Jack Frost & The Snow Queen
Chapter 1 - A Boy & A Girl
It was a snowy white Christmas in the town of Burgess, Jack saw excitedly as he looked out the window. Snowflakes flurried down on the other side of the pane of glass. But that wasn't all he saw. In the window across from his he saw his friend Anna, who lived next door. She was busily doing something in her room - he peered closer - wrapping a present! His present?! Then she looked up and out her window to see him staring at her. Her face broke into a grin.
"I caught you," she mouthed, pressing her face up against the window with her two hands against the glass.
Jack stuck out his tongue at her to distract her. Then he pulled quickly away from the window and hid behind the wall. What present did he have for her? Here it was. Luckily he had gone shopping yesterday and grabbed something. He had forgotten it was Christmas until Anna had said something to him. He never knew what day of the year it was. Anna kept a calendar in her room though, marking off the days until Christmas. He took the book he had bought from the bookshop and quickly went to wrap it. He hoped she would like it. Anna loved to read.
The two of them had always lived next door, growing up side by side together in their small town of Burgess. He grabbed his present, then ran downstairs, not bothering to put on his coat. He was wearing his blue hoodie and brown cut-off pants. He was just going next door, after all. He glanced in the mirror to see his tousled brown hair and brown eyes, then went out the front door.
It was snowing! He walked over to Anna's house next door. He saw his reflection in the window, white snow flurries in his hair making it look white. He quickly brushed the snow out of his brown hair. He knocked on Anna's door. She answered it so quickly it was as if she knew he was coming over. He hid the wrapped present behind his back. "Merry Christmas!" he said to her. It was Christmas eve, after all.
"Merry Christmas, Jack," Anna said. "Come in!" she said excitedly.
Jack and Anna sat on the couch together by the fireplace. They had always been the best of friends, Jack thought to himself. He looked at Anna and saw she was wearing her blues-skirted outfit with black corset, an old-fashioned dress like she was going Christmas caroling. Her hair was in two braids like usual, with her bangs cut.
"Here you go!" He handed her his brown papered gift, which she looked at delightedly and then ripped open.
"A book!" she said. "How did you know, I love books? But which book is it?" She flipped it open.
"Oh, some new Danish author," Jack said in a teasing voice, hands behind his head on the couch.
"Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales!" Anna said, reading the title page. "Thank you, Jack." She grabbed him in a tight hug, despite his protests. "Here's yours." She handed him a brightly wrapped gift with a bow.
Jack tore it open excitedly and found Anna's cross-stitch hoop embroidered with his name, "Jack Frost," and a picture of a wintery sprite flying on the wind, his cheeks poofed out as he blew tiny stitched snowflakes.
"Cool! I can hang this in my room!" Jack said. "Thanks, Anna."
A silence fell over them as they both looked at their presents.
"Jack," Anna asked over the roaring fire, "will we always be friends?"
"Yes we will, I promise," he answered. "No matter what."
He figured now was the best time to put his actual plan into action. He had thinking about it since Anna reminded him it was Christmas. He pulled a ring out of his pocket and got down on one knee in front of Anna. "Anna, will you marry me?" he asked.
Anna gasped in delight. "Yes! Yes, I will!"
She embraced him tightly, and this time he let her. He even hugged her back a little. It felt warm against the cold.
That night, after their small Christmas Eve party, the two returned to their rooms. Jack looked out his window to see Anna staring at him through he window with a smile. Jack took his finger and drew a six-pointed snowflake on the frosted windowpane. Anna took her finger and drew a heart on hers.
The clock chimed midnight. Anna turned away from the window to go to bed. Then Jack saw the strangest thing out the window he'd ever seen. A girl in a sparkly ice-blue dress appeared like a reflection in the window, her hair in a long braid and an icy smile on her lips. She reached out her hand and beckoned to him. Jack stumbled back from the window, unsure of what he'd seen, and landed on his bed. He was superstitious. Had it been some kind of omen that he would someday freeze to his death? Or was it the image of his future bride-to-be? She seemed to be watching him.
She was gone now, as Anna was gone from her window. Jack kissed the chilly windowpane to kiss her good-night.
