Hearts Under Ice

by CS Patra

  “All right,” she said, disappointed that he wanted to hang up so soon. It was fun. She was so cold to him this morning, and now she wanted to talk. She had been acting like a baby all morning and needed to make up for it. “If you find out anything, just call me. You can use this number.”

  “Thanks. I hope we can both come to a decision soon,” he said. “You know, if you’re still not sure after three days, you don’t have to go through it.” There was another long pause before he added, “That blue color you have on your nails suits you.”

  “Yeah, I know. I’ll see you at work.” With that, she hung up. She felt a little guilty for her behavior and thought about calling back. He didn’t deserve that kind of answer. Still, something was keeping her from redialing. He’d brought up her nails once again, which was strange. That was a good sign that this poor man had never been on a date in his life. He didn’t know the best way to compliment a woman. She chuckled and looked down at her nails. It wasn’t her best job, and there was a little polish on the top of one finger, but at least he’d noticed them. That was more than what most people did. Her parents were used to seeing her change it up often, so this would be nothing new for them. Other people really didn’t focus on her.

  Staring down at her nails, her mind was swirling from the conversation. It was a good thing that her parents weren’t home, because she would never be able to explain this. They would notice this strange behavior and ask her all kinds of questions. She didn’t have the desire to explain this to them. Donnie wanted to keep this quiet, and it was best that she did, too. No one was going to believe her, anyway. At best, they’d try to pin this on her being interested in him or something. She knew that she didn’t feel that way.

  No, no, no, I do not feel that way towards my boss. We are just stuck in this weird situation. That’s all. Nothing is brewing between us, she thought. Wait, why am I trying to convince myself of this? No one’s even asked me about him! I don’t care how good he looks in those jeans! I’m not interested in that way!

  Leaning against the wall, she sighed. “Why am I thinking about how good he looks in jeans? Get ahold of yourself, O! He only noticed you because you’re the only one who ever listened to him!”

  You’re the only one who ever listened to him. She repeated that line in her head. It was sad, now that she thought about it. He probably had no close friends, not even anyone that lived out of state. Most of hers lived all over the world, and they all had families they had to take care of. Those that weren’t married were at least busy with their educations or jobs. One of them, Ana, was focusing on Women and Gender Studies over at the nearest university, and Olivia longed to join her there. She had no idea if they would study the same thing, but at least they could see each other on campus. During their free time, they could at least hang out, and that would be something. She couldn’t remember the last time she and Ana had spent any time together. Any time she wanted to go somewhere, Ana had to study or write a big paper. She had two more years left, and Olivia wanted to join her before she graduated. It would feel like they were back in high school again. They’d had a few classes together back then, and she did go to one class with her friend in college, but that was it. Ana had bigger dreams, and moved on before Olivia could make a decision. From that moment on, Olivia was alone.

  You could see another world before anyone else, she told herself. It’s crazy, but it may be the biggest thing that will ever happen in your life. What if all of this is successful? Something is going on, and someone is sending you a message. You should find out where it’s coming from.

  She looked down at the phone and wondered if she needed to call Donnie again. “I think I need a nap. This is too much to take in.”

  She dragged herself to her room, crawled into bed, and closed her eyes. She needed to get back into that frost world again. She needed to dream once more. She tried to picture everything from the previous worlds, and hoped to wake up with something new. Her mind felt heavy with worry as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter Eleven

  Donnie looked at his blueprints and the notes that Olivia had given him. There was no doubt that she was having such dreams for a reason. According to her, this was the first time she had dreamt about other worlds. She told him about dreams involving ponies, ghosts, and floating around in the sky, but those were normal. She’d expected to have dreams that were strange, but not with secret messages. He knew she had given him as much as possible, but it still wasn’t enough to find a strong connection. The only thing he could deduce was that someone was reaching out to her. He didn’t know why, but this person trusted Olivia. They knew that she could help. They saw something in her that he hadn’t found yet.

  “Oh, Olivia.” He mumbled, thinking about her. Somehow, Olivia always ended up in his head. He wanted to call her, but decided against it. Olivia had her own life, and it didn’t involve him. From the time she left the office, he was no longer her concern. The very least he could do was not bother her while she was at home.

  Still, it did not push the vision of her out of his mind. He drummed his fingers against his desk and thought about Olivia. She had been annoyed with him this morning, but opened up to him afterwards. It could have been because she wasn’t happy that he told her not to come in to work today. She wasn’t fired, but he could see why that would irritate her. No one liked to be taken out of his or her routine like that. More than that, he was thinking about Madeline Howard and what she had said. She was a traveler. She knew about other worlds. Even though he hadn’t seen her demonstrate anything, he believed her. Ever since he was young, he always suspected that Madeline wasn’t a typical old woman. She was kind, and helped him when he needed it, but she had some mysterious feel about her. He never asked her because he didn’t want to appear rude. He had asked Raymond about her, but his uncle had no idea. Like the rest of the world, Raymond assumed that she was just an old lady who lived by herself. She had nothing to hide from anyone. Donnie kept insisting that there was something off about her, but Raymond told him that it was his imagination.

  “Uncle Ray, don’t you see it?” Donnie kept saying. “I know people live by themselves, but I think there’s something else.”

  “She has cats, kiddo. A lot of people have cats.”

  “No, it’s more than that. You don’t think she’s a witch or something, do you?” Donnie asked. “I remember I used to think she could turn into a dragon when I was younger. But now that I know better, I still get a weird feeling about her.”

  “I don’t think she’s a bad person or anything. I doubt she’s a witch, and I definitely know she’s not a dragon,” Raymond said. “She’s an old lady that lives with her cats and is harmless. She made you that scarf for your last birthday. That’s all you need to know.”

  All of those things were true. Madeline did live with her cats, she was harmless, and she had made him that scarf. He still kept that in his room, and took it out when the days were cold. What Madeline never told him was that she knew more about other worlds than he did. She had always kept to herself, but made time for him, encouraged him to try new things, and had been a cheerleader when no one else was in his corner. The more he thought about her behavior in the past, the more it made sense. She knew what he was talking about because she had been through this before. She knew all the possibilities because she had seen them happen. That was the reason why she told him to seek out his dreams even if no one else did. That was why she stood in his corner and encouraged him from time to time. That’s why she gave him so much motivation. She had all the answers he was looking for.

  His phone began buzzing, so he took a quick break to look at the message. It was just Raymond, saying that he was back from his vacation in California, and to call if Donnie needed anything. He sent a text back to say that everything was fine. Deep down, he really wasn’t okay, because he had too many on his mind. He began to see why Olivia was so doubtful in the beginning, and also why no one else took him seriously.

&nb
sp; Olivia. This had to be harder for her, as she was dealing with such strange possibilities. She had to accept the impossible as reality. If he failed in any way, she could be trapped in another world forever. He didn’t want to lose her in that way. It would be terrible if the only compliment he had ever given her was that he liked her nails.

  That blue color you have on your nails suits you? That’s the best you could come up with? He rubbed his forehead. It’s a good thing no one else heard that. You couldn’t compliment her outfit or her intelligence, but you noticed her nails? Nice. Thanks to you, now she knows you like her nails and nothing else.

  That wasn’t true. He liked a lot of things about Olivia, but it was difficult to tell her anything. During the few days that she had been working at the lab, he spoke to her if he saw her around. They’d had their little lunch date, but that hadn’t gone the way he had expected it to. Olivia had thought he was coming on too strong because he had failed to get his words out correctly. He hadn’t forgiven himself for that yet. It was so obvious that it was the first time he had ever been on a date. In twenty-six years, that was the first time he and a girl had spent time together, and he’d made a mess out of himself somehow.

  Oh, but she didn’t call it a date. You should stop calling it a date. This was not a date! He was berating himself, even though there was no good in doing that. The damage was done, and Olivia was still talking to him. There was that silver lining. She might have been scared and confused, but at least she was turning to him for help. He didn’t have any answers yet, but he would eventually make up his mind. After all, Madeline needed to hear it from them in three days.

  “Get yourself together, Donnie. You’re nothing right now. The two of you have nothing. You only share this, and that’s all,” he declared to himself. It should have been enough to convince him. They really were nothing, and there was no telling if they would ever be anything. He did like Olivia, but only as a friend. As far as he was concerned, they had moved from the co-worker stage to friend stage. Maybe that was all they were ever going to be.

  “You’re just her friend, Donnie,” he repeated. “You’re just her friend.”

  Yet, deep down, he had a hard time believing himself.

  Chapter Twelve

  It didn’t take Olivia long to fall asleep and end up in the frost world again. It was getting easier to dream this place up. As soon as her head the pillow and she was asleep, she found herself back in that Frostland. If it had another name, she didn’t know what that could be. From now on, it would be known as the Frostland to her. She opened her mind’s eye and saw that it was the same place. There was nothing but ice and snow for miles. It was a beautiful world, but it was also pretty depressing. The sun was like a small white dot in the sky, and the clouds were always gray. She wondered how anyone could stand to stay in this place.

  “Well, at least I was smart enough to dream up a coat.” She said to herself, feeling a lot better about wandering around in the ice and snow. She had no idea what she was wearing underneath, but that was okay. Everything felt warm, and the sun was out now. This time, she could take in the breathtaking scenery and enjoy what she was looking at. There was snow and ice on the trees and bushes. She didn’t see any buildings or people running around, but there were birds chirping. Suddenly, she didn’t feel alone.

  “I think I can get used to this world. Once I figure out what that heart under ice is, I can take the time to check everything out.” She told herself, looking around for someone. There weren’t any footprints in the snow. She couldn’t even see her own, even though she had been walking around for the past couple of minutes.

  “Well, if I could just find someone, this would be a lot easier.” She sighed heavily, looking up at the sky. Curious, she yelled up at it. “Hello! Is anyone out there?”

  Something rustled in the trees, and she tried to find a place to hide. Before she could make her move, something came out of the shadows and stopped in front of her. She tried to breathe, but it was hard. This was something she had never pictured in her life but here it was. It was real, and it was moving in the snow.

  “Oh my God, you are beautiful.” She managed to get out. Her eyes widened as she tried to make sense of the image in front of her.

  It was a deer, made of ice. It moved like a normal deer would, but it had a glassy, ice-like appearance instead of the normal brown-skinned deer she had seen. It was one of the most beautiful creatures she had ever seen, but she was afraid to approach it. It stared at her, so she waved back. Hopefully, it would not see this movement as a threatening sign. The ice deer bent down and began to drink from the frozen lake.

  “How are you doing that?” she asked, looking to see if there was a hole that the deer was drinking out of. She couldn’t make anything out, but it seemed to be all intact. “What is this place?”

  As if on cue, some rabbits suddenly appeared before her and began to eat away at the snow. This wouldn’t be too much of a shock if they weren’t made out of snow, as well. Above her, she saw that the birds were also made out of ice. This was not the typical winter scene that she was hoping for, but she wasn’t scared. These animals weren’t going to attack her, and she hadn’t seen any predators in the form of wolves or bears yet.

  Unfortunately, I haven’t seen anything in the form of people, either. She sighed, sitting down on the ground. The snow didn’t feel as cold as it should, but she was depressed. So much for finding answers in this world. She got back here just fine, but had seen nothing useful. Smooth, Olivia. Next time, try to dream up a village or something. Hell, dream up talking animals, if that helps. You’re not going to find anything this way.

  The snowy rabbits were all hopping around. Olivia had to smile at this scene. She had seen animals like this before, but never made out of ice and snow. They were all very harmless, and still moved like they were made of flesh and bone. A part of her wanted to chase them around, but she stood still. She had to figure out where that message had come from. She was back in her Frostland, and now she had to get to work. She began digging through the snow in hopes that the heart would be here. It wasn’t the best idea, but it was all she could think of doing now. The animals weren’t going to help much, and a few squirrels made of snow started to dance around her. She tried to shoo them off.

  “No, go!” She waved at them, while trying to hunt through the snow. “I need to find this heart under ice, or figure out where it really is.”

  One of the snow squirrels looked up at her and she tried to send it away. “I don’t have anything for you. Can’t you find some snow acorns or something?”

  They didn’t move, so she gave up and tried to put together the clues she had already found. This icy heart was in this world. The first two dreams of the other world had to tie in with this one. Were they the same worlds but in different seasons? It could be a possibility. Unfortunately, all the snow and ice made it hard to spot anything familiar from the previous world. She cursed herself for not taking in more details during her first two dreams. If she had paid more attention, then she probably wouldn’t feel so lost.

  “Good job, O,” she sighed. “You have no idea where you are.”

  Something rustled in the bushes again, and she sat up. “Oh great, I’m getting more of these ice forest creatures! Go away! You’re not much help!”

  “At ease, my dear. I’m just an old man. I’m not here to hurt you.” Sure enough, as the figure came closer, she saw that it was an old man. He couldn’t have been older than her grandfather, yet he seemed healthier. He was walking fine in the snow, and had one of those smiles on his face that could light up anyone’s life. For some reason, she felt safer now. She had no idea who this man was, but she didn’t fear him. As far as she could tell, he was here to help.

  “Oh, thank goodness! I’m so glad I found another person!” she exclaimed. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I just want to know where I am.”

  “You don’t know where you are?” he asked. “You came here before, and you knew
just where to be.”

  “Not really. I was looking for some shelter because the snowstorm was awful. It seems to be calm this time.” She sat down on a log, as the snow was getting uncomfortable. “There was someone in the house, but they never said who they were. I didn’t see them, either.”

  “Hmm, then I can’t help you there,” The old man said. “What exactly are you looking for? You’ve shown up twice.”

  “Someone wants me to find the heart under the ice. I still don’t have any idea what that is, or where I can find it,” she said. Upon hearing that, his smile disappeared, and she tried to explain herself better. “I’m not trying to steal it or anything! I just want to know what it is and why anyone wants it.”

  “I believe you. It’s just that you’re talking about the most important gem in our world,” he explained. “You can’t take them out of ice so easily.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that Hearts Under Ice is the name of the gems that many have tried to take, but couldn’t. They are the ones that keep this world in order. They are in the Frost Queen’s castle, though no one has ever seen them.”

  “The Frost Queen?” she repeated. “Wait, what do you mean by the gems keeping this world in order? There’s more than one? What exactly is the Heart Under Ice?”

  “You mean Hearts Under Ice. Consider them the life force of this world,” he explained. “They are like the lungs in a human body. You need them to breathe properly. Without them, it would be difficult to stay alive. That’s why no one has ever been able to find them. The Frost Queen says that she knows where they are, but she won’t tell anyone.”

  “I can’t blame her. If these gems are the reason your world is in existence, you wouldn’t want to lose them,” Olivia said. “So tell me, Mr.—”

  “Jei,” he finished. “You can just call me Jei. Everyone else does.”