frigid {jack frost}

o n e

January 24, 2013

It was a white-drowned morning in Burgess, the kind of morning kids squeal over and jump around for. It usually snows in the winter, but there are the days where there's no school because the snow is too piled up. These days are the happiest ones for Jamie Bennett, but only because he knows who decides to visit on these special occasions.

And, because of that, when he wakes up to the snowflakes dotting his window, he jumps out of bed to get dressed. He makes sure to grab his sled before hopping over to his little sister's room, excited to get Elsie out and about.

Ever since she moved in, she's been sitting on the blow-up mattress watching re-runs of classics, cuddled up with their dog, Abby, all day long. And, not that Jamie wouldn't mind doing that with her, but Elsie literally does nothing else. What he doesn't know is that it's a way for her to think about things other than her parents. She's supposed to be out looking for a job so she can move out, but she's not emotionally ready yet. She's one of those type of people to bottle up all her feelings and never let a tear slip.

It's honestly not healthy, but she's always been that way. You'd think she would've cried already, but not a drop has fallen.

"Elsie! Elsie!"

Jamie stuck his head inside Sophie's room, seeing the 2-year old sprawled across her bed with the sheets a mess. Typical Soph, he thought. "Elsie, get up!" He sing-songs, his hat sliding to the left as he steps over to his grumpy cousin cocooned in blankets. "It's snowing!"

"It snows every day," the once-sleeping teenager grumbles under the sheets, but before she could get another word out how she needs 5 more minutes (well, in reality it'd be hours), Jamie yanks the comfy duvet off.

"Hey!" She exclaims, snapping straight up to send a glare at the smirking 10-year old.

"It doesn't snow like this every day! Guess who's coming?" Jamie bounces on his toes, tossing the big cover on top of Sophie who, at the moment, seems to be unstirred by any of the racket going on in her bedroom.

Elsie just fell back onto the mattress, curling up into a ball so she could sleep again.

"Awe, El, please? We still haven't tried out my helicopter y'know," Jamie mused, rocking back and forth on his heels, hoping his cousin would at least keep her promise from almost a month ago. Sure, he was disappointed, but he too was mourning over the passing of two very important people in their lives. It was a tough few weeks, but with the help of his friends, Jamie got back into the game. It wasn't like that for Elsie, though.

She sat up slowly and lazily, leaning back on the squishy portable with her hands. Her eyes, dazed like a steaming and swirling hot cup of cocoa, squinted open with caution, eyeing the room until her gaze landed on her giddy little cousin. "Let me change," Elsie sighed, a puff of air appearing in front of her lips due to the cold. Jamie, as excited as could be, was glad she was going to finally meet Jack. He's told her all about Pitch Black's Nightmare attack and how he helped, and how he met the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, Santa, Sandman, and of course Jack Frost. Jamie explained the nicknames and how the Easter Bunny was "Super cool and like, 6 feet tall!", and how Santa Clause likes to be called North and that he has actual tattoos, and how Tooth has these mini versions of her that collect the teeth, and especially how Sandy doesn't actually talk. The boy talked in a jumble, but she always understood.

And unlike many people, Elsie wasn't lying when she said she believed him. In fact, she believes in all the people he had an adventure with. Her bedtime stories as a kid were about the four legends, how their most important job was to protect children. Jamie added Jack Frost to the list, but that was certainly okay. When she heard Jamie's story, she got pretty confused. Turning 15 meant thinking those were just stories to help her fall asleep, made-up tales that she believed in as a child. She never wanted to ruin it for Jamie, though; she knew how much it meant to her when she was a kid, so she passed it on to her younger cousin. Then she heard Jamie's story and boom- her mind was a whirl pool of mess.