Thank you for the reviews ! I didn't think anyone would read this, but I see now that I'm not the only one who loves Cupcake. Tank you thank you thank you !
"SNOW DAAY! Cupcake, Cupcake look, LOOOK !"
Cupcake grumbled and pulled the covers over her head, burying her face deep into her pillow. "Yes Charlie, I know, I saw the snow before I went to bed."
"BUT THERE'S A WHOLE LOT OF IT CUPCAKE COME ON GET UP GET UP GET UP!"
Cupcake closed her eyes and counted to ten, still harbouring a weak hope that if she ignored him long and hard enough her baby cousin would go away to play by himself. Of course, this did not happen. When eight year old Charlie started bouncing up and down on Cupcake's still bed – his cousin still hiding in it - she sat up with a sudden growl, sending him giggling down on the floor. "Okay you little monster, go get dressed – I'm going to pay you back in snowballs for ruining my lazy morning." Charlie got to his feet and ran towards the guestroom, his laughter echoing back to her.
Cupcake grumbled something about kids these days and ruffled trough her hair. This was NOT what she had signed up for when she agreed to babysit Charlie over the weekend.
She opened her closet to get something warm to wear, and a fluffy, pink knitted sweater fell down on her face. Well, that would do. She proceeded to get dressed, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror.
She was seventeen now. Still taller then the others her age, but as she grew her frame had changed. She was now lean and strong looking. She still had a round face, but her features were more defined and no longer the ones of a child. Her hairdresser had found a shorter haircut that tamed her brown unruly mess into a more appealing mess of spikes and curls that had revealed themselves when cut short, twisting and twirling on her head. He eyes were the same hazel as ever, lined with brown lashes – short but thick.
Anyone who took the time to look for just a second could tell that Cupcake had grown up well, and grown up pretty. The face looking back at her was far more gentle, far more approachable then her grumpy childhood look. She smiled, sweeping her hair out of her eyes.
"Okay Charlie, I'm coming for you so I hope that you're prepared !" She grabbed her pink coat, wrapped a gray scarf around her neck and stuck her feet into a pair of chunky black boots. She saw a wisp of blonde hair and a blue jacket race out the door before she made it there.
"Hey, if you think you're going out without your beanie you are wrong mister, I am not going to answer for you if you catch a cold." She chased her whining cousin and tackled him down in the snow, forcing the beanie over his head. "We don't want Jack Frost nipping at your nose now, do we ?" She pinched his nose and then got up, running towards the park.
"Hey, hey, Cupcake, waaaiiiit !" Charlie stumbled to her feet, following her.
Cupcake held her breath, eyes closed, trying to keep her calm when her cousin squirmed and whined under the blankets. She had managed to make him do his homework, eat dinner and even take a bath ( he had bathed the whole bathroom along with himself, but none the less ) but making him sleep was an even MORE impossible task.
"I don't want to sleeep, I don't want a stupid bedtime story !" He pushed the book down on the floor, pouting and crossing his arms.
What are you ? FOUR ? Cupcake took a deep breath , then she got an idea.
"If you're not nice, Santa won't come for you, you know !" she smiled, triumphant.
"Santa doesn't exist anyway !" Charlie poked her tongue at her.
Cupcake gaped at him. The kids at her school – sure – but eight year old Charlie ? Not believing in Santa ? Not on her watch.
"He does too !"
"Then how come dad dresses up like Santa every year ?" Charlie was still not convinced. Cupcake considered this for a moment before answering.
"Because I think Uncle John doesn't know that Santa can handle by himself. There is quite a lot of kids out there." She sat down on the chair beside Charlie's bed.
"But do you want to know a secret ?" He nodded , slowly gaining interest.
"I've met Santa." Cupcake nodded to his surprised face. "Not the one in the mall, or Uncle John, I've met the real deal. He's called North, and he's from Russia !"
"No way !" Charlie sat up, knocking his toy Elephant of his bed without even realizing.
"Yes way ! You see, when I was your age, a little older maybe, there was this .. Thing, that took away all the children's nice dreams, replacing them with nightmares." She made her voice darker and put on her best evil smile. Charlie shrunk back a little. "He was called Pitch, and he had the Sandman trapped in a cloud of dark, fearsand ! Yes, the Sandman is real too. He's a cutie, and he's all golden and glowing – you should see the things he could do with his dreamsand ! Anyway, he was trapped in the darkness, not even his friends the Toothfairy, Santa, the Easter Bunny or even Jack Frost – creator of all the world's snow and cold weather – could help him. You see, the only thing that works on fearsand – is dreamsand. One could think that only the Sandman could create that, but we noticed that kids can too ! But to be able to see all of the magical wonders, you have to believe. Remember Jamie, my friend ? He showed us…"
Slowly, lit by the convincing and pure belief in Cupcakes eyes, Charlies light sparked and started to glow, right beside Cupcake's on North's globe. Like ripples on the water, the belief carried on trough her, onto Charlie.
A pale smile under a blue hood outside the little boy's window grew in the moonlight as the tale of Cupcake and her friend's adventure came to life in front of Charlie's bed.
"But Cupcake ..?" Charlie mumbled, fighting sleep.
"Yes ?"
"What will happen if Pitch comes back ?" Cupcake smiled.
"That's why I need you to believe in the magic Charlie. So that you and I can help Santa and his friends to kick him right back where he came from."
"But .. What if the others doesn't believe ..?"
Cupcake looked at him from the door, her heart heavy with the same question.
"It's all right. There will always be me and Jamie. And now there's you, isn't there ?" Charlie nodded, a serious look on his face.
"Good. Night then Charlie, the Sandman should be here any minute." She closed the door and returned to her room.
"There is still hope for us then." North's words echoed in his ears as he floated outside the girl's room. What was her name again ? Cupcake ? Weird.
He tilted his head to the side, listening to the wind racing by.
"Yeah. There is still hope." He reached out, touching a white finger to the cold glass, spreading frost flowers in a pattern across the surface, before knocking.
Once.
Twice.
Knock knock.
Cupcake stirred and sat up. "Charlie ?"
No, that had been the sound of hand to glass. Blinking, bemused, she got up to remove the curtain from the window.
The moon shone on the clean glass, the contrast of the letters in ice blooming stronger in the white light.
'Thank you. – JF.'
