Ice Cubes
Summary: Jack spent hundreds of years wishing for only two things: For people to see him and for a family to love him.
Wishing Away
"Many cultures throughout history have regarded water as a sacred gift from the gods, because of its vital necessity to human existence and surprising rarity in a potable form… "
-a single pale hand, shaking slightly, a coin between his fragile looking fingers-
"-The idea of throwing a coin into a wishing well is also ancient. A wish would then be granted by the guardian or dweller, based upon how the coin would land at the bottom of the well."
A quick prayer, a whisper of hope, the coin slipping through well-trained fingers-
"-If the coin were to land "heads-up" the wish would be granted. If the coin landed "heads-down" the wish would not be granted-"
It lands inevitably unto the water of the well, shining up in mockery at the person peering through in anxiousness-
"-however, worry not if the first coin does not land "heads-up", there are an unlimited coins in the world and next time you simply have to have a bit more of luck or believe a little more-"
The book does not mention what he should do now, after the one thousand three hundred and sixty-two coin lands in a 'heads-down' position.
"-and when the coin lands on the right side, may you have a happy wishing and a happy life ahead."
So he just sits there, blue eyes dully looking down into this long abandoned well, book lying face down a few feet away as Jack tries to think of where he could get the next thousand or more coins, people could only leave so many quarters behind.
Jack thinks it a bit mocking really, that this well is as ancient as he is and just as invisible. Maybe that's why it can't grant his wishes anymore, because it's as tired as he is and has long since giving up in making anyone else happy.
But Jack thinks, as he stands up and picks the book, that he did not want to end up abandoned in the middle of the forest somewhere, sad and growing vines, so he resolves to find other ways to make his wishes come true.
Meanwhile, he hopes the old, abandoned, well can make someone happy with the thousands of silver coins it has managed to dupe Jack out of.
"Near the home of the Virgin Mary there is a wall where people place notes written with a wish."
Jack looks at the wall filled with papers, he traces his fingers against them reverently, sorely hoping in the bottom of his heart that these people who wish for happiness and strength and health had their wishes come true because Jack know what it feels like if your wish is eternally ignored even by the higher Beings.
He gathers blank sheets of paper and began to write his wishes in his quick and messy handwriting, excited at the prospect of seeing his wishes amongst the people he wants to see him, wondering if anyone would notice it and maybe, just maybe, someone would notice and believe in him finally-
"Lore has it that if the wish comes true, you must remove the wish from the wall."
A hundred and thirty-five years later, the paper Jack writes on- white and terribly worn with years just like its owner- is still there, placed high up amongst the wishers, wanting to be noticed and to be taken heed of.
Jack stands among hundreds of wishers, looking up at that worn white paper no one can see. He is just like everyone here, wanting to have their wishes heard, but unlike the people around him who offer candles and prayers, no one can hear or see him.
He turns and leaves and thinks that a hundred and thirty-five years was long enough to hope- and as he jumps high and let the wind catch him, the worn white paper is finally taken from its place in the wall and crumbles into the wind silently, listening to the held back cries of a boy who so wanted to be seen.
"This gum wall began with theater patrons waiting outside, placing a blob of chewing gum on the wall and sticking a penny or other coin in it."
It's a silly wishing tradition but Jack thinks it's worth a try. At least the book hadn't told him to strip naked and yell at the moon yet, so he is willing to give this legend a see if it really worked.
"Now people chew wads of gum and shape letters and figures from it, as well as adding the conventional blobs."
It stinks of old gum and dried saliva but he tries not to cringe as he chew on his own piece of brightly colored gum, watching a team of athletes doing the same as he, popping a gum onto their mouths and chewing.
"People seek out bright colored gums to chew and add. High School football teams have started their own tradition in Bubblegum Alley as well."
And Jack copies the team of athletes as they place their gums reverently on the wall and pray. He watches as they looked hopefully upon the piece of candy and leaves, their spirits are high and so is Jack's because he feels really good about this one.
"When the opposing team comes to play the town's High School team, they go to the alley before the game and put a piece of gum on the wall for good luck."
A few weeks later, the town's football team, the 'Gum-chewers', won the Regionals and were sent to represent their State for the Nationals, and as Jack watches from the bleachers the happy smiles coming from the team of athletes as they thump each other on the back, he wonders what he could've done wrong.
The team of gum-chewers got their wish and won the game while Jack…?
…He is still so very much alone.
"The birthday cake has been an integral part of birthday celebrations in Western cultures since the middle of the 19th century."
It is his one hundred and seventy-two birthday, a lucky number as any when he tries it.
"The Western tradition of adding lit candles to the top of a birthday cake originates in 18th century Germany."
He managed to salvage a cake that was being thrown out by a dissatisfied baker who knows nothing of conservatism and he manages to snag a few new candles from the baker's shop for good measure and besides no one would miss two small blue candles, right?
"The birthday cake is often decorated with taper candles that are secured with special candleholders. In North America, the number of candles is equal to the age of the individual whose birthday it is."
He would have placed a hundred and seventy-two candles if he could, but he thought two would be enough and besides, the number of candles had nothing to do with wishing. So he thinks this is enough, as he licks his fingers for stray icing.
"Though the exact origin and significance of the candle blowing ritual is unknown, the history of placing candles on top of the cake is well documented."
He is giddy with excitement when he lights the two new candles with a match. He is careful not to extinguish the candles or frost them over as he closed his eyes in a semblance of a prayer.
"Traditionally the birthday person makes a private wish, which will be realized if all the candles are extinguished in a single breath."
Blowing out all of the candles is fairly easy for someone who had frost for breath and add to the fact there was only two candles, the odds were in Jack's favor.
Smiling to himself, the winter sprite leaned forward in interest, ready to devour the slightly deformed cake when he heard a whimper not far. Standing up with his cake still in hand, Jack peeks to see what made the noise and to his shock he sees a little child curled up with newspapers around her acting as a blanket.
She was shivering and by her thin frame she seemed hungry.
Looking down at the cake in his hands, the young teen makes a decision.
"In medieval England, tokens, such as coins and thimbles, were baked inside the birthday cake, a tradition that persists today with the Christmas pudding. "
The young girl alone by the alley, wakes up to a sudden warmth. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open when a slightly deformed birthday cake met her sights. Two candles shone brightly on top of the said cake as her eyes began to burn and tears fell down her dirty cheeks.
Jack leans out of sight, listening to the muffled sobbing of the hungry girl as she ate his cake and he closes his eyes.
He decides it doesn't matter if what he is doing invalids his wish, what matters is that the girl lying with old newspapers for blankets will have something to eat and candles to warm her in this cold winter night.
From the bottom of his heart, Jack wishes for the girl to be happy and he imagines her blowing out the candles just as he does so.
Three weeks later, Jack hears of a very fortunate little girl who is adopted by a rich couple who had no children. And Jack smiles to himself as he wonders sadly, when his wish for a family would come true.
"There are several customs related to dandelions the most popular being when you see the first dandelion of the season, make a wish."
It's nearly Spring and flowers have started to blossom despite the snow on the ground, which was definitely signifying that in this part of the world Jack was no longer needed.
"Look Mom! A dandelion!" A little girl's squeals and Jack turns abruptly from his search of a dandelion, blue eyes immediately seeing what the little girl found.
"That's nice dear, now let's get going to your grandmother's house, she's expecting us for lunch you know." The mother of the child scolded lightly as she tugs at the small arm.
Jack smiles gratefully as he runs towards the small miracle of a flower protruding from the thing powder of snow.
"Others say you must blow on a dandelion puff and make a wish. Then say:"
"Dandelion, puffs away, make my wish come true some day." Jack murmurs and he feel just a little silly as he says this but his hands tighten around the small flower anyway.
"Some people say that all the "whiskers" are gone after the third puff, your wish will come true."
Not all the whiskers were gone when he blows the third time and Jack looks down at the flower in disappointment. He lets go of the dandelion and steers himself to fly to another country and find the first dandelion of the season there.
He was on his fifty-sixth dandelion in a random country somewhere when he suddenly couldn't take anymore and his fuse simply blew.
It was the year 1868, Easter Sunday.
"There are many wishing customs related to horseshoes. Early horseshoes were made to hold seven nails - seven is considered a lucky number."
He comes back to Burgess sporting black and blue bruises. Despite the beating however, Jack smiles a happy smile as he holds up a horseshoe with red fingers.
"The earliest horseshoe beliefs started in Greece, where the first horseshoes were made during the fourth century."
Of course, the winter sprite didn't need to wrestle a horse just to get his hands on this little beauty, but Jack was pretty persistent and he had heard from somewhere that a horseshoe worn by an actual horse was better than one that was newly made, so he sucked it up, went to the nearest ranch and claimed World War I on the first horse he saw.
"A popular wishing custom using the theme of seven, is that if you find a horseshoe, rub it seven times while making a wish."
And Jack does exactly as the books says. He closes his eyes- this has become a habit, something he did before he dabbled in the lore of wishing- and rubs on the stinky and cold horse shoe.
I wish, I wish, I wish…
"Some people make a wish for good luck when you hang a horseshoe on a wall. "
Blue eyes open tiredly as Jack finishes rubbing on the horse shoe.
"Just having a horseshoe hung is supposed to bring good luck. You have two choices of how to hang it: Hang it with the ends pointing up, so it captures and holds good luck for you. Hang it with the ends pointing down, so the magic in the horseshoe pours out good luck for you."
Seeing as he was already done with it, the sprite hangs the horse shoe on the branch of his favorite tree. He flies down and looks up at it with wide, blue, and hopeful eyes.
Several days later, a bunch of kids ventures into the forest of Jack's lake and sees the horse shoe on the tree. They saw it and thought nothing of it until a snowball suddenly hits them from out of nowhere.
Freaked by the sudden attack from someone no one could see, the children all ran away screaming bloody murder. No one came near the forest after that.
A few nights later, Jack throws the horse shoe into the cracked part of his lake and watches as it sinks down into the darkness perfectly incorporating his own feelings as he sits on the snow bank and holds himself together carefully.
"A great new moon ritual you can do to make the most of the powerful energies, is to write down your list of desires and intentions for the next month."
The book is old and worn as Jack traces the paragraph word for word. He has finally reached one of the hundreds of wishing ritual he finds difficult to do.
"You can get into the creative process and use different colored inks etc if you wish. The idea is that the more energy you put into it, the better the results."
It has been over two centuries since he'd last spoken with the moon, and now it seems only right that the final ritual was to ask for the moon's guidance and answer once more.
Hey, it's only like the thousandth time he tried to get the moon to talk to him right? What's one more crushed hope?
"The process also creates a sense of magic and ritual. Really get into the feeling of your manifestations as if they are happening right now and use the present tense. This is the key to manifestation."
Writing down his wishes was the easiest thing he had ever done. Jack had gone over his wishes enough to know what he exactly wants if this whole wishing ritual pans out.
"As with the full moon ceremony, read the list out loud and bury or burn it, or place it somewhere so that you can look back at it during the following month's new moon, then if there is something that has actualized into reality a month later, show gratitude by thanking the Universe."
Walking out of his forest and onto the full view of the moon was difficult. He hugs the book and his staff closer to his chest, a lighter and his list in one hand. He could feel his heart hammering in anticipation as he finally sees the moon, so bright and so big shining down onto the center of his lake.
He walks over there quickly, eager to have the moon's undivided attention that night.
He puts down the book, the lighter, and his staff and opens his list carefully. He clears his throat and opens his mouth, "Uhm, so yeah hi again Man in the Moon."
Silence. Jack doesn't blame him for not talking back.
"So uhm, I'm Jack. Remember me? The spirit you talked to two hundred years ago? Ring any bells? No? Well I don't blame you. I mean I've only tried to talk to you for like a thousand times, no big deal."
Silence again and Jack feels sorta silly now as he looked down at the paper in his hands.
"So yeah, I-I'm going to read out my wishes to you now, if that's okay?" Jack says and he hurries on to the wishes, "Well first of all, I mean if it isn't too much trouble, I want- I wish to be- to be seen by people. You know, like not walked through anymore? To be believed in like Santa and the Kangaroo- and by Kangaroo I mean the Easter Bunny."
Silence.
"I mean, that can't be too difficult right? I don't mind being seen by only a handful of children or one, even one is enough! I-I just want to play with a kid that wouldn't walk right through me you know? You understand where I'm coming from right?" He looks up hopefully.
Silence. And Jack's lower lip quivers as he looks down at his list again, trying to ignore the burning sensation in his eyes as he reaches up a hand and rubs at them with the heel of his palms.
"S-So yeah, if you could take care of that- uhm let me know okay?" It's hard trying to keep his voice casual as he took a deep breath. "And to the next one, well actually if you'd make me choose between my two wishes, this is the one I want to be granted the most. It's a bit embarrassing but hey, at least I'm not butt-naked and dancing weird dance rituals while talking to you."
Another bout of silence and Jack thinks it's a bit more awkward than before as he clears his throat.
"Uhm, I-I want- I wish for- for a family." Nothing and Jack continues to speak, eager to fill the silence with his voice. "I-I don't think I'd mind being invisible if I had a few people out there who cared for me- like-like a family. A few people who actually wondered where I am if I'm gone for too long or people who care when I haven't eaten for over fifty years…"
Jack looks ups again, blue eyes a tad bit desperate as he lets out an awkward laugh. "I mean, have you ever had a family? I've seen them, seen what it's like when there's someone there waiting for you to come home, someone who would hug you when you feel sad or lonely, a person who would reach a hand out to you when you fall…"
There was still no answer and Jack was grasping at strings at what to say now, wondering if he was doing a good job at convincing the moon to grant his wishes.
"I-I know you're not some sort of Fairy Godmother- or Godfather- that can suddenly grant me what I want with just a wave of his wand. And I'm not even sure if you grant wishes like the book said, but-" Jack's eyes began to blur as two hundred years of loneliness enveloped him and slowly suffocated him, memories of being walked through by people who couldn't see him and being glared at by spirits who could, crossed his mind. "But I don't mind waiting. Even if it takes a hundred years, I-I'm willing to wait."
"Just please…" The winter spirit shivered but not from the cold as the paper in his hand dropped to the ice beneath his feet. He sat down on the balls of his feet, carefully wrapping his thin arms around himself as his shoulders shook lightly. "Please…"
Just please, grant me my wishes.
That night, the simple town of Burgess noticed smoke coming from the forest of their lake. In worry that the forest might be burning, several adults went to check it out but to their relief and utter confusion, what they found were only a lighter, the charred remains of a book and what seemed to be a piece of paper with unreadable writings.
No one knew who it was that burned these items and why, but the citizens of the small thriving town thought nothing more of it as they turned and headed back to their warm homes, and families.
No one noticed a lonely set of footprints that led towards the deeper part of the forest just as no one saw the young boy that was curled up under the base of the tree that once held a horse shoe.
Jack has been alone for over two hundred years, one hundred and seventy of which he has spent doing every wishing ritual known to man just to obtain his own wishes and happiness.
However, it was only exactly a hundred years later, that these wishes would come true. And they came true indeed, in the form of four guardians.
Important Notes: So the wishing rituals weren't in an order okay? They just showed random time periods with Jack doing them :D
Notes: So yeah, Hibernation didn't want to be written. It didn't cooperate with me! I was like, in the 3rd page when I started banging my head against the wall. But there was this advice on one book that I read that said, if you can't continue what you're writing refresh your mind a bit by making a new story! And well, I wasn't sure if I was going to post this in Ice Cubes but then there's a second part to this were the guardians somehow see the last part thanks to some sort of time traveling device or thanks to the moon. And if that didn't scream family, I don't know what does.
So yes, I know some were expecting Krampus 5 but it'll be up several hours from now- hopefully. And then we can say goodbye to the Krampus arc and say hello to the continuation of the other arcs.
Just a heads up! I have an exam coming up soon, so I'm gonna try my best to spoil all of you guys for the next few days or so (to the Ice Cubes lovers you're very lucky that out of all my RotG fics, this is my favorite) and please don't be shock if I suddenly stop updating frequently because that means I'm in my study mode and I really have to focus.
The review replies for Krampus 4 will be on Krampus 5, and I hope you guys like this chapter!
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