The Guardian of Fun

"Zoe...."  Somebody was calling my name... But, who? I looked around, seeing nothing but white emptiness and feeling an icy chill creeping down my spine. "Zoe...." There was the voice again. I stepped forward cautiously, my foot landing in something soft and cold. 'Wait, this isn't an empty place...' My bare foot was enveloped in white, fluffy snow, with what looked like frost creeping slowly up my leg in a fern-like pattern. 'But, isn't it the middle of summer?' I thought, pulling my foot out of the snow. "Zoe, would you wake up already? Stop spending your vacation in bed!" My bedroom door burst open as my younger sister, Eden, demanded my awakening. "Fine, fine! I'm up!" I shouted at her, glaring as I awoke. She made a triumphant face, then slammed the door shut and trod down the stairs. I huffed, pulling myself  into a sitting position and looking at my alarm clock on the nightstand painted with a flower design, which was next to my bed. It read ten thirty. "It was a dream.... But, I swear I felt the cold. It felt real...  Oh, well." I mumbled to myself, running my hand through my black and magenta colored locks.

I looked around my room, noticing the messy carpeted floor, and the clutter on my beige wooden dresser. 'I think I'll clean up and redecorate today.... It's a lazy day,' I thought, jumping out of my full sized bed, and carefully putting my cream colored sheets and comforter with the rose pattern back into place. I would have rather gone to the swimming pool down the street, but my mother had been nagging me to clean my room for the past few days. I walked over to my window, threw back the sheer green curtains and lifted it a few inches to let in a breeze, but not enough to let too much of the cool air from the AC out. I went over to my laptop and opened up my music, putting on my favorite song and cranking the volume. I started organizing my desk, but as the beat in the music picked up, I couldn't help myself as I threw my hands into the air and started singing loudly to the chorus, waving my arms and twirling around the room. "Zoe, turn that down! I can hardly hear myself think!" My mother shouted from downstairs. It wasn't that loud, but I turned it down anyways, not wanting to argue.

As I turned it down lower, I thought I heard a strange sound, almost like a faint crackling. I turned towards the source of the sound. What seemed to be frost was lacing its way around a panel on my window, looking like elegant ferns and leaves. As I stared, perplexed by the frost - in the middle of summer - some of the frost disappeared, leaving lines that looked like a stick figure with its arms in the air. As little lines for hair started to appear, I walked up to the window and hesitantly touched it. The moment that my fingers touched the icy chilled glass, the drawing stopped. I rubbed my brown eyes quickly, gawking at the frost. Where the frost stick figure was, a hand print appeared slowly. I stared, and gingerly put my hand on the print. Then, out of nowhere, a boy with eyes blue like icy starlight and hair as white as the snow appeared in front of me, outside the window.

Floating.

I reeled backwards, tripping over a pair of shoes and falling on my rear. The boy laughed, a hearty chuckle. Again, I gawked at him, not believing my eyes. He stopped laughing and looked at me, head cocked to the side, a confused expression on his face. "Why's she making a face like that? Wait.... Can you see me? Zoe, can you see me?" At the sound of my name, I scrambled to stand and picked up the nearest object to use as a weapon that wasn't an article of clothing. Which happened to be a clothes hanger. I pointed it at the boy as he pulled the window open and drifted inside my room. "How can you see me? Why do you believe? You look as old as I do!" I shuffled backwards, resting against the wall with the hanger still pointed at him. "Who are you, how are you doing that floating...thing, why do you know my name, and how do you want to be escorted to the looney bin?!" I started to shout, wanting to alert my mother and sister downstairs. He rushed forward and clamped his hand over my mouth. An icy, freezing hand. I tried to scream through his hand, but no sound could come out. "My name is Jack Frost. I'm a Guardian. I swear, I'm not going to hurt you. On my life, I promise. So, stop freaking out!" I started to calm down, moving his hand off my face, not able to take my brown orbs off of his starry blue ones. Thinking of the name Jack Frost, I remembered my favorite Christmas special that I watched every year of the same name. He spread frost and snow across the land, and played pranks along the way. But, it was far from winter.

"Um, if you're Jack Frost, then why are you here in the middle of summer?" He smirked, landing on the floor and backing up a few steps. He picked up a frost covered wooden staff off the floor, which I had just noticed. I then analyzed him. He was wearing a blue hoodie and brown slacks, the hoodie frosted over and the slacks ripped and bound to his legs. Leaning on the staff, he watched me drop the clothes hanger and relax, sitting on the floor.

"Don't sit down. I'll explain everything. But, come with me. I'm bored sitting around here." He floated towards the open window, which the frost had melted off of, and faced me. "You may want to change though," he smiled, analyzing my outfit. I looked down at myself, realizing I was still in my pajamas, consisting of a tank top and yoga pants. I blushed and tried to cover myself. "Stop looking, pervert!" I squealed, grabbing some clothes, and rushing into my bathroom, then back out, in a plain T-shirt and denim shorts. He smirked at me. After throwing my pajamas on the floor, I looked at him, then to the window. "You've got to be kidding me. No way." He held his hand out to me, smiling mischievously. "Do you trust me?" I smirked. "Not with a thing," I laughed breathlessly, crossing my arms.

"Alright then, you leave me no choice..." He waved his hand around, and a large, beautiful snow flake formed, and floated forward until it hit me on the nose. A burst of what seemed like blue sparkles clouded my vision, and I was suddenly filled with an urge to be spontaneous and fun. I was normally a fun girl, but this feeling was absolutely overwhelming. I grinned and reached for his hand, and he pulled me towards the window. "You're going barefoot? I like it. Very cute." He smirked, floating out the window and pulling me out with him. I shouted, waving my legs frantically. The feeling of fun was gone, and I climbed up his arm and latched myself to his neck and chest. "Calm down! You're gonna make the wind drop us!" Jack was unused to close contact, especially from a girl his age. But, he patted my head, trying to calm me. I relaxed my grip, looking at him. "I promised, remember?" He wrapped his arm not holding the staff around me and held me closer. I sighed, calming.

"Where to,  Zoe?" I pondered for a moment, remembering the pool. "Well, I was going to go to the pool later." He laughed, shaking his head. "Forget the pool. You want a pond." As soon as he finished his suggestion, a chilly breeze blew, rocketing us both towards the forest at the end of the street. I tightened my grip, burying my head in his chest, but I still laughed with him from the rush of flying. Minutes later, we were sitting on the bank of a pond in a clearing in the forest, one I had never seen before. "I come here every now and then to think," Jack said, motioning towards the clearing.

"Okay, Jack. We're here. So, how do you know my name?" I questioned, once again gazing in those pool blue eye of his. "Well, I was getting a little bored bringing snow to the other side of the planet, so I decided to take a short break and come over to this side. When I was flying around a few nights ago, I saw you running around catching fireflies and playing with sparklers." He scratched his head and seemed to blush a bit continuing. "You seemed like fun, so I decided to stick around and watch you for a few days. It's the closest I can get to hanging out with people who look my age." He laughed nervously, then gave a toothy grin.

"Okay, so now I know why you know my name. I'm not gonna ask about the powers, that'll just confuse the crap outta me. But, why exactly did you decide to pick me to 'hang out' with?" I watched as Jack stood and walked to the water's edge. Taking his staff, he dipped the end of it into the water. Where it touched, a layer of ice raced over the water, freezing the pond over. I looked in awe and wonder, my eyes sparkling with excitement. He looked back at me over his shoulder, smiling.

"Like I said, you seem fun. And, I'm all about fun. Heck, I'm the Guardian of Fun! By the way..." He stepped onto the ice and slid around the surface with the balance and grace of a professional ice skater. "You dance great, Zoe. Very fun to watch," He smirked, watching me as I walked towards the ice. Stepping on the frozen water was sweet relief to my bare feet in the hot, humid summer weather. I tried to slide forward gracefully like Jack did, but I immediately fell forward and face planted. "Woah, there! Zoe, are you okay?" He tried to keep a straight face as he slid over to me, but he couldn't help but laugh as he helped me up. "Sorry for laughing, but that was real funny." I smirked, pushing him, which caused him to slip and fall over. I laughed and slid to the other side of the pond as the thunder of a summer rainstorm boomed in the distance. Lightning flashed as Jack stood back up, rolling his hands around each other until a perfect snow ball lay in them. He laughed, hurling the snowball at me. I went to dodge, but the ice kept me from moving right, and it hit me square in the face. "That's dirty pool!" I cried, trying to regain my balance. He snickered, jumping up and flying around the edge of the pond, laying down tons of snowballs. "Alright, if you wanna play, I'm game!" I yelled, going for the nearest snowball and chucking it towards his leg as he landed on the surface of the pond again.

Hours went by, and after all the snowballs were finally gone, we both lay next to each other in the middle of the pond, laughing so hard that tears were coming from our eyes. I sat up and grabbed his hand, unable to stop giggling. "Jack Frost, that was the most fun I've had in ages! Thank you so much. Man, we gotta do this again sometime!" I collapsed besides him, going through another burst of laughter. He squeezed my hand, his cool skin as relieving as the ice we laid on. "I never thought I'd have a snowball fight in the middle of summer!" I exclaimed, squeezing his hand back. He closed his eyes, relaxing and chuckling low, thinking of me dancing again. Why did he like it so much? That, he did not know. Maybe he'd visit again to find that out. Zoe was fun, and he wanted to stick around. "I told you, I'm the Guardian of Fun. This sort of stuff is my thing." I stuck my other hand in my pocket, realizing I had left my MP3 player in it. I pulled it out and sat up, smirking at Jack. "So, you like my dancing, eh?" I said, waving my headphones. He bolted up. "Yeah, I do!" He said, a little more enthusiastically than he had hoped. Thunder clapped overhead as I held one of the headphones out to him. "If you like it so much and think it's so fun, then dance with me!" I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him to his feet. He scratched his head, watching me put in the other headphone. I turned the music on, and a fast paced beat flowed through the ear buds. I grabbed both of Jack's hands and moved them back and forth, spinning and twirling on the ice. At first he was hesitant, not sure what to do, but after a few minutes, he got into it and began to move along, lifting us both off the ground and dancing above the ice. A lightning bolt flashed, and as rain started to fall after a few minutes, he lowered us both to the ice again. The rain that fell within a foot of Jack frosted and turned into snow, the flecks getting caught in my long hair, making me shiver slightly as the storm's breeze whipped it into my face. I looked at the time display on my MP3 player and realized that it was almost seven! "Jack, I gotta get home! They'll kill me if I'm gone any longer!" I cried, taking both of our headphones out and stuffing the player into my pocket. He frowned a bit and nodded. "If you say so," he mumbled, lifting me into his arms, taking up his staff, and flying up and out of the clearing.

We floated high above the trees, the mix of rain and snow making my teeth chatter. He held me closer, but knew he could not warm me. As he closed in on my house, he thought to himself, 'I do want to see her again. This is the first teenaged girl who has believed in me since.... I can't remember when!' He pulled up to my bedroom window and flew in, placing me on my bed. I fell back on the pillows, giggling and patting the spot next to me, motioning for him to sit down. "Whatcha thinkin' about, Jack?" I asked, smiling. " I was thinking, Zoe, that I'm gonna come back the same time next week, if that's okay with you." He smiled sheepishly. "Of course it is!" I sat up, wrapping my arms around his neck, giving him a good squeeze. He froze for a moment, then wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me close. I pulled back a bit and kissed his cheek, and his skin flushed even more pale than it already was. He made a dumb smile, then stood up. "Well, I'm gonna head out, go make some winter on the other hemisphere... But, I may come back later to chat. So, uh...." He backed towards the window, watching my luminous brown eyes. "That'd be great, Jack. I'd really love that," I yawned, tired from playing all day. Jack rested his gnarled staff against the window and floated back to me, pulling my blankets up over me. "I'll wait for you to get back, Jack... I'm just gonna take a nap first..." I rolled over to face the window, and looked up at Jack one more time before I closed my eyes, succumbing to sleep. He smiled at my relaxed figure, and moved a strand of my magenta hair out of my soft face, admiring my fair skin. He drifted back to the window, and taking up his staff, turned to look once again at my sleeping form. "Bye, Zoe. I'll be back before you know it."

And he meant it. 'This girl is almost as fun as me,' he thought, smiling as he flew high above the rooftops, leaving the smallest trail of snow in his wake, thinking of the frost he had put on my toes this morning while I had slept...