Breaking Out
"Why didn't they see you or hear you? My mother walked through you! And I felt it, you touched my shoulder. How come I know you're here but they didn't?" But this time the only answer he gave was a shrug of the shoulders. "Jack? Please, please talk to me. I'm not crazy, I know you're here! I do!" She stretched out her hand towards him. "Please..." He put his hand on the window sill and glanced back over his shoulder.
""I don't know why Elsa, you're the only one whose ever seen me. No one else even knows I exist."
"But of course they do! I live in here and I've heard of you. Jack Frost, the one who makes the pictures on the windows, the one who brings a cold breeze to nip at your nose in late autumn, or early spring, the one who laces the trees with such pretty delicate crystals..." She looked down at her outstretched hand and closed it into a fist, "the only one in the world with a curse like mine, except for you it isn't a curse."
"Oh Elsa, no, for me, I have a different curse. This is what brings me joy, the only thing that does often. In a life all alone, my power is all I have. But you are alone too, I've seen you here before, in this window, every year, always alone."
"But this curse is what keeps me alone." She clenched her fist again and Jack left the window.
"Elsa, take my hand. It doesn't have to be a curse for you. Maybe you can't control it right now, but you can still have some fun."
"Are you sure? What if I freeze you or something?" He smiled again, that smile that completely lit up his face.
"I already told you, you can't hurt me with your power, I have the same power." He held out his hand again and she looked into his eyes, and slowly reached out her hand to touch his. Nothing traveled through the glove.
"See? I told you it wouldn't harm me." Then he turned towards the window with her hand still grasped in his. "Come on." Elsa hung back.
"Where are we going?" He hooked his staff around the window and pulled it open. Looking back at hr with a smile. "Outside? But what if I hurt someone?"
"Trust me, you won't." They stepped up on the ledge and Elsa looked down, then regretted it, it was one thing to be safely looking out the window, and another to be outside it.
"Um, how will we get down? Wait, how did you get up here?" He smiled again and made a little wave with his staff.
"Just hang on tight and don't let go. Okay?"
"Okay..." Suddenly the wind picked up and swept around her and Jack. She gasped and looked over at him as he laughed, holding his staff out almost as a balance. "Flying! You can fly? Look how high we are!"
"Isn't it fun?" In minutes they were away from the castle and the town, over the bay and towards the mountains that had always seemed so small and faraway. Once they couldn't see the palace anymore, Jack tilted them downward. "Get ready to land!" They touched the ground and ran a few steps to keep their balance.
"Ah ha ha! You can fly! I flew! That was amazing!"
"You know what else is amazing Elsa?" She was looking around at the view, but turned back to face him as he spoke. "Snowballs!" And one landed right in her face.
"Ah!" She wiped the snow off her face and ducked the next one he threw, then reached down and packed one of her own, aiming it at his head, but he ducked just in time.
"Hahaha! So you do know how to have fun!" He stopped ducking for a second to laugh and got a snowball right in the face. Now Elsa laughed and ducked as she ran.
"Hey, no fair!" She laughed as she felt the wind pick up again and he zoomed past her to pelt her with more snowballs. He circled back and held out his hand again, and this time she grabbed on without hesitation, laughing as they flew further up into the sky. Then the light caught her eye.
"Oh no! It's almost suppertime! I can't believe we spent three hours out here! If I'm not there when supper is dropped off they'll call my parents in! And the window is open!"
"No problem, you'll be back in no time Elsa, hang on tight!" The wind blew even faster and harder now, bring with it a gust of snow. Soon they were back on the window ledge and stepping into her room.
"That was fun, Jack. Thank you."
"No, thank you, Elsa. I'll see you soon." Then he hopped out the window and pulled it shut.
Wait...I thought this was a one-time thing? But maybe...maybe he can help me learn to control it. She stood looking out the window and watched him fly off. A knock sounded at the door and she called out quietly without looking away from the window.
"Come in." She heard the maid come in and set out her supper, but she didn't turn around. There were only a few maids in the palace who knew about her curse. It would be one of them, and they were instructed to leave her alone. Instead she kept looking out the window long after Jack had disappeared into the distance. By the time she moved the maid was long gone, and her supper was probably cold, but she had reached a decision. Until she knew that Jack couldn't help her control her curse she could see him, but if he couldn't help her at all, then she would have to stop. She had to control it.
