Frost Bites

“Elfish! Hear me! Understand me! Believe me!” Jack’s voice cut through the endless night.
“Nope, that’s not going to do it,” an elf wearing a cute pointy red hat said in a squeaky voice, shaking his small head, “they are naïve, not stupid.”
“What do you want me to say?” Jack growled furiously at Jerry, the elf, “Hello little fellows?!”
“Pish pash,” he did a hand gesture to ask him to calm down, “we need to hit the point, like politicians.”
“then get me a bull’s eye,” Jack grumbled, “at least then, I actually have a point to hit!”
“What did I tell you?” he raised his brow, “wait, did I tell you?”
“Tell me what?!” he roared, he could no longer stand Jerry’s useless suspense.
“I see, I did not tell you…” he then put on a grin so evil, you can’t imagine it on an elf, “I’ve heard the elves’ complain.”
“Their complain?” Jack started to grin too, “I can work something out of that… First, tell me…” 

Mean while, somewhere in Santa’s workshop… 

“Oh, Johnathan,” a fat man in red called out to his best assistant, “I am worried, I felt the presence of naughtiness.”
“Santa,” Johnathan brought a cup of hot chocolate with marsh mellow to Santa, “don’t worry, all will be fine. Have some faith in this magical night that you created.”
“Maybe you are right,” Santa giggled, “since when had I turn into such an old man?”
“Please don’t say so,” Johnathan bowed, and somewhat nervous, he asked carefully, “are you sure I can join you in the sleigh tomorrow?”
“Oh yes!” both their eyes brightened in joy, “I honor my words.”
“Thank you, Santa,” there’s so much happiness in Johnathan’s heart, he felt like hugging Santa.
“Now, you should go rest,” Santa moved his thick brows playfully, and he said, “tomorrow is going to be very fun.”
“Yes,” Johnathan bowed to Santa, “but first I’m going to the stable.”
“To feed the reindeers?” Santa took a sip from his hot chocolate, and Johnathan nodded.
“Remember to groom them too,” the old man smiled with red cheeks, “tomorrow is their big day.”
“I understand.” Johnathan left with a smile, he loved working for Santa; Santa is such a great master. 

After grooming the reindeers, it’s already breaking dawn; Johnathan yawned and collapse on his bed, without checking on the other elves. Suddenly, a vigorous shake woke Johnathan, its Elisha, his best friend.
“What is it?” Johnathan asked gently.
“We have to go,” she pulled him up, and said quickly “the elves are leaving soon! If we don’t go now, we will not catch up with them!”
“Where to?” Johnathan frowned, “we have to stay here until Santa comes back from around the world, and he is not even out yet. Not to mention that he allowed me to join him in his sleigh this year.”
“What?” she asked, still running, “he let you do that?”
“Yes,” he nodded, running along with Elisha, “where are we running to anyway?”
“The other elves decided to…” 

“Great morning my beloved Elfish,” Jack Frost that’s standing in the middle of the stage said with a exaggerated smile on his face.
“Jack?” Johnathan is starting to be dubious of the incident; he never had a good feeling with him.
“I see that everyone is here,” still smiling horridly. Suddenly he saw Johnathan, so he approached him and said in a lowered voice, “Oh, you came too? What’s your name again? Oh right, Santa’s faithful dog.”
“Oh, was that supposed to be an insult? You would have to do better than that, ice head. And, now that I saw you,” Johnathan took a step back, “I’m not sure I’m going to stick around anymore.”
“Then go away, I understand that my presence is too great for you.” Jack dared Johnathan.
“My pleasure, but not before I get to the bottom of this, quick. Your presence disgusts me,” Johnathan laid his firm glare on Jack’s face.

Then, all of a sudden, the sound of bells came chiming towards them. Johnathan hastily turned to the source of the sound, and gasped on horror. It’s the reindeers, and Santa is nowhere to be seen!
“Elfish!” Jack called out to the elves, “come, let us ride the reindeers to South Pole, and start our very own workshop! Oh, and you, you can come too, if you want. I’m sure I’ll find you a suitable job in the toilet or… somewhere else.”
“Hey!” Elisha wanted to defend her friend, but as the sleigh came near, she stunned.
All of the elves rushed anxiously to the sleigh, some had rid it only once, while most had never seen it, for it is a magical and majestic sleigh. 
“Come on,” Elisha pulled on Johnathan’s hand, “Santa is not worth our loyalty, though Jack is not much better, but it is a change!”
“What do you mean by Santa do not worth our loyalty?” Johnathan angrily swing lose of Elisha’s grip, “he is our one and only master!”
“We don’t have more time to waste,” she scowled at him, “are you coming or staying?”
“Staying, definitely,” he crossed his arms in front of his chest, “but I wish you won’t go, because Santa can never be replaced by that lunatic.”
“Fine,” she turned away from him and stomped straight to the sleigh. 

The moment she turned her back towards Johnathan, he felt his heart drop. He thought that she would understand, he thought that she is like him, with the same thoughts and same dream. But maybe he thought wrong, too wrong. Suddenly, an old man’s shout came to his ear, “What is happening?!”
But Johnathan can’t say anything, he felt as if he had failed his master. He left his stare on Elisha’s face; she just got on the sleigh right before it took off. He can’t help but wonder what Jack Frost told them. Then he saw a glint of annoyance between Elisha’s brows. Before his mind could get things straight, Elisha has already climbed to the edge of the sleigh, after taking a deep breath; she slipped her foot off the edge and jumped off the sleigh. Seeing that, Johnathan quickly ran to her with all that he had and at the nick of time, she is in his arms.

“Are you all right?” Johnathan asked worriedly.
“Sprained an ankle or two,” she looked up at Johnathan, and thought that this might be the worst decision in her life.
“Thank you, it meant a lot to me,” he stood her up, smiling encouragingly to her, knowing that it was a hard decision for her to make. And she smiled back, who knows, something good might come out from all this.

By the mean time, Santa knelt on the snow filled ground and shouted to the sleigh, wishing for it to come back.
“Nho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho!” his voice radiated, to the ears of a 10 year old girl, standing on a slope.
*by Darcastle 22-1-11 23:33

Five Candles

Every single person in the room is looking at me, horrified. I glance through every single faces in the room and landed my sight on the little crying baby in my mother’s arm. I took a deep breath very slowly then angrily stomped pass the fallen Christmas tree, and went straight to the attic. I heard furious shouts from behind but I ignored them, for they had let me down in the past months. I sat alone in the boxes of junks and dust. 

Back then, whenever I am unhappy, I will sit here in the attic, just to make mom and dad worry, they will always come after me, and try to make it up for me. But all has changed, they don’t care if their daughter is being gulfed up by the thick dust, they don’t care if their daughter is having a mental break down, not anymore. And I don’t blame them; it’s only because of the little brat downstairs that is making all the noise. I don’t care if I’d break the tree, because it is the little brat that drove me into it. The evil little monster made me destroy the one day that I loved the most.

I laid my back to the floor, and thought, I used to be the apple in their eye, why is it any different now? I hugged my legs together and tried to stop the tears from falling. Then I slowly fell asleep…
“Are you sure we shouldn’t go get her?” mom said.
“I don’t know, honey,” I heard a sigh, “we had been pampering her all these years, I think it’s time for her to learn a lesson.”
“But it’s Christmas,” mom exclaimed, “it’s her favorite day of the year.”
“I know, I know,” dad sounds defeated, “but don’t you remember how much effort did we put on the tree? And we made it just for her! I can’t allow her to take things for granted anymore!”
“Quiet, quiet,” mom whispered, but the words are still clear to me, “she might hear you, she is feeling bad enough, no need to worsen her feelings.”
“Sorry,” Dad lowered down his voice, “I really don’t know what to do anymore… how are we going to teach her to be…”
Then I heard cries, its Mabel… again…
“We’ll have to just make sure we don’t screw up on this one…” mom said and they left.

Am I that bad? Are they trying to imply that I’m screwed up? I am so angry and frustrated, that I don’t think that I had felt this before. I want to smash something. I NEED to destroy something! I jumped up on my feet and started to push down and hit everything in sight. I hate Mabel, I hate dad, I hate mom, I hate the tree, and I hate every single thing in the world!! Then a voice in my head said, then why don’t you hate yourself? I shouted back to it, “because everyone else is wrong and only I am right!”
“Are you sure? Because all I can see is you making everyone unhappy. Are you sure that is right?”
“I’m not going to reply to that because I know that you are not real!” I sat down angrily on the floor, grumbling to the voice that I claimed that do not exist. And magically, it did not speak anymore.
“I am really going crazy…” I mumbled to myself after calming myself down. 

      I looked around and wondered why mom and dad didn’t come up after hearing the sound of the wreckage. Maybe I am really too pampered… but even so, it’s still their fault. I did not ask to be pampered and become a spoilt brat… I sighed. Even me, myself could not accept that excuse… how I wish I can turn back time and try to stop Mabel from being gave birth… then none of this is going to happen. Suddenly, I saw a pack of candles that fell off from one of the boxes that I pushed down. I picked it up and turned to its back.    

                 1.Light up the candle             2.Make a wish

     Just take these simple steps, and your dream will come true.
      *this product is not refundable

Thinking that it’s probably a fraud, I opened its cover. There’s 5 candles inside, I lighted the first one and wished for the tree to be beautiful again. Then, I lighted the second candle and wished that mom and dad won’t think that I’m a brat anymore. Smirking at myself, I lighted the third candle and I said this one out loud because I know I sound foolish enough to make myself laugh. I said, “I wish I can meet Santa in north pole.” I actually thought that it might actually come true for a second but, just… 

“What…?” I was filled with fear as the attic started to move. I think that there might be an earthquake. I quickly hid under the dust filled desk with the pack of candles in my hands. I prayed that no one would get hurt so hard that I hadn’t realized that the quake is over. Then, I felt a ray of sunlight shining at my face. It’s morning already? Then I thought to myself sorrowfully, mom and dad did not even care to come and look if I’m injured… I have really done it this time. I carefully opened the attic door, careful not to make a scene. I wouldn’t want mom and dad yelling at me as the first thing in the Christmas morning… I looked out of the window at the end of the hallway. What? It’s snowing already? Aw… I missed it… I crept to my room discreetly. I swiftly worn my winter attire and ran downstairs. I giggled to myself as I made it out of the door without anyone noticing. I must be good; none of them realized that I am gone. 

The lavender colored pack of candles is still in my pocket because I have a hunch that I should stick with it for whatever reason… then I looked up to see if my neighbors are already having fun with the snow, but… WHERE IS EVERYBODY?! I ran to my right up a small slope, and I almost faint on the spot. The whole neighborhood is gone! My house stood alone in the middle of the snow. Frightfully, I ran back home to inform mom and dad that the neighborhood shifted… oh my god, that sounded like nonsense… they will just have to believe me! The search in my house almost killed me with heart attack, because I couldn’t find mom and dad or even the little devil anywhere! Everyone in the neighborhood, even my family, left? Leaving me behind? So… even my neighbors hate me? I walked out of my house thinking that it won’t do me much good to stay there alone. I have to find them, and take REVENGE. Nah, just joking on that… I don’t even think that I am going to look for them; I will find myself food and water, on my own. I am 10 after all, old enough to take care of myself.

I started walking towards north, the direction of the needle in the compass in my watch points to. And I wondered why dad bought me a military grade watch, they must have been planning for this mass moving for a long while… those cunning adults… suddenly, I saw not far ahead, a fat old man in red kneeling in the middle of the snow shouting, “NHO! HO! HO! HO! HO~” I looked up to the sky of which he is screaming at, and saw a sleigh with 3 pairs of reindeers pulling it, flying into the endless sky.  
*By darcastle 15.1.11  23.23pm

Pwned

‘I walked out of your house, without forgetting to keep my grace, and shut the door gently right behind of me. Sorry. I saw that word in your eyes. But I can’t help but wonder if it’s just me trying to console myself. The promise that you made… I don’t even know if it’s real. I was foolish enough to believe even though I had only heard it from a distant voice in a dream. I was so convinced that it was really you… and now I know.’ 

Zoe looked down at Spots that is now sitting obediently by her legs. She mumbled to the dog, “Do you think that she is still there?” Spots rested on his paws, while giving out a short groan, implying that they might need to stay there for a while. “What do you think that they are doing this instance? Argh, why am I caring…? Wait! Why should I not care? After all we are the ones that prepared the stuffs to invite him home, isn’t it?” she looked at Spots anxiously. Spot looked to a side with grieve, thinking, ‘even I can understand that Master is not coming back to us, why can’t Master Zoe just accept it?’ 

“Maybe I should just let go…” she covered her face with her palms, “I should just accept that he is not coming back. It’s not like he promised me that he’ll come back to me…” Spots shot up alertly.
“No, that doesn’t count, it was a dream,” Zoe told Spots, and he barked several times at her. And she told him sluggishly, “It doesn’t matter even with you being there, I was unconscious, and so it doesn’t count.” Spots slid back to his previous position, feeling discouraged. She sighed and started to recall the scene just now. 

The both of them jumped out from their hiding place to surprise Christ, but ended up having a shock, as there’s another woman in his arms. Spots furiously barked at that women while Zoe stood there, staring at point blank. Looking annoyed, the woman said something to Christ but Zoe can’t hear her words as her sight is now glued to Christ’s face. She saw his mouth moved but she still can’t hear anything. With her conscious screaming fiercely in her mind, she forced out an exaggerated smile and said, “So you have a girlfriend now! Should have told me earlier, I would know what to do!” then she winked at him and called out to Spots, “Come here boy, let’s leave the house to the both of them!” Then she walked past the couple and through the doorway. She swallowed down the lump in her throat as she closed the door gently. 

 Flashing back to that moment made the lump come back. “Let it out,” a voice that she’s very familiar with said. She looked up and said, “Let what out?” while smiling weakly to Jack. He sat down beside her and pulled her to him, “oh come on, even passersby can see that you are about to cry.”
“No,” she said stubbornly, “I will not be a cry baby…” but her voice is already trembling.
“Let it go,” he said with a soft tone, “I am here for you.”
“but it’s so humiliating…” the first drop of tear had already fallen…
“It’s fine…” he stroked her hair gently, “I am used to it.”
Then she gave out her best cry, not the soft and silent ones, but those who are loud and destructive. Unlike normal humans, Jack did not run, but he patiently held her firmly in his arms, comforting her without words. 

She went on crying until twilight crept upon them.
“Thank you,” they shifted apart slightly as she sat up straight, “that felt great.”
“Works like a charm,” he smiled widely while wiping off her tears by her cheek, “was it for him?”
She hesitated. But Spots answered for her by barking once to Jack.
“Good boy,” Jack patted Spots head and said, “It’s ok if you don’t want to tell me the story.”
“Thanks,” she sighed in relieve.
“So, will you forgive him if he apologizes to you?” Jack stroked Spots that is sitting beside him.
“Maybe… but what is there to be sorry about?” She sniffed.
“For breaking your heart?” he shrugged, “what if he apologizes over and over again?”
“Apologies are only necessary to be heard once, otherwise it will be nothing but a meaningless word.”