Snow Angels in the Dead of the Night (charlie)

[Rachel Kells]

It was snowing! Oh my gosh it was snowing! Rachel ran outside(after of course pulling her coat on and hats and mittens and gloves) where she stuck her tongue out and stared up at the world. Life was certainly weird here and she was meeting a lot of interesting people but she forgot about all of that! It was snowing! She wasn't sure if she was really supposed to be out right now but it was snowing and she wanted snow so badly! Like real snow, snow where she could make angels and snowmen and snowman angels! Rachel's face was painted with a smile as she spun in the circle.

Her rabbit hoodie bounced as she spun and let out a little laugh. "The snow had come finally!" Rachel stopped and looked around making sure there wasn't anyone there. She wouldn't want to get caught! There was just too much snow for her to be caught, even if it was at 10 o'clock at night.

Grinning Rachel looked around once more before she fell back into the snow, just laying there looking up at the stars.They sure were pretty tonight. Rachel slowly began to make a snow angel, thinking how she and her dad used to do this on the first snow. She missed him.

Rachel shook her head quietly, her face growing sad. She didn't want to think about her dad. Instead she would think about how wonderful the snow fairies were to bring this snow. She needed it on a night where she couldn't sleep.

[Charlotte Greene]

Oh, there had been someone else there.. Only they blended in extremely well with the surrounding snow and would have been nearly invisible in the Vermont evening light.. Charlie had watched what looked like a very young girl sprint out into the courtyard, stare at the sky, then fall back into the snow.. She'd let out a soft chuckle to herself from her position leaned back against a snow-covered tree and pondered for a moment whether she should alert the girl to her presence..

Eventually curiosity won out, and with a sigh she headed over, her feet making muffled crunchy noises as she walked out across the fresh snow. When she got to the girl, though, she saw a face not of childish bliss, but of childish sorrow. The pixie, clothed only in a pair of white sweatpants and a white hoodie (white sneakers as well, of course) and her wings, took a knee a few feet away from the girl..

"Are you okay? You looked so happy and.. now you don't? What's wrong? Please tell me how I can help?" Something about a child that wasn't smiling was like a telekinetic grabbing hold of Charlie's stomach and twisting.. Sure, there was probably only four or five years difference between Charlie and this girl, but so much happened in those few years and this girl was so small and helpless and.. Charlie just wanted to pick her up and hug everything better. Except that a hug from a stranger at 10pm in a courtyard of a meta school might be a little strange.. or creepy.. or come off as pedo-tastic.... So best to avoid it for now, maybe.

Yeah.. First make sure you don't freak out the poor girl, then see if you can help.. and if hugs helped, offer hugs. Or company.. or a shoulder to cry on.. or.. um.. food? All Charlie had wanted when she was that age was her uncle James... but he'd been fighting cancer at that point, if her guess was close on the girl's age. He'd been dying or dead... and all she'd wanted was him. So maybe she couldn't help.. but maybe just wanting to help would help? Hell, she was already here.. had already made contact. She was trying regardless.

[Rachel Kells]

Rachel was just fine laying in the snow. She was happy that she could just be out of her dorm room, out of the fact that she was different. In the past she had thought Meta's were interesting, and amazing, and awesome. Now, now she was a freak. Well that was what her dad called her. Her dad called her a freak and blasphemous and horrible.Maybe he hadn't said it directly, maybe he hadn't ever told her those things, but it was the look in his eyes, the tone of voice and the fact that every time she tried to hug him he would flinch.

What happened to her being Daddy's little girl? Being the one who he loved unconditionally, the one who could make him smile no matter what? She missed him, missed his hugs, his dancing, and most importantly how his heart healed when he was with her. She missed how he was hers. With her mom gone and her dad being funny it was all she could do not to cry. She was all alone now. Sitting up Rachel pulled her arms around her knees letting her hair fall into her face, not even thinking there was another around, it was much too late for that right?

Rachel barely noticed when someone approached her. She stifled the tears that were beginning to clog her eyes and shook her head. "I'm fine." There wasn't supposed to be anyone here! She wasn't supposed to be found! Besides, she was still hiding her head, she was embarrassed after all. People weren't supposed to be here. Pouting Rachel looked up at the girl who had found her. "You were spy..." Rachel held off on her words when her eyes caught the wings on the mysterious girl's back. "You have wings! Are you...?" She suddenly smiled up at the girl scrambling to her feet. "You are a snow fairy aren't you!" It might sound absurd to anyone else but who would show up on a snow night with wings!? The girl had to be a snow fairy! She had to!

Rachel suddenly smiled and inched closer before giving a small bow to the person standing near. "It is a pleasure to meet you." There, her manners were showing. Her daddy always said to use her manners. "Were you sent to deliver the snow?" At this point it didn't matter what the other was. She was here and she had wings, big, beautiful wings. Rachel really wanted to touch them. It was if she were a giant butterfly. Rachel was happy to have met this person. "I thank you for your services!"

[Charlotte Greene]

From a spy to a snow fairy.. in the blink of a tiny preteen eye. "I, yes I hav--" .. "A what?" ... "Uh.. it's.. a pleasure to meet you too? Um.." Oh boy.

Charlie just slumped slightly, then held out her hand to shake Rachel's. "Okay.. I don't wanna make you sad so I'm just gonna get this all out at once." She took in a deep breath and then blurted out, "My name is Charlie, yes I have wings, no, I'm so sorry but I'm not a fairy at all, I was sent to Hammel because I'm a meta just like you and.. really you don't need to thank me. I didn't do anything."

Her face held a half-smile ..thing.. that was hopeful but expecting the little girl to be mad at her or start crying again.. "But I like the snow, too? And.. Snow angels should always come in pairs, right? So if you want, we can make more together.. To, uh.. to thank the real snow fairies? Like a tribute to them.."

Guh, Charlie really didn't want to be the reason this girl went back to being sad. It would be like a punch to the gut or a gallon of water being dumped on her in this weather. Not pleasant.

"You like them? My wings?" Charlie would flutter them, the green semitransparent things glinting in the moonlight. "It makes my back hurt when I put them away for too long, so I usually have them out most of the time. You can touch them if you want.. They feel like really big butterfly wings.. but without the powdery stuff." Yeah, Charlie wondered why there was a little girl running around making snow angels in the courtyard at some time after 10pm.. and yeah, she wondered why said little girl was sad before.. but she was more concerned with keeping her from being sad now than either of those things. If she could keep the girl happy, she could figure out the rest in due time.

[Rachel Kells]

Rachel smiled, wondering why the girl looked so confused. At the pleasure Rachel curtsied again and tilted her head looking at the fairy. “What is the fairy world like?? Its better then here right?” Rachel would do anything to get away right now.

Rachel smiled at the extended hand and took it with a grin. She was a bit disappointed that the girl wasn’t a fairy princess, but she supposed that the wings were cool enough on their own. With a sugar sweet smile Rachel shook the girls hand. “Charlie is a lovely name, your wings are super duper pretty and I do need to thank you, its snowing and there is someone else outside who appreciates the snow just as much as I do!”

Why would Rachel be mad? Giggling the girl looked to the elder. “Snow angels should come in pairs. Most definitely!” She grinned as she looked at the wings. “A tribute to the fairies?” Rachel gave a huge grin and clapper her hands together her hood bouncing on her back. “That’s perfect!” Oh my goodness who was this amazing person? If she wasn’t a snow fairy she had to be a princess, or or magical girl! She was certainly special.

Rachel really appreciated the thought that this girl was putting into talking to her. A lot of the students here weren’t in the most cheery mood. She was happy to have someone to talk with.

Rachel nodded excitedly at the prospect of touching the wings. She gingerly advanced looking up at the girl. “They are amazing, are you sure I can touch them?” Rachel hesitantly waited for the approval before she smiled over at the girl. “Butterfly wings?” Grinning she suddenly nodded. “I can talk to butterflies, and control them! They have a lot to talk about for being such small creatures.” Rachel was now focused on the wings, looking at them and smiling.

[Charlotte Greene]

Crisis.. apparently averted? At least this girl was cute.. and seemed to be really good-natured. She wasn't creeped out or sad or.. well, aside from looking not-so-happy a moment ago, Charlie couldn't find.. any faults with her. At all. This girl was adorable, had grazy manners, like the snow and the cold, had a hoodie on that was almost as adorable as she was, and she seemed to drop being sad so quickly...

"Yeah, you can touch them. It's okay, I promise." She leaned down and turned slightly to the side, bringing her wing right before Rachel. "I can feel them.. but not like skin.. Kinda like you can feel your teeth or.. fingernails, ya know? They give me some problems but.. Overall I like them quite a lot." Everybody had problems.. Charlie's were.. liveable, at least.

"So where should we make snow angels?" Once Rachel had gotten her wing fix, the girl would get to watch them deflate slightly, then shrink and seem to crinkle... and in a few moments they would be gone.. Like the opposite of what happens when a butterfly crawls out of it's chrysalis for the first time. Charlie stood normally without wings.. slits cut into her shirt and hoodie now making it a bit drafty, but still warm enough for her to be out in the cold.

"I think.. Hm. --Over here!" She pointed over near the tree she'd been standing against. "C'mon!" When she got nearby, she'd raise a hand to stop Rachel, then stard shuffling her feet... and keep shuffling as she walked around.... and Rachel might realize that she was making a heart in the snow. A big one.. that Charlie and Rachel would both fit in. "For a proper tribute! --By the way, what's your name? And how old are you?"

[Rachel Kells]

Rachel smiled over at the winged girl. In her head this girl was a fairy princess, someone who could whisk her away to a different dimension; somewhere she could have a different life. She would be happy enough to deliver the snow, or make the flowers bloom. Anything that would get her away from here was something Rachel was interested in. Her smile hid her thoughts and this Charlie girl was pretty, not just her wings.

Rachel’s face lit up once she got verbal confirmation that she could touch the wings and she gently grazed her fingers across them, smiling at the texture. “Thank you for this.” Most of the time Rachel wasn’t able to touch her butterfly friends, they were more important to her and she didn’t want to hurt them. “They are beautiful.” That was the complete truth and the look of utter amazement on Rachel’s face was a sure fire way to tell she was telling the truth.

Rachel’s eyes widened as the wings deflated, shrunk and crinkled back into the girl. It looked painful. “Doesn’t… doesn’t that hurt? I didn’t want to make you hurt.” Rachel wasn’t trying to be rude, she just didn’t want to cause hurt to the other girl. “Oh anywhere would be fine!” She smiled at the thought of making the snow angels. They would certainly be the best around.

Rachel happily followed the elder girl, content to smile and play. “All right!” Rachel surveyed the choice or snow area with a smile. It was a good enough spot, hopefully the fairies would be happy with their tribute. “Oh! I’m Rachel! I’m 11!” She grinned and gasped as she realized it was a heart. “What a beautiful heart!” It would service well in the tribute.

[Charlotte Greene]

Hurt? .. Oh, her wings, right. Charlie had paused and grinned to Rachel. "Oh, you didn't I promise! It doesn't really hurt to make them come and go.. It.. hm. Ya know when you've been sitting down too long and you get up and stretch and your muscles kinda feel like they're burning just a little, but it's not really painful and it actually feels good right after? ..That's kinda what it's like when they go back in. When they come out it.. feels like when you dive too deep in a pool and you think you might run out of breath, but then you get to the surface and you take in a deep breath. Like pressure going away, but kinda opposite?" Huh. She'd never really described what her wings felt like before.. It was way harder than one might think.. Especially keeping things in terms that an eleven year old could comprehend.

The point was that it didn't really hurt exactly, and even if it had, it wouldn't have been Rachel's fault. Yeah.. it did sting like hell for a moment when it seemed like they were pushing through her skin, but it was only for a moment and .. it was kinda like stretching in that it was a natural and good kind of discomfort.

Anyway, heart made, Charlie stepped to one side in her snow-heart, beckoning for Rachel to join her. "Now make sure you hop into the line of the heart.. and then, if you don't think you'll get hurt, jump back like this!" Charlie hopped backwards, her feet landing about two feet from the nearest edge of the heard and the rest of her off to one side of it, but definitely inside it. She craned her neck up and peered at the girl. "That way there's no footprints inside or touching and it stays as perfect as it can for the snow fairies, right?" Hopefully she wasn't speaking to Rachel like too much of a child.

Charlie main goal here, after all, was to make sure Rachel stayed cheery.. and since there weren't many preteens here, maybe someone that acted Rachel's age would help with that? Either way, she would beckon the girl forward and flop back into the snow, letting out a shiver as some of the powdery white stuff found it's way to the skin of her back via the slits in her hoodie and shirt. "These angels won't make themselves, after all, right?" And she started swooshing her arms up and down as she did the same with her legs.. grinning to herself. She actually hadn't done this in years. It was.. really nice, in a silly way. Hopefully Rachel actually enjoyed making snow angels and wasn't simply doing it because she was bored.