Jack came to with Emma's name on his lips, and an overwhelming sense of fear. It was unbearably cold, perfectly dark. But then- then he saw the moon. It was so big and full, and so bright! It seemed to chase the darkness away. And he wasn't scared anymore. His body broke the surface of the ice and he gasped, realizing he hadn't been breathing before then. He rose into the air, staring at the moon. Then he came back to the surface of the ice, which had become solid below him. He looked around, wondering what had happened.
"Emma..." he picked his staff up off the ice. It seemed to glow under the moonlight. Wait, when had it become night? The last thing he remembered was saving Emma from falling into the lake. It had been afternoon then. Had he passed out?
He started walking back toward his house. Something felt weird. He wasn't wearing shoes, of course, but the snow no longer felt cold. Great. His feet had probably gone numb. And the wind felt like it was tugging at him, as if asking him to run with it. He shook himself. He couldn't daydream now, he had to make sure Emma had gotten home safe. Their mother was probably worried sick because Jack hadn't come home yet.
When he reached his house, he slipped in through the back door. No one was downstairs. He normally would have left his staff outside, but he didn't want to let go of it. He carried it over his shoulder as he went upstairs. It was quite late. He peeked into his mom's room and saw Emma snuggled up with her. The trauma of today probably had warranted a sleep with Mom, even though Emma was supposed to stay in her own bed.
Jack sighed in relief that Emma was okay and went back downstairs to get ready for bed. He went into the bathroom to brush his teeth. As soon as he looked in the mirror he stopped dead.
"What the-!" He almost shouted.
He wasn't himself. His hair was snow white. His eyes were a bright, cold blue. And his staff was definitely glowing. He leaned forward and touched the mirror. Then he touched his face. His skin seemed paler. He fingered a lock of his hair. It didn't feel any different, but it was definitely white. He pinched himself. Ow.
"This has to be a dream." He said to himself. Maybe he should just wait until he woke up. He climbed into bed without changing out of his blue sweatshirt and brown pants.
In the morning things would be back to normal.