Chapter Three: Lazy Day
In the early hours of the morning, Jack reclined in the crook of some branches in a high tree near his pond. He watched as the sky grew brighter and brighter each minute, until it finally crested over the mountains in the distance. The bright light hurt his eyes as it burst forth, but he didn't care. It was so beautiful that he just couldn't look away. As he enjoyed the view, a little bird fluttered down and landed on the branch beside him.
"How's it goin'?" Jack asked. The bird looked at him and cocked its head quizzically from side to side. "Nice morning, isn't it? How's the wife and kids?" The bird turned away and flew off. "Well, see ya later, then," Jack said as he waved goodbye. He had taken to doing silly things like this during his many years of solitude. Although he had real friends now, he couldn't quite shake the habit.
Well, I'd better get going. I've got a busy day ahead of me, Jack thought to himself. And it was true! First, he had promised to meet Jamie and Sophie at their house to play outside, bake cookies, and drink hot chocolate while their mother was out running errands. Then, after lunchtime, he was to meet with Luna for a hike in the woods. Then he would play in the town square with the neighborhood kids. And after that, he had to head to the Pole to help North and the yetis with their Christmas preparation in the evening.
After giving his body a nice morning stretch, Jack called upon the Wind and blew into town. He loved Burgess at Christmastime. There were a lot of Believers in town, so the Christmas spirit was so strong that Jack could feel it all around him. That was one of the funny things about being a Guardian; he had gained the ability to feel the belief in the air. It was a marvelous feeling – the exact opposite of the terrible way that being walked through made one feel, a sensation that Jack had once known all too well.
Jack stopped to perch himself on top of a street light to breathe in that great feeling. As he savored the moment, he heard a squeaky little chirping sound. A second later, he felt a soft presence on his shoulder. He turned to see a tiny feathered fairy smiling back at him.
"Hey, Baby Tooth! Wanna go see the kids with me?" Jack asked. Baby Tooth chirped happily, vigorously nodding her head up and down. "Great! Let's go!" The duo dove off of the street light together, weaving through the streets of Burgess toward the Bennett household. When they arrived, the children were already waiting at the window. When they saw Jack and Baby Tooth approaching, they ran outside and called their greetings out to them.
"Jack! You brought Baby Tooth?" Jamie asked excitedly. Baby Tooth buzzed over and hugged Jamie's face with her little arms, then did the same to Sophie.
"Can we build a snowman, Jack?" asked Sophie. "I got a hat for him!"
"Of course! Do you even have to ask?" Jack replied as he ruffled the girl's blonde hair. He couldn't believe how tall Sophie was getting these days. It seemed like just yesterday that she had gotten loose in Bunny's warren, but she was much taller now and had started Kindergarten already! He felt the same way about Jamie, as well. It had been two and a half years since Jamie first believed in Jack, and it gave the winter spirit a very bittersweet feeling in his heart. Although he wasn't looking forward to Jamie and Sophie growing out of childhood (though he would make sure they would never stop believing), he was excited to see who they would become as they got older. Jack shook his head to make the thought go away. He wanted to focus on having fun here and now!
The four of them had a blast building a snowman in the yard, the Bennetts' dog Abby bounding around them all the time. When they had finished building, they headed inside to bake cookies. Jamie sat everything out for them, letting out a playful "HEY!" when Jack swiped a handful of chocolate chips right out of the bag.
"All right, let's get to it!" said Jack, rolling up the sleeves of his blue hoodie.
"Wait, Jack," said Sophie. "You gotta wear this!" The little girl held up their mother's apron.
"Um... pass," Jack said with a smile.
"No, you gotta wear it!" Sophie said resolutely.
"You'd better just put it on," Jamie giggled. "She's not gonna change her mind."
Jack sighed, unable to say no to a Bennett. He slipped on the apron and found, to his dismay, that there was a large pink heart embroidered on the front of it. Both children, as well as Baby Tooth, broke into a fit of laughter. Jack could have sworn he even saw Abby let out a chuckle.
"All right, all right!" he exclaimed with good humor. "Let's get baking, already."
…..
By the time they had finished baking and had begun spooning hot chocolate into their mugs, Jack was almost glad he had worn the apron. Everyone else was covered in flour and sugar (kids are messy bakers, after all) from the waist up. Baby Tooth looked as though her feathers were white. She let out a little sneeze, and flour puffed off of her like a cloud.
Jack and Baby Tooth quickly helped the kids clean up the mess, as knew they would have to leave when their mother returned. As her car pulled up outside, Jack said goodbye to the kids and Baby Tooth hugged them again.
"Will you be back to play in town this afternoon?" Jamie asked.
"Of course!" Jack replied. "I'll see you then, okay?"
"Okay!" the kids said in unison. "See ya, Jack!"
Jack and Baby Tooth slipped out the back of the house just as the kids' mother opened the front door. They flew back through the main street, Jack blowing some snow off of the rooftops onto unsuspecting passers-by. They came to rest in a tree just outside of town. Baby Tooth perched on Jack's shoulder, still brushing the last of the flour off of her feathers.
"So, Baby Tooth," Jack began. "Do you want to meet a new friend today?" The fairy chirped to ask who he was talking about. "It's that girl I told you about the other day; the teenager. I'm supposed to go for a hike with her. I'm sure she would love to meet you." He playfully poked the fairy's tummy. She laughed and nodded her head. They had some spare time before they needed to meet with her, so they started a game of hide and go seek between the two of them.
When the time came, they headed toward Jack and Luna's meeting spot in the woods. However, Luna was nowhere to be seen. They waited around for quite a while, but it soon became evident that Luna was not coming.
"That's weird," Jack said. "She definitely said she wanted to do this today. Come on, let's go down to her house." Jack held open his hoodie pocket. Baby Tooth crawled inside, and they flew down the mountain together. When they got to Luna's house, Jack peeked into a window only to find Luna looking back at him, her chin resting in her hand. Her large eyes lit up at the sight of her friend and she smiled apologetically. After taking a look around to make sure no one was there, Luna motioned to the back door. Jack nodded and flew to it. Luna gently opened the door and let him in. She closed it behind him as silently as she could, but her mother had just walked out from a hallway and spotted her.
"What are you up to?" Luna's mom said in the same tone she always used when Luna was getting in to mischief (which was often). Luna stiffened in panic for a split second, and then relaxed as she realized that her mother could not see Jack.
"Just... getting some air," she said with a smile. Jack immediately knew why she had not come to meet him; her voice sounded like she was talking with her nose plugged, and her cheeks were rosy with fever.
"Please, just stay inside today. I don't want you to get any worse than you already are," her mother said, shifting the dirty laundry basket she was holding on her waist.
"Okay. I'll just go watch a movie or something," Luna replied.
"Thank you," her mother said. Jack watched her as she went into the kitchen and pulled the hand towel off of the oven door handle, tossing it in with the other laundry. He thought it was funny – Luna's mom, with her short blonde hair and clear face, looked nothing like her brunette, freckled daughter. Jack was pulled from his thoughts when Luna grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him up the stairs. He glanced back just in time to see the beautifully-decorated Christmas tree twinkling at him, then he was suddenly in the much dimmer stairway.
"Where are we going?" asked Jack as they walked up the steps.
"My room," Luna whispered. When they reached the second floor, Jack saw four doors. The first two led to bedrooms, the third to a bathroom, and the fourth was closed. Luna was pulling him in the direction of the closed door, when a blonde-haired girl walked out of a bedroom and ran right into Luna.
"Watch out!" she said without looking at Luna as she walked past them. It was Angie, Luna's older sister. It seemed to Jack as though Luna's mother had teleported upstairs before them. Angie was the spitting image of her. Everything from her hair to her glassy blue eyes seemed to be a replica. It was strange, Jack thought, that Angie and their mother looked so similar, and yet Luna looked completely and altogether different from them.
Angie headed down the stairs, while Luna and Jack approached the closed door. Luna turned the knob and pulled it open to reveal another small set of stairs. At the top of them was Luna's bedroom. The room consisted of a bunk bed, a small television and DVD player on a dresser, a desk covered in notebooks and loose doodles, and a large, overflowing bookshelf. She had various knick-knacks and curious objects on display throughout the room, and several posters and drawings were stuck to the walls. Colored Christmas lights were hung around the perimeter of the room, giving it a warm and happy glow.
"I like your room," said Jack as he looked around. Luna sat down in her wheeled desk chair.
"Thank you. It's got the best view in the house, if you ask me," she said as she pushed off from the desk with her feet. The chair glided across the room and stopped near the window. She stood up, pulled the curtains away, and clicked open the window. "You can come and see if you want." Jack stepped out through the window and onto a section of roof, his bare feet making prints in the snow. From where he was standing, he could look straight out into the snowy forest.
"This is peaceful, isn't it?" said Jack.
"It really is," she said, leaning out the window to talk to him. "I like to sit out here and read sometimes."
"You like to read?" Jack asked. Luna nodded. "Hey, me too! What do you read?"
"Pretty much whatever I can get my hands on. I especially love fantasy and adventure books." Luna replied.
"So do I!" Jack said with excitement. "Ever read Peter Pan?"
"Have I ever! That's one of my favorites!" She beamed at him. They both chuckled.
"Hey, we should probably close this window," Jack said as he stepped back inside. "I can tell you're sick." Luna groaned.
"Yeah... Look, I'm really sorry I didn't come out today. I wanted to so badly, but I wasn't allowed."
"It's okay. I'm sorry you're not feeling well," Jack said.
"It's all right. If you want to hang around, you could have a lazy day with me. But I'll understand if you don't want to stay," said Luna.
"That sounds great. I had a busy morning anyway. And besides, I brought a surprise for you." Jack reached into his hoodie pocket, then held his hand out to her. There was Baby Tooth, sitting nicely in his palm. She squeaked a happy hello to the girl, which made Luna's face light up.
"Oh my goodness," she gasped. "Hello! Is this the Tooth Fairy?" she asked.
"One of them," Jack told her. "There's the actual Tooth Fairy, then there's her fairy army who helps her collect the teeth. This is Baby Tooth."
"Hi, Baby Tooth. I'm Luna Nightingale." Luna held out her finger to the fairy, who shook it happily with her little hand. "Make yourselves comfortable wherever. What would you like to do?" she asked. Jack plopped down into the abandoned desk chair.
"Got any games?" he asked. Luna nodded, then opened her closet to reveal a large board game collection on the top shelf. "Why don't you choose, Baby Tooth?" Jack said. Baby Tooth buzzed up and started to browse. As she did so, Jack glanced at Luna and noticed a silver chain hanging around her neck.
"What's that?" he asked, pointing to it.
"Oh, it's my necklace," she said pulling on the chain. A round pendant rose from beneath her shirt – small and black with an image of a full moon in the center. "It's the moon phase I was born under."
"That's really pretty," he said. "When's your birthday?"
"December twenty-fourth."
"Christmas Eve? That's pretty cool," Jack said. Luna thanked him, then Baby Tooth gave a little whistle and pointed to the game called Ticket To Ride.
"Excellent choice!" said Luna.
…..
After they had finished playing the game and had put it back on the shelf, they heard footsteps approaching. Luna let out a quiet "Hide!" and then a "Never mind" as she remembered that they did not need to hide, as no one in her house could see the two visitors. There came a knock on the door, and Luna shouted that they could come in. Angie walked up the little stair set carrying a large, steaming, snowflake-patterned mug.
"Brought you some soup," said Angie as she handed Luna the mug. "You good up here?" Luna nodded and thanked her sister as she sipped the soup. "'Kay. Shout if you need something," Angie said. And with that, she exited the room. When the door closed, Jack spoke.
"That was nice of her," he said.
"Yeah, she's way nicer than she wants people to think," Luna replied. "Now what do you guys want to do?"
"Well, you said you wanted to watch a movie earlier. Wanna pick one?" Jack suggested. Luna nodded. "Just pick your favorite one," he added as Luna opened a desk drawer filled with movies. Jack had watched a few movies and cartoons with the Bennetts, but not very many. He was sure that Luna would pick a good one for them. She pulled one out and showed them the cover. It had a picture of a boy riding some kind of white dragon, hand raised in triumph, with stars and a tower in the distance. At the top, it read The Neverending Story. "Looks good to me," he said, gesturing to the television.
…..
Jack enjoyed every moment of that wonderful movie. He understood why it was Luna's favorite. When the film was over, he glanced up at the top bunk of Luna's bed, where she had been laying on her stomach, chin in hands, watching the television screen. She was fast asleep, her mouth slightly open. He quietly stood up to look at the girl as she slept.
"Well, good night, then," he whispered, then went to her desk and grabbed a blank piece of paper and a pen. He wrote a quick note saying that he would be back in a couple of days, then handed the pen to Baby Tooth. She drew a little picture of herself at the bottom. They left the paper on the bed in front of Luna's face, then went to the window and let themselves out. Jack took a running start off of the roof and flew away from the house, Baby Tooth by his side. The fairy soon left to get ready for her nightly duties, and Jack spent the rest of the day playing with the children who lived in town. That night as he headed to the North Pole, he flew back over Luna's house just in time to see a stream of golden Dreamsand slip through the crack below Luna's bedroom window. He smiled to himself, then flew off into the night.