When Natalie woke up it was still dark outside. And the temperature seemed to have dropped in her room. She shivered and pulled her knees to her chest. She looked at the clock- 5 am. The alarm usually went of at 7 am. 2 hours. In 2 hours. No idea to fall asleep again, she thought. She could go to the library before school instead. With that in mind she forced herself to get up. Fast, she pulled on some jeans and a hoodie. She noticed that the window had gained some frost during the night. The winter was coming early this year.
She sneaked out in the kitchen and made herself some breakfast. Yogurt and cereal. She wondered if her parents still were home. Her mother usually went to work really early- Like 4 am early. Her father could go any time between 5 am and 9 am. He could do as he pleased.
She put the empty bowl in the sink (Her yellow cup was still there) before returning to her room. She looked through her schoolbag to make sure that everything was there. Yes.
She went out to the hallway and put her shoes on and grabbed her jacket. She threw a quick look at the mirror. Her curly brown her was a mess as usual (She didn't even bother with brushing it anymore) and her blue eyes looked tired.
When she got out the wind blew her hair in front of her face. She groaned and searched her bag for something to tie it up with. She would love to cut it really short, but her mother wouldn't agree on that.
She couldn't find anything to tie her hair with... Great.
It was really cold too.
It was a fifteen minutes walk to her school. The library was just across the street.
She almost felt like home when she stepped inside the library's doors. The smell of books was filling the air, and a smile placed itself on her lips. The smell of books was comforting to her.
"Natalie! It has been awhile!" the librarian (whom at the time was busy with a costumer) said and smiled at her . The librarian was an old women, in her middle sixties or something. Natalie actually didn't know her name.
"Hi!" she smiled back before walking in between the shelves. She stroke with her hand over the books. Just by touching them, she could almost feel the story they would tell her. Her hand stopped on a thinner book. It looked old, but still untouched. She pulled it out and read the title. Legends and myths, volume 2. She flipped it over to read the back text. It was nothing there though. She opened it and looked through the register. It was some kind of dictionary over a bunch of mythical people. Everything from Greek gods to Santa Claus. Her eyes stopped at the pretty familiar name Jack Frost. She quickly flipped to page 74.
Jack Frost.
Jack Frost is known as the "winter spirit". According to the lore he is supposed to be guilty of blizzards and the heavy snowfall. He has the power of controlling the snow and the wind. It is said that he is a happy and loving person... She already knew that. She putted the book back on it's shelf and kept walking through the library.
Jack Frost was her absolute favourite mythical character, even though there wasn't too much about him. She liked the winter almost as much as she loved the autumn, so of course she liked the person who brought it. But he wasn't real.
But what if he was...
If she ever met him they maybe could have a snowball fight. When she was little she didn't have any friends to play with and her parents wasn't up for it. If she would play in school she would just end up getting injured. Something about hitting her with hard packed snow amused the other children.
He maybe even could be her friend. Maybe he could be there, and tell her calming words when her parents fought. That would be nice.
Her fantasy kept on with imagining her and Jacks life as she looked for books.
She ended up borrowing three. Two fantasy books and one about a mystery. After a short chat with the librarian she went to school.
The snow had started to fall.
She walked through the corridors with her head bent down. No one said hello. No one acknowledged her at all. Not even the teachers.
Sometimes, she was pretty certain on that she didn't exist. Or that it was all in her head. It probably was, with her imagination. Maybe she actually lived on the country, far, far away from people who wanted her bad. At least she hoped for that.
Or maybe it was reality. It was probably real. It felt real.
She got to her locker and changed her bag to some school books.
When she was on her way back home she passed some people from her school. Some of them where in her year, some a bit younger. To her surprise one of them actually walked up to her. She wasn't sure if she was happy or just suspicious about it.
"Hi." the boy said. Natalie just nodded at him. "Erhm... Can you come with me? I want to ask you something and I don't want anyone to hear." he said quickly with a small smile on his face.
"Sure." she said quietly.
The boy led her to the bridge that leaped over the road. A couple of cars drove by before the boy said anything.
"I was wondering if you would like to..."
"FREAK!" another voice screamed. Before she could react, one of the other boys pushed her. She flew over the fence over the bridge.
Before she fell she saw the first boys face. Did we really trick you that easy?
It didn't hurt to land though. It felt like the wind caught her and brought her down safely. Jack Frost, was the words that plopped into her head to explain that.
She could her the boys laughing as the moved away. She didn't blame them though. It was probably her fault anyway.
Natalie was laying just next to the road. No car would hit her with other words. She didn't have the strength to move. She was to tired. She just wanted to lay there for awhile. Maybe even sleep for a bit. Now she knew how the girl with the matches felt.
But the wind wouldn't have it. It was as if it tried to get her up. It lifted her up, made her fly for awhile, before letting her go again. Then it disappeared. Just for a moment though, as if it was building if its strength. This time it made her stand up.
The cold had paralyzed her mind completely, so she barely reacted on it. Then, the wind slowly guided her home.
That night, her parents got into another fight. This time, it clearly was about her. The only thing she wanted right now was a friend.
Out of pure desperation she opened her window and screamed:
"Jack Frost I need you!"
"Finally."