The True Story of Jack Frost

(This story is from Dream Works, Rise of the Guardians.)

1719, January

There was nothing but darkness.

I couldn't breathe or move. I felt as though I had only floated in nothingness.

But then I felt myself rise from the water, the ice cracking before I touched the surface. I was held up in the air, helpless.

As I opened my eyes, I realized I should be shivering, but I didn’t feel the cold. I gasped, breathing in the crisp air through my lungs. I felt panicked and alone.

I slowly took in my surroundings, like the full moon that stared down at me with its bright light. As its light fell over me, I suddenly felt the fear run away as if it was never there.

I was set down gently on my feet, the cracks in the ice which I appeared through had magically disappeared. I slipped as I felt strength returning to my legs.

I looked back up at the full moon. It was bright, the brightest I had ever seen it, although I wasn't sure if I had seen it before. I took a step forward, slipping farther on the ice. Trees as tall as the sky surrounded the frozen lake I was standing on. Everything was silent except my breathing. I could see my breath in the cold air. I took a few wobbly steps forward, closer to solid land.

My right foot bumped into a long and thin staff laying on the ice. I touched it with my toe, and frost covered it lightly. I picked it up with more strength then required, and it slipped from my fingers. Where it touched the ice, frost patterns appeared. I scrambled away from the swirls in the ice, tripping over my own feet and landing on my back.

I took a deep breath and sat up to gently touch the ice beside me. Wherever my fingers touched frost patterns appeared.

A smile broke out over my face as I looked at my reflection in the ice. My eyes were bright blue, and my hair was white and messy, slightly spiky on the top and the tips of my ears covered. I knew nothing about myself, not even my name. Why had I been taken out of a frozen lake? Who was I?

I stumbled over to trees on the edge of the lake, and I touched them with my staff. Frost spread up the bark. I did the same thing with the tree next to it, it too sharing the same result.

I laughed, and I ran across the ice, my staff trailing behind me, making frost cover the lake. Frost covered everything I touched.

Suddenly I felt the wind pick up and I was lifted up in the wind, above the tops of the trees. I had a moment to look at the full moo in the sky before I was suddenly released and I fell toward the ground, falling through a few branches in a tree below me before grabbing on to a thick branch with my arms and legs. I rubbed my elbow as I stood up on the branch. I chuckled and looked around. I heard faint dancing music in the distance and noticed a small town. I saw couples dancing by fires and children chasing large hunting dogs.

I wanted to go there and ask where I was. I felt the wind begin to lift me up, and I willed it to take me over the trees into town.

I landed on the edge of the small town, tripping over my feet and eventually falling over my head until I stood up and dusted myself off. My knuckles turned white from gripping my staff, but I continued walking toward the closet couple. “Good evening ma’am,” I said to a lady sitting next to a young man. She ignored me, not even having the decency to look in my direction. I walked around the town, saying hello to some, but they all ignored me.

I never stopped smiling as I looked around town. Most people were wearing pants and dresses, but all were wearing coats or shawls. Fires were placed every few yards, and I got my first look at the clothes I was wearing. I was wearing ankle-length pants tied at the bottom with a thin piece of rope like always. I had a dirty white shirt on and a brown, waist-length cloak, but I almost didn’t feel as though I needed it.

My bare feet and hands didn’t feel cold. A few kids ran by me, chasing a black puppy. A man walked past me. A little boy was running from a few of his friends and heading straight toward me.

I bent down to his height and paused until he was closer. “Excuse me? Do you know what this town is called? I’m lost and I don’t-” I was cut off as the little boy ran right through me. I gasped. I wheeled around and watched as he continued running from his friends as though he had never seen me.

But how? He walked right through me like a ghost. I didn’t even feel anything. A couple walked toward me and also walked right past me. As the people went by, I tried to talk to them but they all went through me, like I was a ghost.

That’s when it hit me. He never did. None of them saw me. That’s why I being ignored. They had no idea I was even here.

No one could see me or hear me or even feel me. I looked up at the moon. “Why?” I yelled out to him. “Why did you choose me? Why am I invisible?” In desperation I continued to ask people where I was. But every time my hand went through them like they were shadows. Every question I asked was ignored.

I looked back up at the moon and begged for answers. He never told me anything. All he ever told me was my name.

Jack Frost.

And that was all he ever told me. It was only the first night out of many where I would feel so alone.