* By the way, I'm still taking one-word requests.
Odd Gifts
Jack grunted as the warm breeze slammed him against a tree. Rubbing his jaw, he landed on a high branch with a gleeful laugh. The air buffeted angrily and the winter spirit ducked behind leaves, shielded from the majority of the winds fury.
After many minutes, the wind ebbed until finally slipping away with an exasperated hiss. The coast now clear, he stood and propped himself against the coarse trunk of the tree, smiling carefree and as wild as ever. Jack fanned a pale hand over his face as the temperature raised a notch. It was a past time of his, messing with the other seasons, and making ungoverned mischief in his own.
The season of Autumn was docile in allowing him to spread the chill until winter officially began. Spring and Summer, however, were different matters entirely. Notably warmer seasons, Summer and Spring made it their job to never let anything cold into their domains, especially an unruly winter child. For Jack, it was game on! He wasn't sure if the other seasons were actual beings like him, he never really saw them, but he had fun just the same. Possessing the talent of managing his core temperature, the heat of the day hardly had an effect. Although, he had no problem steering clear of any temperature reaching above eighty-five.
Jack twirled his staff like a baton, pacing back and forth on the tree branch trying to think of what harmless trouble he could stir up next.
"Come on. Blow them out!"
"Hmm?" Jack mused and turned at the voice. He flew from the tree and came to a fast, yet steady halt on a picnic table. Everyone was chuckling at some form of humor as Jack tried to get a better look at the small crowd.
"Oh!" Jack realized aloud when he caught a glimpse of the cake just left of a bespectacled kid. He slung his staff over his shoulders, nodding to the blonde-haired boy. "Happy Birthday, kiddo!" Quite used to not being heard, the spirit wasn't expecting a response. He was content enough to just be there and watch the festivities, even though he truly wanted to instigate even the slightest snowball fight. He looked down and flicked a dark green leaf from the table with a bare toe. The other children and a few of the adults dispersed from the table to make a dash for the pool.
Jack shook his head in amusement before drifting out of the people's sights to the next table to pick through bags and boxes of presents. He shook the boxes and appraised the gift bags. Most contained small toys and some candy, whereas another held a DVD of a cartoon that Jack even liked to watch while he did usual sweeps through towns. The winter spirit almost didn't waste time with the smallest gift, but his nosy nature dictated. Pausing, Jack carefully reached for the bag and pulled out a glass snowflake. He brought the Christmas ornament to his eyes, inspecting the unusual gift. Shrugging after a couple seconds, he delicately put the present back in its place as he vaguely listened to a woman asking the kid what he wished for his birthday.
"It won't come true if I tell."
Jack's head tilted curiously at the small, cheery tone. Turning around, he saw that the voice belonged to a little brunette boy sitting right in front of the cake that read 'Happy 5th Birthday!'. Ah, it's his birthday. Jack confirmed, jumping all the way in front of the boy.
"You got some weird gifts this year, kid. I'm almost jealous," Jack teased, sighing at the fact that the child couldn't possibly respond to his presence. He crouched to meet the set of wide brown eyes. "Come on kid, smile."
Much to the dismay of the both of them, the little boy's frown slid further as the mother walked away. Jack glowered briefly at the parent's inattentiveness before turning back to the kid.
"It's your birthday," Jack said when the child got up with grimace, getting ready to go swimming. "What's eatin' at you?"
Jack rested his feet on the bench as the little kid donned a false smile and jumped into the park's pool. Thankful that a tree provided cool shade over him, Jack laid back on the table and stared at the ever-shifting clouds. He inhaled before closing his eyes.
For what seemed like minutes, but probably over an hour, the gleeful shouts and words of the party returned.
Jumping up and flying to another table, Jack watched from a distance as the kids gathered around the gift table. The child, who he found to be called Jamie, opened each gift with minor enthusiasm. Jack could somehow tell this wasn't Jamie's usual behavior and scowled. One by one, he opened each present only really lifting an eyebrow for a few books and the cartoon DVD. At last, Jamie was handed the last gift. Sitting on the edge of the bench now, Jack awaited his reaction as the child took the snowflake from the bag.
Jamie's eyes gradually lit with true fascination as he ran a gentle finger over the prongs of the seasonal bauble. "Told you he'd like it," one adult remarked to another. Before Jamie could even utter a 'thank you' he was already being pushed towards the other table for dessert.
Jack just sat staring at the mountain of discarded wrapping paper, mulling over the kid's response to such a simple decoration. The winter spirit blinked before an impish grin curled all the way to his ears. Reuniting with the group, he stepped onto the table to get a better look at the cake.
Jack shifted his clever gaze to the sky and took a long breath. A cloud expanded until it covered the blinding sun. The summer breeze returned. The boy rolled his cerulean orbs as the air became cooler, wind no longer threatening.
Jamie rubbed the cold goosebumps forming on his arms, but he was certainly less bored, and that's the incentive Jack desired.
"Hey," Jack said. "Check this out." He winked at Jamie before tapping the hook of his staff against the pond design on the cake.
The staff spouted a thin wave of frost. Jack made his creation loop around the base before finally reaching and covering the entire cake. Everyone gasped and awed at the spectacle, looking around silently asking each other how that just happened. The winter spirit grinned at their foolish expressions, even going so far as to have the wind clear the table of the plates and napkins.
Jack analyzed Jamie's expression and he was pretty proud of himself when the boy's frown began twitching upwards. Jack gave a light-hearted laugh at the kid's gawking. Then, the child seemed to contemplate and focus, his eyes shifting directly towards Jack.
The winter spirit stood straighter, and stopped breathing altogether.
He wasn't…he couldn't…
Jack chuckled unsteadily. "Can you…" Jack crouched and looked directly into Jamie's eyes. "Can you see-"
Promptly, Jamie shook his head and grabbed the glass snowflake from the table, his hand passing straight through Jack's ankle. The child and the spirit looked away.
Sadness pricked at Jack's eyes and before any tears could form he growled and shot a frustrated flare of ice against the pool. Another chorus of marveling sounded as the water froze over. Not having enough patience to stick around for the wrath of the summer wind, he crouched, aimed for the tree line and took one last look at the party.
He didn't leave.
Jack's left eyebrow slowly arched as he walked up next to the brunette that was leaning over the edge of the pool. Jamie ran a finger over the frost on the ice and Jack not only saw fascination on the kid's face, but a smile.
Albeit, small, it was a happy, genuine smile!
Sure, nearly every kid loved the snow. Snowball fights, sledding, skating and fun go hand in hand. Ice is the most troublesome. It causes car wrecks, sprained limbs, freezes pipes, and can be deceiving for those who wish to skate on seemingly solid waters. To see a kid so pleased and mesmerized at such a nuisance was rare.
Jack blinked and he only tore his gaze from the little boy to look at the ornament still clutched in his tiny fist. Jamie took a hand off the ice and looked at his chilled fingers. A warm breeze shoved at them both, causing Jamie's frown to return. This didn't go unnoticed.
Jack instantly looked to the sky with narrowed eyes. "I wonder…" He muttered before glancing back at the glass snowflake.
It would be a difficult task considering the current season...His eyes sparked before he waved the end of the staff in a 'halo' formation.
When more clouds gathered, he gasped and stumbled slightly. "Hey, kid," Jack smiled exhaustedly at Jamie, who went back to tracing the frost on the ice. "Do you still want your birthday wish?"
A single puff of snow fell from the sky and landed on the cake.
"Oh my-" One of the adults exclaimed as more snowflakes landed on his face and hair. The children hollered joyously as they all made a grab for each and every falling flake.
"You're right," Jack took to the air and waved his staff. "Clearly, it's not enough!"
The snow fell harder now and didn't subside until the whole side of the park was covered in a white sheet. Jack chucked two snowballs at a set of twins and another one at a grown-up. Soon, snowballs were flying everywhere.
"Woohoo!" Jack shouted wildly with the kids as he rounded the group, dragging his staff along the ground to create mass amounts of snowy ammo. He managed to peg the back of Jamie's head, causing the boy to retreat behind a picnic bench.
"It's a snowball fight, Jamie," Jack laughed as he landed on the table. "Not hide and seek."
Jamie smiled so widely Jack thought the grin was going to fly right off his face. Then, the boy uttered a sound at the back of his throat, and soon Jack's ears filled with the melodious ringing of the child's exuberant laughter.
Jack was even more pleased as deviousness flitted over the boy's features. Jamie reached beside the winter spirit and swiped a finger along the cake, breaking the icy pattern Jack had previously created. The five-year-old licked the icing from his fingertip.
"Hey," the spirit scolded playfully as more snow fell over the two boys. "I worked very hard to try and freeze that cake for you." He sighed in dramatic exasperation. "Well, you are the birthday boy. So, I'm going to let you slide." He winked again and soon heard the other children laugh and cheer as a long slide of smooth ice mysteriously formed over the hillside.
"Go on," Jack encouraged, forming a snowflake as intricate as the glass ornament. He blew the flake, making it fly over and tap Jamie's nose. Jack stepped to the ground and saw the blue flash of his magic cross over the kid's face. "Your friends are waiting for you." He gestured behind him.
"Best summer birthday," Jamie said to himself. "Ever!" The boy ran forward to meet up with his friends. Jack spread his arms and allowed the cold wind to propel him into the sky.
It happened every time he tried to interact with anyone. And he didn't know why, but this time, he didn't seem to mind that a child had walked right through him.