A.N. One of the stories I'm especially proud of.
Published first January 29th 2019 on Tumblr.
When Anna was small she would spend hours looking outside windows. It must be clear of course that Anna being Anna would usually spend her days doing more then just looking through the glassen sphere of the many windows her home that happened to be a castle could offer. There was the gallery with her many silent friends who needed someone to fill their silence with talk, not to forget the library and her lessons. Her days were far from empty- for the most part at last- and her lively imagination would supply enough opportunities for change if the day did happen to need more then it held. There were countless ways to fill ones day.
Still, gazing outside windows was something she would often come back to, even though one would not associate this with the lively girl.
As it was, there was not a window Anna had not been standing in front, not a room or a corner where a view outside has been kept from her. Through her childhood years she had counted the countless windows even in her sleep, hoping with that to make sure that the outside world was not a dream.
She was not locked up in the palace, and if ever there had been a whisper stating that it would be more then wrong and she herself would have consequently denied it. Although the truth was that contact to the outside world was limited she was allowed to visit the gardens and courtyard as often as she wished (if the weather was fine).
That all be said, it did happen more then once that the weather was not good enough to be outside, it was true that there was only so much you could do alone in the gardens, and at times it did seem like being kept in the dark.
This were the reasons that would bring little Anna often to a window. One look outside could often cheer her up within minutes, the view too beautiful to be ignored. The royal palace placed on a separate isle just on the edge of town, Arendelle's capital located in an deep fiord surrounded by cliffs and mountains high and steep, forests of shadows green dressing it all into a mystery hidden, the sunlight reflecting and glittering on the water surface, morning mist holding secrets, raindrops like pearls on tree branches, autumn colors shining bright, winter snow falling light. This was the world Anna would see when looking outside.
And even though spring and summer were the time when she would thrive, something about winter held her enchanted and made her often smile wider without knowing why. When winters came to Arendelle one knew they would last for a while and people have long since adapted to this. On winter days- even though she could do many a thing else- Anna would search for the perfect spot of the day, and when finding it enjoy the picture it would offer her.
No matter where you looked, everything was covered in snow. The skies clouded were neither grey nor white, but something in between, shining a soft light over the town below. The hills around looked soft and fine, a layer of sugar icing having dressed them. The trees, the trees were a story of their own, their appearance being so much different. They did not seem like actual trees at all, more like silver magic trees, all in white and glimmering and glittering in every ray of light. And if you waited long enough you could watch as soft flakes would start to fall from the skies, sometimes flakes the size of feathers drifting to the ground. Nature would provide a blanket of warmth to keep its children safe till spring.
And in town you could see the chimneys being busy, every single rooftop covered in snow would let out a thin grey trail of smoke rise in the air. And trading ships from all around would fill the harbour as long as possible before it all froze over, with people shouting and laughing in the cold. And just outside the town walls children would race with their sleds, the ringing of their voices mixing with the chiming of the bells.
Sometimes she found a window that had its edges covered in fine frost, like a rosemaling pattern framing the view.
There were also times when she would sit at her window seat, clueless what to do until her breath would cloud the glass.
One of the places she liked the best was the small library, a great window slowing a glance outside the courtyard all the way to town.
And days passed, and weeks passed, months and years.
The childhood that once was seemed to end too soon, even though it hasn't come to its end yet. There were moments when she felt so lonely that even the world beyond the window appeared empty. The soft candle light of her room would hold such contrast to the dark clouded autumn afternoon, with fog so thick, that she was sure a wall has been built between her and the outside world. At times in winter blizzards would howl outside, withering through the castle walls, crying like in agony and pain, the day night black and deep. The world had come to an end, there was nothing there anymore.
Through many years there has been one window she did know the world looked like from. It had been hidden by a door.
There had been many things Anna wondered about while growing up, many things she hoped one day to find an answer to. And one day she would.
Until then she was often found near a window, eyes of wonder following the tiny flakes of crystal snow, marvelling their beauty from afar, knowing their magic from inside.