Autumna Lux

A week passes, and fall arrives. I become busy with turning the summer weather, so much so that Sophie heads to the back of my mind. At least, until I head to the Bennett house.

I don’t expect to see her or her brother there; I guess I didn’t think I’d see her ever again, like our meeting was once in a lifetime. In the front and backyard are trees and I flutter over to them. I spend a few minutes working at the tree; I can’t turn all the leaves to fall colors at once. It’s still too early in the season for that, and I’ll have to come back for the next few days before all the leaves turn to fall colors.

I’m about to move to the backyard to work on the tree out there when I notice Sophie in a window. She’s on the second floor of the house, and she’s smiling at me. I smile back and wave, and she returns the gesture. Then she gets distracted and she moves away from the window.

I fly to the backyard, and as I’m finishing with the tree back there, a voice rings through the area.

“You know Sophie?”

I turn around and see a boy about my age. He’s pale and has white hair, and he’s wearing a blue hoodie. Looking closer, I see there’s frost forming on it, mostly near his head and wrists. He’s leaning on a weirdly-shaped staff.

I glance at the house and back at him.

“Well, I mean, kind of. I only met her a few days ago, and she’s the only person that can see me.”

The boy gives me a small smile, like he remembers something important to him. Then it turns to a look of curiosity and mischief.

“So what’s your name?”

“Autumna Lux. But just call me Autumn.”

He nods.

“Jack Frost,” he says.

The name sounds familiar; over the years I’ve heard about him, like I’ve heard about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. I had a sense that they’re real, but that I wouldn’t ever cross paths with them.
“You’re the infamous winter spirit.”

“So you’ve heard of me,” he says, a grin spreading across his face. He takes a few steps towards me and I notice that frost spreads wherever he steps.

“I have. I hear you like to make trouble, especially in spring.”

He laughs.

“What? I just like to have a little fun.”

His smile is contagious and I find myself grinning.

“I should be getting back to work. It’s been a pleasure,” I tell him. I take off a second later and continue on through the neighborhood.

I notice a slight chill in the air as I flutter from tree to tree, and I notice Jack hovering around me. He’s watching me work and I can tell he’s curious about what I’m doing.

“I’m turning the leaves to fall colors,” I explain. “But they’re not gonna turn all at once, so I’ll have to come back and repeat the process.”

I decide to show him and pick up a stray leaf off the ground. I hold it in my hand and focus, watching it turn from a bright green to an orange color. Smiling, I place it in the soft autumn breeze and watch as it flies around us.

“So you’re an autumn fairy,” he puts it together. I nod.

“I think the name and fairy wings really give it away.”

He chuckles. I continue on with my work and Jack follows closely behind me. We spend a good chunk of the day like that, until around sunset when we both fly over to the lake. I can’t tell what it is about Jack but I feel like there’s a special connection there. It won’t leave me alone, and it lingers in the back of my mind. It bothers me that I can’t place it, but I also don’t care enough to figure out what it is. Not now, anyway.

“This feels good,” I tell him.

“What does?”

“Just...this. Having a friend, someone that’s like me, someone that understands.”

He smiles and nods.

“Yeah, it does feel good.”

We don’t need to clarify; we’re both talking about the feeling of being alone. Both of us are magical unaging teen spirits, and we’ve spent centuries travelling the world by ourselves, with no one to see us. Having access to one another feels like a relief. We both have someone that understands.

I guess there’s another reason why we get along so well: we’re both cold season spirits. After summer, autumn transitions into winter. The world begins to chill and change, preparing for the following season. Our seasons go hand in hand.

Jack pulls me out of my thoughts when he breaks the silence.

“Why don’t we have some fun?”

I see a kind of spark in his blue eyes, and I can’t say no to him.

“What did you have in mind?”

He doesn’t answer me and instead takes my hand, holding on tight as the wind takes us up in the air. I’m a little shocked by how cold his skin is; my skin’s cold too, but not nearly as much as his.

I keep a tight grip on his hand and lean in close to him, my wings instinctively shutting. They’re strong, but with how fast we’re flying, I’d like to be sure.

Jack flies us to different houses, waking up Jamie, Sophie, and their friends. He instructs them to get their sleds and meet him on Main Street. With each house we visited, Jack only had to tell the kids that I exist for them to see me.

Then, just as quickly as we visited the children, we flew off again. Jack stops and lets go of my hand when we arrive at Main Street. By now the moon is rising in the sky and the air becomes chilly. I pull my shirt closer to block out the cold.

I flutter for a moment as he creates a layer of snow over the street, landing when he flies back to my side. As I land, my boots slip on the ice and I fall backwards. I expect to land on my back, but I never do. I can feel arms holding me up and I look up to see Jack. His face is closer than I expect, and once he makes sure I’m standing he leans back.

“Thanks for catching me.”

“Of course.”

I smile at him, and I see a hint of one on his face too. Then the kids arrive and we turn our attention to them. Sophie runs over to me, and her older brother, Jamie, heads over to Jack. They chat just like old friends. Meanwhile Sophie tugged on my hand and made conversation with me.

“I love your wings!”

“Oh, thank you!” I glance back at my wings and smile a bit. Knowing that someone else can see me and appreciate these things about myself, it makes me feel good.

“Are you gonna go sledding too?”

I look at her and I don’t know how to answer.

“Do you want me to?”

“Yeah! It’ll be fun!”

“Yeah, Autumn, it’ll be fun!” Jack speaks up.

“I don’t know—”

“Oh, come on. I’ll be right beside you the whole time.”

I look at Jack and back at Sophie. She looks at me with pleading eyes, and the other kids encourage me. I give in.

“Alright, but I’m gonna need a sled.”

Jack immediately goes to work and within seconds, there’s an ice sled in front of me. I thank him and get on.

Jack creates a gust of wind and we all start off down the street. As he promised, Jack stays next to me as he guides all of us and our sleds. We reach the end of the street, and he creates more snow for us to sled on. The kids veer towards the path and Jack guides me along.

I have to admit, I’m glad they convinced me to sled with them.

I look up at Jack and grin and he grins back. The kids call his name and he looks up, creating more snow with a quick wave of his hand. On instinct I fly up and the sled Jack made me for veers off the path. Jack and I fly after the kids and he glances over at me.

“Are you alright?”

“Never better! Why?”

“You flew off of the sled back there—I thought you got scared.”

“I’m fine, it was just instinct.”

We follow the kids until they start to slow down and eventually stop. We land and I make sure not to slip this time. Jack stays by my side and nudges me gently.

“So how did you like your first time sledding?”

“It was amazing, Jack. Thanks for having fun with me.”

I pull him into a hug, and after a moment he hugs back.

“Of course. It’s what I’m the guardian of, after all.”

“The what?” I ask, pulling away. There’s that word again: guardian. Sophie mentioned it when we first met.

“Guardian?”

“What does that mean? When Sophie saw me she asked if I was a guardian.”

He smiles a bit.

“You don’t know who the guardians are?’

I shake my head.

“Guardians protect the children of the world and certain traits of childhood. I’m the guardian of fun.”

I nod.

“How did you know that you’re a guardian?”

“The man in the moon chose me to be one.”

“The man in the moon?”

“You know about the man in the moon, right?”

I pause and think about how much I know about these things. The answer is: next to nothing.

“I guess I didn’t until now. Why don’t you teach me about him, and the guardians?”

I smile at him and he smiles back.

“I think that’s a good idea.”