Chapter 1: Make Me Real
Part 3
Azura
Winter is the worst season of all. I never liked it. I hated snow, even when I was little. I lived in a place where seasonal winters never existed. I loved it there. Unfortunate for me, though, my parents had to move to a place where winter is inevitable, Minnesota. When we arrived, I think as soon as I unpacked I crawled into bed and decided I never wanted to get out. The bed was right next to the window, and it was just taunting me, telling me I'm stuck here in this hellhole. My first night was unbearable. I tossed and turned and fussed about the cold. I kept feeling a draft seep into the blankets and it was so cold... Like ice. In the morning, when I thought it would be just as dreadful as the night, I awoke and saw the prettiest designs made of frost on my window. Some of the shapes I swear looked like hearts and some even looked like flowers.
It almost made me think of that man, Jack Frost. The elf that came to your window and frosted them while you sleep. I couldn't help but smile, thinking of a gnome trying to reach the window. Perhaps I should put a ladder near the window for him?
After the thought finally cleared, I wondered how nature could be so beautiful. How something as simple as ice could shape itself into artistic designs on windows. How is that possible? Maybe there really is a Jack Frost? Who knows.
I barely talked to my parents. I was seventeen and like all seventeen year-olds before me, I was misunderstood. My parents just didn't get me, but that was okay. They didn't have to. I liked being all to myself, left with my own company.
Thankfully when we moved into the house, we moved at a time when school was close to breaking for the holidays. My parents decided it was easier for me to start when the next semester rolled around, since my mother swore I'd know an awful lot more than the rest of my class anyway. The next semester started in the beginning of January. We moved into the house on November 19th.
Waking up and seeing pretty designs on your window kind of gets you in the mood for happiness. I don't know why a frosted window could make me happy, but it did. It got me into a strange spirit of happiness and the only way I knew how to express my feelings of joy was to take a walk and look at more designs of frosted things. At one point, I heard a hum while I walked, and actually found it to be my own humming. I was in such a good mood that I was humming. I love to sing, but not spontaneously. I normally sing when I have music playing, but this humming felt like it was coming from somewhere else as well. I just couldn't stop, even if I tried. It was coming from my soul. Maybe I was so depressed last night, that I was responding back with a strange feeling of gladness. It happens to people. Usually before they get put away into an insane asylum, but it happens.
Walking around the town felt a bit strange since I didn't know anyone, but I didn't pay attention to the people anyway. I mainly walked around to look at more of these designs on windows. All over town there were hearts, flowers, and bits of ivy here and there.
"Excuse me.." I heard a voice behind me say, as I was ogling the designs on a metal post.
I turned around.
"Yes?" It was an older gentleman in his forties or fifties, carrying a newspaper in one hand and a cigarette in the other.
"I haven't seen you around before.. You new here?" he asked me, leaning against the building he had come out of.
"Yes," I answered, awkwardly shifting from my left foot to my right. Boy, this town must be close-knit if he can tell I'm new.
"You seem familiar, though.. Do you have any relatives that live here?" he asked me.
"Well, my mother grew up here.. She moved after she got accepted to a college in California, though."
"California? You're not talking about Lucy, are you?" he asked.
"Lucy Flint?" I questioned, then remembered, "I mean, Lucy Stevens.. That was her maiden name."
"Well! I never thought I'd hear that name again.." he laughed, shaking his head.
"You knew my mom?" I asked, crossing my arms.
"Yes I did.. We were good friends before she left," he stated, "You have your mother's eyes."
"Yeah, that's how they came up with my name, Azura," I explained, "Because of the blue eyes."
"Oh, I didn't even ask what your name was, sorry.." he said, touching his forehead, "I'm George Hansen."
"Hello." I blushed.
"Well, I have to get back to work, but if you see your mom, tell her I said 'Hi'!" he said, as he stood straight and began walking into the building he had been leaning against.
Oh God. He paused at the door. What more does he want?
"It was nice meeting you, Azura!" he exclaimed.
"Nice meeting you as well!" I said, waving.
He then walked through the doorway and closed the door behind him. I read the sign beside him, "Hansen's Bookstore". I was hesitating, curious to see what was inside, but eventually I decided on not entering the store. I just said goodbye to George, and I wasn't in the mood for talking again. He was a nice guy, but I had a strange feeling he was more than a friend of my mom's. The way he said her name... I started walking again, this time towards home. I was only about half a mile away, but I didn't want to wander off too far, and I walk extremely slow for most people.
