Chapter 2
I flitted from tree to tree, snow trailed behind me like a white cape. It was pretty damn misleading, though, considering I had been such a coward yesterday. I paused on a tree, leaning my hand on the rough bark as I thought back.
The girl had stirred and I had run. Well, flown is more accurate. I took off and hid behind a tree, heart pounding. She had sat up, running a hand through her messy hair and yawned. Sleepy after her nap, I guess. I watched as she scooped up her jacket and ran off into the forest, keeping care to keep the jacket wrapped around her.
After I was sure she was gone, I flew down to where she had been napping. There was a slight mark in my otherwise smooth snow, but nothing else. I started to turn when the sun shone through the clouds and caught my eye. In the slight depression, blending in perfectly with the white snow, was a pure white feather. I pinched it between my thumb and index finger. It was a perfectly white feather, but I hadn't seen any solid white birds around here that would fit the feather's owner and none were big enough for such a feather. Weird... Quickly, I slipped it into my pocket and flew back to town. Nothing took my mind off things better than a good snow day.
I shook my head, breaking out of the memory. Why was I thinking about her anyway? She was just some weird girl. It was already noon and I hadn't seen any sign of her. She was probably long gone. I crossed my arms and leaned my back on the trunk sulking.
Just then, a musical voice floated up to my ears. "Walking in a winter wonderland..."
"Guess I spoke too soon." I looked down in the town square to see the girl skipping about, not a care in the world. Somehow she didn't seem to mind the cold or my snow. Her outfit was basically the same, except instead of having her hair hang loosely, it had a huge clip holding it up against the back of her head.
"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire." I leapt to another tree to watch her. A smirk spread across her face as she continued to sing. "Jack Frost nipping at your nose..." I couldn't help but chuckle at that. It was like she knew I was listening.
Out of no where, we heard a faint sighing and looked over. The tiny boy she had helped yesterday was standing nearby and looking like the definition of bored. Before I could blink, the girl was crouching in front of him. "What's wrong, sweetie?"
He looked at her with huge eyes. "We don't have anything to do..." I raised my head and saw other kids, all looking bored, at different areas, but hardly any seemed to be doing anything besides sitting. Why weren't they playing together? She looked back to the boy. "Why won't you guys play together, hun?"
Fortunately, he seemed to want to talk to her. "Cause it's cold and snowy and no one has any idea what to do..." He pouted. "Snow is no fun..."
I felt my hands angrily grip my staff tighter. Okay, ouch...
The girl just grinned. "Wintertime no fun? Oh goodness...you are so wrong..." She ruffled his hair and he had that look of wonder on his face that only innocent children can manage to have. She strolled over to sit by the fountain and raised her voice enough for the other kids to hear, making them turn to her voice. "You shouldn't say that. You'll hurt his feelings you know..." Her voice had taken on a singsongy sweet quality and it drew the kids in closer. She sat at the edge of the fountain and they all sat on the ground in front of her to listen. I flew over and sat on the fountain a little ways off to listen, because somehow I felt like I didn't belong right in their little circle, but her voice caught my ears. "Come on. Everyone gather on close..." Her gaze drifted over the crowd and I could have swore her eyes flickered to me for a moment. Had I imagined it? Should I join them? Still, I felt hesitant, but I floated over and sat closer, though not right at her side. I left a few feet of space because I still felt I don't know. Hesitant? Nervous? Shy...? Luckily,this seemed like enough because she turned back to the group. "So kids, you shouldn't say bad things about winter, alright? It'll hurt his feelings."
A thin girl in a fluffy maroon coat piped up. "Hurt whose feelings?"
The girl at the fountain dramatically faked surprise, which made me chuckle. "You don't know?" A bunch of tiny heads shook in response and she smiled.
"Well, Jack Frost's feelings of course!" Huh. I rested a foot up on the ledge and leaned on my staff as I listened, watching her curiously. "He's the one who makes winter happen after all. It'd make him sad if you say you don't like his handiwork."
Another girl, this one seemed one of the oldest of the group, probably around eleven or so, crossed her arms and I could practically feel her attitude radiating off her. "Jack Frost isn't real. That's stupid. Why hasn't anyone seen him, then?" A few kids nodded their heads in agreement.
My hands clenched on my staff and I was so tempted to just fly off and go have some fun, but then I heard the girl laugh and turned to her angrily wondering why kids not believing in me was funny, but something about her expression made me pause. She leaned in closer to the kids and they leaned toward her in turn. "You have to believe in him to see him. I don't know why you don't believe in him, though... The signs are all around you..."
One of the smaller boys raised his hand and spoke in a small voice. "What kinda signs?"
She smiled and tapped her chin as if thinking. "Well for one thing, have you ever felt icy fingers on the back of your neck? Those are Jack Frost's fingers." I grinned and took my cue, floating through the crowd of kids, letting my fingers brush against the back of their necks. Each kid shivered and I smiled as I saw their eyes widen. They all began to look around. After each and every kid was looking around, I glanced at the girl. She was smiling at the kids' reactions and seemed so...happy. With a smirk I brushed my fingers against the back of her neck too. Gotta admit it made me chuckle to see her shiver as well. With a smirk still firmly on my face, I landed, standing beside her, eyeing the crowd of kids. Her smile grew as she innocently asked them a question. "What are you all looking for?"
They all seemed hesitant to say it, but the little boy blurted out what they were all thinking. "I just felt Jack Frost's fingers on my neck!"
She blinked and acted surprised. "I thought you guys didn't believe in him."
They were all silent for a moment, but then I noticed the boy she had helped yesterday. He was staring at me and tugged on her sleeve. "Amala..." He looked at the girl. Oh. So that was her name. It was kinda different, but it was...pretty. "I see him..." All the other kids turned to look where he was looking and slowly looks of recognition spread across the crowd. Even Little Miss Attitude was staring wide-eyed at me.
Suddenly, they were all crowded around me chattering all at once. I heard a handful of comments, a few outburts, and a lottt of questions. They were crowding around me so much, I lost my balance and sat, hard, on the fountain ledge. A slender hand reached out and touched my shoulder to steady me. "Easy there, Frosty." Goosebumps rose on my flesh as I felt warm breath ghost over my skin. Slowly, I turned to see I had nearly fallen into Amala, but she just smiled at me kindly, clearly amused at all my sudden attention.
The kids were still chattering excitedly. I only managed to catch one question in the midst of all their talking. "Can you really control snow?"
I scanned the area and saw a radio on a nearby porch. "You guys want to do something fun?" I grinned at their nodding heads. The wind carried me over their small forms and I landed, pointing at the radio. "Ever dance in the snow?" I personally didn't see what was so exciting about it, but it seemed like something a lot of people liked to do. There were plenty of times that I saw people dancing outside as it snowed.
The older girl jumped to feet and hurried to the radio. "My daddy won't mind if we borrow this for a bit." She tuned it and finally found one of those bubblegum rock songs that becomes a hit overnight and gets endlessly stuck in your head.
"Perfect!" Amala laughed and bounded out among the kids. She began to twist and turn, moving her hips and arms this way and that. I leaned on my staff and watched. She was surprisingly graceful and was a decent dancer. Soon, the kids had joined in and were dancing like crazy, tiny limbs flailing. They didn't have her level of grace nd rhythm, but they were having just as much fun as her, if not more and it was fun to watch.
That's when I saw a few of the girls whispering with a few of the boys. The girls hurried over, tugging my hoodie and pushing me toward Amala as the boys did the same to her. "Jack should dance with Amala!"
I just chuckled. "I don't dance." They stopped, looking at me like I had just grown a second head.
"Oh, come on." We all turned to Amala. She took a step forward so her body was turned away slightly and extended a hand to me. Her voice was low when she spoke. "Don't tell me your afraid of a little dancing..." I saw the challenge in her eyes. They told me I didn't have to dance, but questioned why I wouldn't. Fine, them.
The smirk formed on my face a second before I took her hand, resting my staff on the ledge. "You'll regret saying that." Distantly I heard the kids squealing with happiness and the song change. She pulled me into the circle of kids and began dancing again, freeing my hand.
She batted her lashes, but it wasn't in a flirty way. It was in more a playful mocking way. "Bring it..."
I'm over three hundred years old (three hundred and twelve to be exact, but who's counting?). It's been a while since I danced. I never even danced when I was alive, well hardly did anyway. So the kids started laughing when I attempted to dance. Great. Feeling pretty bummed, I turned, ready to leave, when a hand landed on my shoulder. I turned and Amala gave a sympathetic smile. "Here..." She didn't laugh, just took my icy hands and began helping me move to the song. I didn't move the way she did (no guy should ever sway his hips like that), but I watched her and started to get the rhythm down. After a few moments, we were dancing together. She'd bob under my arms or raise one above her head to spin. Basically she was leading the whole song. I had to have some respect! So, I tried a move I had seen once. I snapped my arm so she was moved all the way out, then pulled her in and dipped her just as the song ended. As the last note trailed off, I blew the hair off her forehead with a cold wind, watching as snowflakes got trapped on the brown strands. "Consider it brought." It surprised me when my voice came out low and husky. Where did that come from?
She righted herself and tucked a snowy strand of hair behind her ear. I hadn't even realized, but during the song I had made it start to snow. The kids were laughing and slowly spreading out as they played in the snow. I heard them yelling thanks and about how much fun they had had, but my attention was on the girl in front of me. She had opened her mouth and tilted back her head to catch my snowflakes on her tongue. It didn't even seem like she noticed me watching her. She did, however, notice the small boy who had first seen me and crouched down to look at him. "What's wrong Benjy?" His small face looked positively miserable.
"I...I wanna build a snowman...but I'm too little..."
"Why not build a small snowman, then?"
He shook his head. "Nuh uh. Everyone makes big snowmans! I wanna make a big snowman..."
I glanced at Amala and her expression was sad, but she scooped him up and grinned. "I'll help you then!"
Benjy was instantly excited at this offer. "Really?!" She nodded and set him down. Then her face took on a contemplative quality.
"Why don't we all build one? A huge snowman!" Benjy grinned and ran to gather the other kids. In moments, everyone was gathering snow and making the base. We made it near the fountain so the kids could stand on the ledge to make the second part. After we finished the head, the kids agreed to let Benji put it onsince it was his doing we weremaking the snowman. So I held him and flew him up to the top. It was one freaking big snowman...probably over ten feet tall. The kids put on the finishing touches, like the arms and buttons, then everyone was cheering happily. It had been one fun snow day I gotta say...
A female voice rang out and after that and, one by one, the kids' parents called them home for dinner and to warm up. Finally, it was down to Benjy, Amala, and me. His dad called him, but first he gave us each a hug. Amala squeezed him close whereas mine was slightly more hesitant. I saw him lean in to whisper something to Amala and she giggled. "Go on, silly!" He giggled and hurried on home.
I watched until he had disappeared inside before turning back to Amala to find she was...gone? I looked around to see her disappearing toward the woods. I flew up high then flew toward her. It only took a moment to catch her. "So, where you going?" I floated on my back backwards, wrists resting on my staff.
Amala laughed and kept walking. "You laugh a lot."
She looked at me out of the corner of her eye. "And you make snow a lot. It's who we are, Frosty."
"Okayyyy..." I flipped around and walked beside her. "So when did you first see me? Could you see me yesterday?" Amala looked at me confused and nodded slowly. My jaw nearly hit the snow. "Why didn't you tell me?"
She just shrugged. "I figured you knew. I had been talking to you after all. You were awfully shy so I let it go. Seemed to me you'd talk when you were ready."
My feet slowed to a halt. I had seemed shy? Huh. That was not one of my usual traits.
She walked forward a few steps so she stood a little in front of me. Her voice was soft and serious. "That's alright, though. I kind of did the same thing. I wasn't ready either. To tell you who I am that is." I heard the faint hiss of a zipper and she started to slide the jacket off her shoulders. "But after seeing you with the kids today...I'm ready now." She slipped the jacket free and it fell to the snow. Beneath it she wore a deep blue jean jacket that seemed soft and broken in long ago, but that wasn't the shocking part.
Slowly, she extended her snow white wings. Yes, her wings. They had to have easily cleared twelve feet because each wing looked easily six feet, probably a little more. Nestled on her back between the wings was a quiver of arrows and a slender bow. She slowly turned back to me, her eyes filled with uncertainty before they flickered to the ground. Her hands clung to her arms.
"Are those...wings?" A nod. "You have wings?!" A second nod. My eyes narrowed and I spoke slowly as my hands clenched my staff tighter. "Who, exactly, are you?"
Her gaze raised to mine and I saw she was trembling slightly. "My name is Amala, but most people know me as cupid."
And here is chapter two! I was hoping for at least a couple reviews by now, but oh well. I'd hope for at least a few reviews by the time I post the third chapter. More reviews+me=more motivation Well, see ya next time!
