Darkness had taken over the town. Jack looked back and could still make out the church from the little smidgen of light inside of it. Otherwise, it was mostly terrifying blackness. He created a snow chair and sat down, blowing up a little storm for fun. But since he couldn't really see it, the fun was brief. He yawned and stretched, raising his arms and falling back a little bit; the snow chair fell apart (Jack was not very good at creating things yet). He fell into the snow and laughed, but it was nice and cold. He didn't move.
"Why's it so dark?" he complained to no one. "I want more light for my snow..."
Even though the sun had set, the moon was not in the sky yet. After all, it wasn't even suppertime. Jack sat for many minutes in the snow, doing nothing. The snow seemed to melt and then refreeze on his torso, so that when he finally stood up his body was encased in ice. Amused, Jack did not crack the ice and just walked with it, albeit awkwardly.
He impulsively skated back to the town, riding ice on his bare feet, and watched more and more people file into the church. He got on the steps and peeked inside, but couldn't really see anything.
You can imagine what Jack Frost would do when bored. He jumped up- way up- into the air, flew about a mile west to where there were fields of dark snow as big as he could imagine, and started playing around. Even in the darkness it was fun, and as he worked, the day seemed to pass quickly. Jack invented a palace of sorts, with grand walls and packed thrones to sit in. He also enjoyed destroying his creations, like knocking down a pile of blocks.
Having fun was exhausting. Jack sat in the remaining throne and looked at his wreckage, grinning. When he jumped up, he crushed the chair and flew about ten feet above everything. It definitely looked like something, someone, had been here. With a snap of his fingers, the entire field of snow fluffed and flattened out, looking just as it had before he came. No one would know; no one could know. They would start to ask questions, and Jack couldn't allow that. He wanted to stay here for a while.
When it was back to normal, he drifted down to the top of a tree and let out a loud yawn. He sleepily blinked and looked around at the night. Nothing felt different, really, even though it was Christmas Eve. Jack smiled to himself, nestling into a pile of snow. Some of it plopped down to the base of the tree, and so Jack used the wind to gather more for himself from a higher branch. Snowflakes tickled his nose and comforted him into a nice, peaceful sleep.
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Bright light streamed through branches and stung Jack's eyelids and head. He groaned and sat up, glaring at the burning sun. It seemed to laugh at him, melting the snow like that. What was that all about? Jack kicked himself out of the snow and flew back into the air. He shook the clumps of snow from his hair and flitted away the water droplets on his bare chest. Pretty little snowflakes had melted from the morning rays.
But when Jack looked back down at the tree he had slept on, he stopped. Something red and blue was down there; an unnatural object. It did not look like an animal or a leaf or anything he had seen in nature before. He tentatively floated back down and gave the red and blue thing a dubious look. What was it? Did it belong to somebody?
"Hello?" Jack called, even though he knew nobody could hear. "Did anybody drop something?" He wasn't surprised by the silence, and slowly went up to the big blue...
Blanket?
It was a rather large, blue garment that sat on the branch right on top of the snow. Neatly folded and topped with a card, Jack had to wonder what it was for- or rather, perhaps, who was it for? He stepped next to the thing cautiously. The card was a little piece of light red paper, cut into a square and folded in half. He squinted at it, and the front read in very fancy letters: Merry Christmas.
"Christmas?" he said, bending down to examine the paper. It was thick and heavy and felt a little bit like smooth tree bark. Jack ran his fingers over the letters of "Christmas" and smiled. The paper smelled of peppermint and smoke. It almost felt like a memory- the feel of it, the scent, the colors. He wanted to remember something, anything, something important. But he could not, no matter how hard he tried, remember anything before he'd woken up and seen the moon- so big and bright. Jack turned the card over. Nothing was on the back. He unfolded it.
"Dear Jack Frost, I hope you receive this gift without dubiety. It repels warmth for your natural condition."
Jack read slowly. He turned it over again and again, but there was no name, no anything! The words pulsed, heavy, light, heavy, light, big, small, big, small, and Jack felt a swirling sensation in his stomach that zipped into his mind like lightning. He shuddered and picked up the garment. It was cold. He unfolded it and stared for a couple seconds. The vibrant blue dazzled him. Gorgeous! The sweater was gorgeous. The red card fluttered to the ground as Jack slipped it over his head. The fit was perfect, and really felt like it repelled the sunlight. He sensed a slight vibration, but that only lasted for a couple of seconds as it clung to his skin.
"Hello?" Jack called softly, bending down to scoop up the card. "Is anyone still here? I want to thank you!"
A few birds took off from a nearby tree, sending clumps of snow to the ground. Otherwise, it was quiet. Jack kicked some of the snow out of his path, and he started walking toward town again. The closer he got, the louder the air became. Their Christmas celebration seemed to be going strong.
Every few seconds, Jack looked down at himself and grinned. The blue looked so... awesome! He blinked and expected it to vanish. But no. It was loyal; soft; chilled; pretty threads and pretty creases. Whenever snow landed on the fabric, it didn't melt. The flakes seemed to etch themselves onto his chest, right under the neck. He put the hood on, laughed, and then took it off. It made his hair even colder!
Jack stroked his arms as he walked to the town. He loved the hoodie. The color of it, the way it fit, the feel of the fabric, the way it smelled- he wanted to wear it forever. The blue was so dark next to the white!
"Well, anyway," Jack said as he walked down the street, feeling like one of the villagers, "I hope whoever you are know that I really like this. Definitely gonna file this day as one of my better days here on the planet."
He thought about who it could be from. Bunnymund, he wondered? Probably not... the rabbit had made his threat and carried on with his life. The Moon? No. The Moon didn't care about Jack. Jesus? Who even was that? Lord? Who were these people? Jack doubted that people who didn't even know him would give him a personalized gift.
He sighed and sat down in the middle of the road, watching the people go by. They were all dressed in colors of grey and brown and black. Occasionally, a colorful scarf or something would pass by, but in the winter, the people liked to stay warm. He didn't understand how the heat didn't give them a headache. It made his mind melt! They were dressed in the thickest clothes- all that heat, trapped close to your heart- creepy! His hoodie didn't trap heat. It emitted soft, soft coolness.
Jack stabbed his staff into the snow and leaned back on it. The sounds of the people around him were soothing and mindless. Christmas gave him a good feeling. Jack closed his eyes and disappeared in the madness.
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A/N: Oops? Not abandoned, just gathering a bit of dust. And also realizing that this story is rather unorganized. Planning to write shorter chapters more often. Thank you to the readers—you're the reason I'm writing this. In the meantime, I have other, more recent work!