An Icy Blast

1- Jack

"And temperatures in New York tonight are going to be at a record high. Reports suggest highs of 40 degrees, although in other areas, it may only reach 30-35. That's the news, folks!"

We plod on by. It's OK that we're invisible. We're an odd-looking bunch, and crowding round a TV in shop window probably doesn't do us any favours.

"You'll be off then, I presume." North utters to me.

"Yes. To Russia, I guess. The heat always bothers me. Everyday."

"Jack, Jack, sweetheart. Do be careful." Toothiana strokes my arm and pleads with me not to go.

"I will, I will. Look, I have to go. Some of us hate the warm." I don't understand it. All these people, in T-shirts, and trousers, and skirts and dresses, smiling and laughing. How do they cope? It's far too warm for any sort of fun or frolicking.

The heat is made worse by the fact that New York's streets are crowded. I mean, crowded. So many of us, packed in tightly, sharing body heat with strangers we don't know. Some people walk on the side of the road to avoid the crowds. I'm not quite decided as to whether they're stupid or smart.

"When are you coming back?"

I can't take it anymore. "When it's cold!" My feet leave the ground and I blast off the ground.

"Oh, see you, then!" Bunnymund yells.

"You too. Sorry about the blizzard."

"Stop apologising!"

I grin. It winds him up so much, it's hilarious. I guess you have to be there.

"Good luck." North booms as I enter the clouds. "We'll miss you, Jack. Take care."

"I certainly will."

The flight will take me a while. Winter is setting in around me. I grin. Screw New York, it's far too warm. Russia, here I come.

*****

Well, not quite yet.

I've been flying for three days. Few hours sleeping in streets are not enough rest. My body starts to tire. I push it a little further, telling it that I'm almost there. Not long now.

I dive below the clouds. Over Norway.

"My power flurries through the air into the ground!"

That wasn't me. I stop and linger in the night sky. The voice continues. It is enchanting and haunting. Triumphant, yet tinged with great sadness.

I deeply inhale and close my eyes. Intoxicated by the sound of someone other than myself, I allow myself to fall. I get closer and closer to the voice. A girl's voice.

"The cold never bothered me anyway!" she declares.

I open my eyes to see two ice doors slam shut and see an ice castle block my path.

I can't avoid it.

"ARGH!"

Great. I pull my cheek off the ice and my whole body aches.

My head throbs. Not just because it's been bashed into a thick layer of ice. The one chance I had of making a fantastic first impression is gone.

She storms out onto the balcony. I gasp.

Blonde hair, sprinkled with snowflakes that sparkle in the winter's light. Round, blue eyes that are currently filled with indignation and irritation and dare me to look away. A long, blue dress that shimmers as she moves and, if I may be so crass, boosts her beautiful curves.

"Do you quite mind?" she angrily snaps.

This one's a keeper.