Jamie panted as he ran faster to keep up with his friends. They had gone way farther than him and he was losing their sight. Why were they running, you ask? Because someone was pursuing them.

"Guys, wait!" he called to the dots in the distance. "Please…" He sighed and stopped to catch his breath. He didn't know when the pursuer was gonna come back and he didn't want the pursuer to come back.

Jamie was all alone in the dark field covered with snow. Old memories flushed back to him as he sat in the cold substance after deciding he was tired (which he was). The way he and his friends played snowball fight, and pulled hilarious pranks were just amazing to visualize, like a movie. But then came the memory of his first pimple, crush, and punishment.

Jamie winced at the way he was yelled at for being irresponsible and careless. For Jack's doings. He was a bit mad at the spirit for a while and made him promise never to pull a prank that may seem to get him in trouble. High school came along and was one of the hardest things Jamie had ever endured. The teachers were extremely strict, the classes were hard, but the hardest thing was refusing an invitation from an old friend.

Jack came almost every night to Jamie's house, asking him to play or at least hang out with him for a while, and every time he came, the boy said no. The spirit's face would be twisted with a mix of hurt and disappointment. Then, he would mumble an excuse and fly away. Jamie hated that and would go back to homework and projects till one in the morning.

One weekend, Jack pulled the teenager aside and wordlessly motioned him to sit on the roof with him. Jamie reluctantly sat on the flat roof, waiting for Jack to speak. But Jack didn't speak. Instead, he had his hood pulled over his head, face not shown, not saying a single thing. He sighed so sadly, it broke Jamie's heart.

"I'm so sorry, Jack," Jamie began. "There's nothing you or I can do about me growing up. It's part of life. I'll grow older, get married, have kids, get even older, and die. And you know that well enough yourself."

The hooded figure didn't move. "I know. I wanted to talk to you about that."

"Go on."

Jack pulled back his hood and faced Jamie. "Jamie, I know you're growing up. I knew that you were one day gonna stop believing in me and I'll fulfill my duty." The spirit paused for a moment. "You made my life fun. That's what I'm all about. And I can't help but think that maybe you don't—"

"I don't what, Jack?"

"You don't—"It was getting harder for the Guardian to speak now.

"Tell me. What is it?" the boy inquired.

After a long silence, he spoke. " You don't like me anymore."

Jack closed his eyes and turned the other way, preparing to fly to Bulgaria. He felt a hand on his arm.

"No, no, no. I'd never hate you." Jamie replied with a calm tone. " I'm just very stressed with high school and my family right now. I have two jobs, man!" He took a breath, since he was talking really fast now. "It's very hard for me to say no to your games, but it's even harder to say yes, because I don't have the time."

"I really am sorry."he concluded.

Jack didn't say anything for a while. He seemed to be musing over Jamie' sincere words and thoughtful thoughts. After what seemed like forever, he smiled slightly.

"Ok," he replied. "We'll see each other winter break then, right?"

Jamie hesitated. He didn't want to tell Jack that on winter break he had at least two projects to finish. But he nodded.

"Yeah," he said with guilt overcoming him. "We'll see each other then."

Jack smiled, shook his hand, and flew off with a wave before he disappeared into the cloudy sky.