasn't been much danger. Frankly, I feel that we should make the most of it by kicking back but you met North and Bunny. They're all work, no play types. And don't get me started on Tooth!"

Jamie giggled at Jack's mock grimace when he mentioned the Tooth Fairy. He had a faint idea about Tooth's dedication to her work from some of Jack's offhand comments in the past. Judging by those standards, the Tooth Fairy was probably more of a workaholic than his dad!

"Man, I bet Monty would love to hear this. I think he has a little bit of a crush on Tooth. You should have heard him babbling after you guys took down Pitch."

"Oh really?" Jack sat up a bit straighter with a wicked gleam in his eyes that suggested mischief.

"No, no, no! I know that look! Don't you dare mess with him!" Jamie started, waving his hands in denial, "I asked him about it and you should have seen how red he turned! You can't start anything over this!"

Jack slouched back down against the headboard and sighed melodramatically, "fine, but that would've been so much fun. Tooth hasn't been out in the field for ages. It would have been funny to see her reaction if she found out one of the first kids she's made contact with in four hundred and something years was smitten."

"Yeah, but Monty would have killed me," Jamie grumbled.

"Aren't you guys a bit young for crushes and stuff, though?" Jack asked after a pause, "I mean, shouldn't your main concerns be cooties?"

Jamie snorted and shook his head, "You've been away for a while Jack. That kind of stuff is all Claude ever talks about. And Cupcake blushes every time he gets near her."

Jack let out a low whistle and nodded his head solemnly, "that's serious stuff, that is."

"Jack, I'm being serious!" Jamie whined hitting him with a pillow. From underneath, Jack laughed again, but he stopped short when Jamie just glared somewhere next to his shoulder.

"You are being serious," Jack repeated without the mocking tone this time, "But surely that isn't enough to have you all mopey. Is it?"

"No," Jamie sighed, "It's not that really. Just…it kind of reminds me that we're getting older and the other day when Claude mentioned you guys, these kids in my class overheard and started calling him names because of it. Since then, he hasn't even mentioned you or North or anyone until today."

"What? You guys are getting picked on for believing in us?" Jack asked, sitting up a little straighter with indignation, "that's low."

"It's not that I care about – the kids doing it are just idiots. I don't care what they say – I just don't think that my friends are okay with the name calling and stuff. Nowadays it seems like they think of you guys as…I don't know…cousins or something? You know - how you only see them at family gatherings or when they turn up unexpectedly. It…bothers me."

Jamie fidgeted with the hem of his pyjama pants, suddenly wishing that he and Jack were talking about something entirely different. Like the kinds of animals that Jack had in his keeping at the South Pole or his latest plans for the weather over Christmas. Not his innermost worries and doubts.

From above his line of sight, Jack cleared his throat awkwardly and shifted his position on the bed before starting hesitantly, "Ah, listen Jamie…You, um…your friends don't have to make – no that's not what I'm trying to say. Erm…even if they stop believing in us, it doesn't mean you have to. That's not to say I expect you to believe for your whole life, but I…ah…um…" Jack trailed off into a jumbled mess of single syllables.

"It's okay, Jack, I know what you mean. I'll probably grow up and stop believing eventually, but if I do, I want to do it at my own pace. It's not like I'll just flip a switch or something. Besides, how can I stop believing when you visit me every other month?" Jamie lifted his head to smile reassuringly up at Jack, but found the other boy gazing sympathetically down at him in return, "What? What is it?"

"It's nothing…" Jack began, but soon shook his head as though he was starting over, "Just don't put real life on hold, okay?"

"What do you mean?"

"Ah, you're probably too young now anyway. I just mean that the guardians and I should be a second priority – after all that school and friendships and homework and boring stuff. Do you get it?"

Jamie shot Jack a somewhat confused expression, but the other boy didn't elaborate any further. He just shrugged and offered Jamie one of the last two Hersheys. Jamie took it with a smile and pretty soon, they had moved on to discussing Jamie's upcoming science project and all the possibilities that Jack could provide. Of course, the more pressing matter of their previous topic was soon swept away with the junk food and warmth in the cubby (despite the personification of cold weather sitting across from him), and when Jamie finally drifted off to sleep, his thoughts were filled with ice skating and chocolate.

This road is now my only friend

It welcomes me through straights and through bends

But no matter how long I stay

It'll never know my name