THE ICE KING

Chapter 2

The Journey Begins

It seemed like forever, doubly so for Gus, but as last they were all back at the loft. In the front door. Up the elevator. And at last through the big brown door which was shut tight against the cold hallway. All three men were cold and silent on the way up and now finally could feel the relaxation that comes from arriving home after a long outing.

         "Can I have a hot chocolate, daddy?" asked Gus.

         "You just had a hot chocolate," Bri said, roughly.

         "But I got cold again," Gus said reasonably.

         "God you're whiny. Have you always been this whiny?" Bri wondered out loud.

         "Pleeeeeeaaaase!" Gus wheedled, in what he thought was a cute way. It usually got what he wanted too.

         "I SAID NO!" Bri yelled loud and angrily. Justin was shocked. He had never seen Bri act this way toward Gus, ever. Neither had Gus. He was scared. His little face scrunched up and he began to cry.

         "Oh for the love of..." Bri turned toward Justin and now he was so angry his face was red and contorted with rage. Justin was a little afraid for himself but he nevertheless stepped up to Bri and placed his body between him and Gus. He would have another hole in his head before anything would touch Gus.

         "That.." Bri spat out, pointing at Gus, "had better be like this..." he pinched his fingers together, indicating a closed mouth, "when I get out!" With that he stalked into the bathroom, and slammed the door.

         Justin took off his jacket and then bent down to unzip Gus. He took off his hats and scarves and then enfolded him into a hug. Gus was still leaking and snuffling trying to get himself under control but now he burst into fresh tears. He threw his little arms around Justin's neck and sobbed anew into Justin's chest. Justin just let him and took off his mittens and coat and boots dropping them on the floor as he carried Gus over to the living room area and onto the couch. Then he just rocked him for a few minutes and crooned softly in his ear.

         "It's OK, Gus. Everything's all right. And of course you can have a hot chocolate. We both will."

         "But Daddy said no," Gus said through his tears.

         "Well, I'm your Papa too," Justin said, "and I say we can."

         "OK, Papa," Gus sniffled, "Boy, that was scary!"

         "Yeah, it sure was," Justin agreed, his mind racing, wondering what on earth was going on. "OK, why don't you draw a picture of something that makes you happy and color it while I get you your hot chocolate, OK sport?"

         "Yay!" Gus ran off to get his crayons and drawing pad and took up his customary spot for drawing, near the TV, but also underneath and slightly to the right side of Justin's easel.

         Justin heated the milk in the microwave and picked up Gus's clothes. He listened to Bri in the shower and longed to join him but there was no way that was happening this time. Showers and sex were synonymous to Bri and Justin but at the moment Justin had never felt more turned off in his life.

         The milk was ready and Justin chocolatized it and poured it into mugs. He carried them over to the kitchen table and called Gus.

         "OK Gus, you can have your hot chocolate now but you have to follow eating rules. Come to the table!"

         "Can I bring my picture, Papa?"

         "Of course, buddy."

         Gus toddled over with his pad and they sat together sipping the hot liquid in companionable silence. Gus worked on his picture and Justin sketched a picture of his own and wondered what had wandered up Bri's craw.

         They both worked in companionable silence. Justin was charmed when out of the corner of his eye he saw Gus start to copy him. He had been frowning in concentration and had chanced to look up toward the ceiling when he saw the same look of intense concentration on Gus' face. When he looked up at the ceiling so did Gus, still frowning in concentration. Barely able to contain his mirth Justin looked down at his own work again with his tongue sticking out slightly to the side. Gus copied him, drawing most seriously. Justin took a sip from his mug with his pinky out. He slurped noisily. Justin was deaf to the noisy intake of gleeful breath to his left. He watched secretly as Gus copied him, pinky out and all and slurped noisily. Justin went back to work, tongue sticking out. So did Gus. Justin hummed the first few bars of Jingle Bells. He waited. A little boy hummed, copying. Justin hummed "jingle all the way: Gus hummed "Oh what fun". Justin seriously continued, "It is to ride". And they both finished together: "A one horse open sleigh!" Justin took another noisy sip. So did Gus.

         "Jingle bells," Justin hummed again.

         "Jingle bells," Gus hummed back.

         "Jingle all the way."

         "Oh what fun..."

         "It is to..."

         "My, my, my!! What a lovely, lesbionic scene!" Bri's voice came out of nowhere, scaring the other two out of their wits with it's chilling sarcasm. Not to mention that he was just suddenly...there.

         "Bri! I hope your shower made you feel better!" said Justin, concealing his fear in an admirable way since Bri had on the kind of face his own father had used just before he was about to start a yelling rant that ended up with Justin grounded or spanked.

         "And what's this?" Bri continued softly, dangerously, as he advanced on them in his pajama pants and nothing else. "Why it's hot chocolate! What a lovely, delicious treat! I bet it makes you feel all warm and snuggly and Christmasy inside. Too bad I told you both specifically NO!"

         And without warning he scooped up Gus' cup and flung it across the loft. It smashed somewhere. The sound was like a shot in the dark.

         There was a sudden RRRIIIIPPP!! that Justin thought for a moment of insane hilarity was a fart. But it was only Gus ripping off his picture from the pad and going limp, sliding forwards and down and off his chair and under the table. A few seconds later, Justin felt a pair of small arms go round his legs in a bondage grip.

         "Great, Bri! Just great! I thought you wanted him like..." Justin mimicked his close hand gesture.

         "I also told him that he couldn't have..."

         "Oh, for Go-oshes sake Bri! Who are you to deny your son anything!? It was only a cup of cocoa!"

         "It doesn't matter what it was! What matters is that he needed to obey! And he won't do that, if you're constantly undermining my authority!

         "Authority!? Bri, since when have you cared about that? You buck authority at every turn! Your favorite activity in life is telling people who are oppressing you to fu-to F off!" he mouthed."

         "Well, maybe I want something better for my son. And he is MY son, not yours!" he said maliciously, knowing how that knife would dig, "Maybe what I want is the perfect son. The perfect son is quiet AND obeys. A son that is obedient and quiet. Yes, that would be perfection. Perfection..." Brian began to ramble off and started to rummage in the cupboards.

         "Gus...How would you like to go watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?" Justin asked. "And you can work on your picture some more." He looked down. Gus was still clamped around his leg in a death grip. He was not crying this time but his face was firmly pressed against Justin's shins. He shook his head and refused to look up.

         "Come on Gus. No-one's going to hurt you...Come on...who's a big boy?"

         "I am," said a big boy in a little voice.

         "Come on then...come on...come on and watch Rudolph, OK?" Eventually, Justin coaxed Gus out and took him over to the TV/living room area with Gus watching Bri warily the whole time. Bri, however, had forgotten all about them both right now and was reorganizing the contents of the food cupboard. Justin set Gus in front of the TV and popped in the right DVD and put the headphones on the boy.

         When he saw the show come on and he was sure the boy was busy watching and listening to the program, he strode angrily into the kitchen and pulled Bri around and slapped him as hard as he could across the face.

         "How dare you! How fucking DARE you tell me I'm not Gus' father! I'm as much as his Papa as you are and if you ever say otherwise again, I'll carve out that other nut and turn you from a rooster into a hen so fast you won't know what hit you! What the HELL has gotten into you? Fifteen minutes ago we were kissing under a sprig of mistletoe and now...now I don't know what's going on! I'm afraid to leave you alone with Gus! Jesus, Bri, isn't enough that we're two fags!? Why are you scaring him and punishing him for nothing! Are you trying to lose our visitation rights?"

         "Of course not! I'm just trying to introduce some discipline into the little brat's life. I think we've become way too indulgent with him and he's turning into a spoiled brat. I'm not having a spoiled brat for a son!"

         Justin looked at him like he had grown a second head. "We just took him shopping for toys. You're rich. We're rich. Of course we're indulgent with him! And he isn't spoiled. He's the kindest, sweetest little boy on the face of the earth who insisted we give money to the "poor people Santa" on the street. He's hardly spoiled."

         "Not yet anyway," Bri said pessimistically.

         "Well just cool it! You're not teaching him anything except how to be scared of a father who used to love him just the way he is!

         "Oh stop being so melodramatic!" Bri said, bored to tears with this thread and switching topics, "Come see what I did with the cupboards."

         "The...the cupboards?" Justin was confused with this rapid topic and mood swing.

         "I arranged all the food by color and size and the cans by size, color, weight and type. All the names are facing outward exactly and everything is exactly one half inch from the edge for easy access. It's perfect. Just perfect."

         "That's great, Bri. Just great!" Justin said warily, "Ohh, Beef Stew! That should go down nice on a cold day like today! I'll fix some for dinner." He reached up.

         "DON'T TOUCH IT!" Bri screamed, slapping his hands away. His face resumed his look of dreamy happiness. "It's perfect!"

         "Bri, I always knew you were a perfectionist, but this is ridiculous! How are we supposed to eat if you won't let me reach for the food?"

         Bri's shining face slowly dimmed as he realized the flaw. "You're right! It's not perfect! It's ruined! RUINED! RUINED! RUINED!" In a rage, he smashed his work, knocking everything over till the cupboard was a complete shambles. He slammed the cupboard and turned around, giving up. As he laid eyes on his home, his face twisted in distaste. "Good grief! Has this place always been such a dump!?"

         Justin backed away slowly, feeling like Shelley Duvall in ‘The Shining" where she's realized she's shacked up in the middle of nowhere with a madman. Something was seriously wrong here and he was scared to death.

         "Bri...this place is great! You have the best of everything. What's going on? What's wrong!?"

         "Everything's wrong! You're wrong! God, have you always been that ugly!? How did I not notice that hideous shade of yellow your hair is!? Nothing's perfect! Isn't there one thing in this room, this world, that is perfect?"

         "Bri, nothing's perfect! You know that! Everything has someth..."

         "No! You`re wrong! There is something! Something wonderful!" Bri walked over to the window as if in a trance and pressed his nose against the windowpane.

         Bri? What are you looking at?" Justin asked.

         "The snowflakes. My God, I can see them. Really see them. Each one different and yet the same, six pointed, sharp, clear, cold." Bri sighed in true contentment as if he had been holding his breath and had just now taken a wonderful, cleansing breath. Then he grew frustrated. "Ohhhh...they're moving too fast! I can't see them! I have to get closer!"

         He dashed around the loft, yanking up clothes. He got dressed quickly, slapped on a hat, shrugged on a jacket. "I'm going up to the roof! I have to see it! I have to find it. I just know it's there!

         "What!? What are you talking about??" Justin was completely freaking out.

         "The perfect snowflake! Perfection!" Bri breathed reverently before slamming the door.

         Justin was grateful for the peace and quiet at last but he was still terribly worried about what was going on with Brian. He mooched around the loft a bit, made both him and Gus more cocoa, and watched a bit of the kiddie program Gus was watching and generally worried. After a half an hour had passed and Brian still wasn't back yet, Justin told Gus he could watch another program and not to answer the door or go ANYWHERE until he or Brian got back. He locked the loft door and went upstairs to the roof to fetch Bri.

         When he pushed open the door to the roof, he got the shock of his life.  Bri was there; blue with cold, and towering over him was a huge man in white robes. The man wore a white crown and his face was made out of glass...no...ice. As Justin watched, the ice man bent and kissed Bri on the forehead. Bri turned even bluer and stiffened. He was covered from tip to toe in a thin layer of ice.

         "HEY! What have you done? Who are you? STOP THAT!" Justin yelled.

         The ice man threw back his head and roared with laughter that sounded like an iceberg collapsing. "Foolish mortal, it is already done! He is ready for the journey."

         "Journey!? What are you talking about!? Leave him alone!"

         "Impossible! He must come with me or he'll never be free. I cannot tarry, Justin Taylor...oh yes, I know who you are..." he added at Justin's thunderstruck look, "I must hurry but I will send another to explain everything in...30 minutes of your Earth time. If you are wise, you will be ready to embark on a long journey."       

         "I'm not going anywhere! And neither is Bri!" Justin ran forward to reclaim his lover.

         But the ice man just threw back his head and laughed again. He lifted one robed arm up into the air and swung in sharply down again.

         "BOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!! It was like the Babylon bomb all over again. Only this bomb was of snow and wind and ice instead of fire. A tornado of a blizzard slammed down on the roof. Justin was thrown back 10 feet and the wind was knocked out of him. He saw nothing but swirling white. The ice man and Bri were consumed. The tornado lifted up and away. And the ice man and Bri were consumed and carried away with it.

         Justin got up slowly. The night was snowy but manageable once again. He was alone on the roof. Bri was gone.

30 minutes earlier...

         Brian slammed outside onto the roof. He took a huge, cleansing breath of cold, clear air. He felt like he'd been let out of a closet. He didn't belong in that stuffy, cramped apartment with a noisy boy and a whiny househusband. He belonged...out here...with the snow and the clear air and the cold.

         He sat down on the edge of the roof and started to catch snowflakes. He knew if he could just hold onto one...just one with its perfection, he could endure another day.

         He couldn't understand how he had never noticed how flawed and ugly Justin was. Why exactly was that annoying little twink living in his place anyway? How had that happened? And what happened to his place? It had always seemed like a paradise. Now it was as dirty and cheap as a slumlord's wet dream. Nothing seemed as it was. Only this pure, white, virgin snow crystalline and untouched was perfect. And even that, in a few hours, tomorrow, would be tainted. Brian pushed the thought away. At least for now, for right now, it was perfect.

         He tried catching snowflakes, tried, tried, and tried again. He was oblivious to the cold. He didn't feel it. His heart was quickly freezing into a lump of ice so he was quickly losing feeling in everything. He tried, tried and tried but eventually gave up.

         "Arrrrggggghh!!!! It's no use! They just melt when they hit my palm! I can't hold onto the perfection! There must be a way! There must be!"

         Suddenly a whirlwind of icy snow appeared and settled on the rooftop. The whirlwind seemed to pack together and form a figure of its own. The wind died down and out of the whirlwind stepped a creature that even frightened Brian's icy heart for a few seconds.

         It was a man, at least 20 feet tall. He wore white robes that resembled fur but were made out of packed snow and decorated with icicles. He had a short beard and long hair that was made out of hoarfrost He wore a tall, white, spiked crown made of ice and packed snow.

         His face was young and so handsome it made the statue of David seem like something made up by Picasso. It was made of clear ice, a living ice sculpture of masculine beauty.

         Brian looked up at this vision, slightly tinged with blue. "Who are you?"

         "I am the Ice King. I saw your heart on my way home and heard your words. Come with me and I will show you something perfect."

         "I have seen it," Brian answered, "It is you."

         The Ice King gave a hearty laugh that dislodged the snow from a slanting roof, two buildings away.

         "Oh, little mortal!" he said, "Soon you will see things much more perfect than even me."

         "I cannot imagine such a thing. Take me! Take me now!" Brian lifted his arms up in much the same way that Gus did when he reached up to Brian for a pick me up.

         "You're heart is cold," remarked the Ice King, "Soon it will freeze you to death. But not yet. You would not survive the journey."

         "What must I do to survive!?" Brian asked, "Tell me and I will do it! I will do anything!"

         "Aren't you concerned that your own heart is killing you? That it is freezing into a lump of ice?"

         "Not really. Should I be?" answered Brian.

         The Ice King bent his beautiful, crystal clear face and stared into Brian's blue one. "Look into my eyes!" he commanded.

         Brian obeyed and felt a part of him he didn't know he had freeze solid. But he didn't care because they were the most perfect eyes in the world.

         "There it is! The last piece...The last piece and I'll have that wicked goblin right where I want him."

         "Please sir!" Brian had never groveled before anyone in his life. Hell, he was used to having people call him sir. But he had also never felt so needy in his entire life. So he groveled now. "Please, I don't understand what you mean. But please, will you still take me? Take me to see this perfect thing. I'll die, if you don't."

         "That is true. You must come with me. But I will have to kiss you to prepare you for the journey."

         "Ohhh, yeeessss!!! Please!" Brian lifted his head and opened his mouth slightly in preparation.

         "HA! HA! HA! HA! Foolish mortal!" the Ice King said affectionately, as if indulging a child, "I cannot kiss you like that. I have moved beyond such things. I am not a sexual being. If I kissed you on the mouth, I should freeze your very soul! This will have to do."

         The Ice King bent down. Brian closed his eyes in rapture. He kissed Brian on the forehead and froze him solid.

         And that's when Justin arrived on the scene.

**  **  **

         Justin stood there for a few minutes in shock. He didn't understand what had just happened. He listened to the silence and watched the snowflakes drift down from eternity. Then rational thought returned and the two most important things surfaced in his brain. One: Bri had been kidnapped and two: he had half an hour to get ready before a messenger arrived with the ransom demand.

         Quickly, he ran downstairs again and sealed himself inside the loft. It was a strange and different place now that he knew Bri would not be returning, even with his recent altered behavior.

         First things first. Justin ran over and separated Gus from the TV. "Gus, I have some serious news. You know how your Daddy went up to the roof? Well, I just went to fetch him...and something strange happened. Someone...something....took him. He's not coming back for a while."

         "Somebody took him? But why? Are they gonna give him back?"

         Justin gathered him up in a bear hug and whispered: "I don't know buddy. I don't know. But somebody's coming  in a half an hour to explain things and I have to pack and find a babysitter for you."

         "Naw - awwwwwwwwww!!!!" Gus bellowed. "I don't wanna stay with some stupid sitter! I wanna stay with you!"

         "But Gus! I might have to go on a journey. I might have to be gone for a long time! I can't leave you here and it would be a hard trip for a little boy!"

         "I'm not so little! I'm a big boy! I can do it. I wanna go on an a'venture to find my Daddy! He's my daddy! Even if he is scary sometimes!"

         "Well, we'll see. I want you to start packing your backpack for an overnight trip."

         Justin ran for his own large backpack. As he packed clothes, medicine, first aid kit, flashlight, batteries, matches, Swiss army knife, water and chocolate, jerky, and every freeze dried food packet left over from the ill-fated summer vacation 6 months ago, he carried around the cordless phone and tried Daphne. No one there. And she wasn't picking up her cell. Ditto Michael. He was just dialing---sigh---his mother when there was a strange clicking sound in his ear and just like that the landline went completely dead. He switched to his cell. Dammit!! The batteries were dead. How had he let that happen!? He threw the cell down onto their bed in frustration. He stood there, his mind racing a mile a minute. Then he sprang into action.

         "OK Gus, pack your toothbrush, and toothpaste, all the clothes you can cram into your backpack and put on all the warm clothes you can!" Even as he spoke the words he had no idea where they were coming from but at the same time he knew they were absolutely the right thing to do.

         Gus hastened to obey, stuffing clothes and his toothbrush and toothpaste and a small toy into his boy sized yellow Elmo backpack. When he thought Justin wasn't looking he added a small box of crayons and folded up his picture and added those too.

         Justin ran around added a small pot, a pan, a kettle, and a coffee pot and velcroed them into the proper places on the huge mountain pack. He had no idea why he was doing this, the strange man had only said to be ready for a long journey but this...this was as if they were going camping. But again, Justin was absolutely positive that this was the right thing to do. He packed a few more things, hustled to put on the three jackets he owned, three hats, mittens, two more pairs went into the pockets, two scarves went into another. Then he went over to Gus and helped him into similar gear, his three hats, scarf and helped him on with his backpack.

         "But Papa! Where do you think we're going!?"

         "I don't know. But if you had seen how you're Daddy had left, you'd want to be ready for anything too."

         And then the time was up.

**  **   **

         Justin and Gus paused a moment outside the loft door. Justin looked back at the luxury apartment and felt a stab of fear and longing. He had a terrible feeling he was not going to be seeing this apartment...this home for a long time...maybe ever. And now he was dragging Gus along on an adventure, on a terrible trip that a little boy should never have to endure. Then he pushed these thoughts aside. There was no choice. He had a kidnapper to go meet.

         Justin dragged the heavy door shut, locked it, set the alarm. He reflected back to a time once long ago when he had forgotten to set this alarm and Brian had promptly gotten robbed. Brian had been livid and had thrown him out. Things eventually worked out but Justin had never forgotten to set the alarm again.

         They climbed the stairs to the roof. At first, Gus was so laden down with clothes and his backpack that he was only able to climb one stair at a time. Justin looked at his determined little face with such love that it hurt his heart. Then he reached out. "Grab my neck," he instructed. Gus obeyed and Justin carried him up to the roof.

         Outside, it seemed even colder but the snow blanketing Pittsburgh lit everything up like day. Justin checked his watch. It was exactly 30 minutes.

         "All right you sick sonofa-GUN!!" he yelled, mindful of his language around Gus, although right now he barely contained it. His blue eyes that could flash warm joy or hot passion now radiated a cold fury. "It's been 30 minutes and I'm here! Now give me back my husband you - you - whatever you are!"

         "HA! HA! HA! HA!" the laugh came from all around them and yet it was nowhere at all. "HA! HA! HA! HA!" It was wild and free and filled with a fierce joy. An icy wind picked up and swept through the two men, both the small and the tall. The wind grew and transformed into a small white tornado on the roof. To Justin's astonishment, the form of a man from the waist up rose up out of the tornado. The man was indistinct, as if made from white vapor and the snow itself. His face changed constantly. One minute he was an old man with a long white beard. The next, it reformed and he was a young man with sculpted features. Again, it re formed into a young man with a curly goatee. Then it was if it changed into smoke and reformed into and impudent boy of 16. Next it re-formed and mushed together and became...Over and over he changed, a dozen times in a minute.

         Justin watched this vision, open-mouthed with astonishment. But Gus was delighted. He was in little boy heaven. He had never seen anything so fantastic.

         "Hello!" he yelled. "Who are you? What are you?" I'm Gus!" he added as an afterthought.

         "HA! HA! HA! HA!"  the vision laughed boisterously, "I know who you are Gus Kinney! And you, Justin Taylor! I'm the one who's numbed your toes and frozen your fingers every winter since you were born! I am the North Wind!"

         "Are you the one who made my legs wooden earlier today?" Gus asked.

         The North Wind laughed delightedly and swirled around them. He was in constant motion, swirling and spinning and rushing around in a circle around the roof and around them. "Yes, my dear boy! That was me!"

         "Well, that was very naughty of you! That hurt!" yelled Gus.

         "HA! HA! HA!" The north Wind's face swirled and transformed into a copy of Gus' face. "I do 6 naughty things before breakfast! HA! HA! HA!" he said in a perfect replica of Gus' voice. Gus gasped.

         "Enough!" yelled Justin, "What have you done with Brian!? I demand you bring him back to me!"

         The North Wind's face swirled into a handsome 30 year old. Justin gasped. It was Brian. "I cannot," he said, " I did not take him to begin with. But I have been sent to take you to him." The face swirled and changed again.

         "Take me where!? Who did take him? Why? Please! Bring him back! What do you want. I can pay you!" Justin grew a little desperate in his grief.

         "Oh Justin! We have no use of your mortal money!  Your partner has been taken to the palace of the Ice King, whom I serve. But he sent me to tell you about it and to fetch you."

         "The Ice King! You mean like in Nana's story?" interrupted Gus.

         "Yes, little one! Just like that!" laughed the North Wind.

         But how?" asked Justin, "That was just a story!"

         "Obviously not," the North Wind said, snow blasting his initials into a section of the roof.

         "But how can that be?" Justin asked.

         "Sometimes, when we supernatural beings are nearby, our true natures are detected by the hearts and minds of men...and women," he amended with a wink which dissolved grotesquely, "What results is a story which is closer to the truth than anybody could imagine. I'm afraid I'm to blame. I've been racing all over the city today following you. I'm even inadvertently responsible for blowing the glass into Bri's eye and changing him so drastically. I'm terribly sorry."

         "What glass? What are you talking about? Where is he?" yelled Justin into and at the wind.

         "Well, you see..." Andd so, the North Wind proceeded to tell Justin and Gus the story of the goblin's glass much the same way I've told it to you. When he finished he said, "The Ice King has been seeking the last piece of glass for the better part of a century. The only way to keep your partner alive is to monitor him closely in a controlled, deeply cold environment. So the Ice King took him to his palace and sent me to fetch you...well, get you started on your way, anyway. I'm afraid I can't take you all the way."

         "But why?"

         "Brian could survive the journey because his heart was already almost frozen and was kissed by the Ice King. You two are much too warm hearted not to mention I do not have the Ice King's powers. The journey we take will not be pleasant. I will only be able to take you a certain amount of the way before you begin to freeze to death. Then I'm afraid you'll have to make the rest of the way yourself."

         "Very well. I'm ready. I've packed us very well.

         "I know," said the North Wind smugly, "Say, what about the munchkin?"

         "Wow!" said Gus, "Are munchkins real too?"

         "The phones went down. I couldn't get a sitter. He's going to have to come with me."

         "Are you sure?" the Wind whispered.

         "Unless you give me more time..."

         "I'm afraid not. I'm under orders to start you on your journey immediately."

         "Then the safest place for him is with me. If you must take me, then take me. But I must take him."

         "Very well then!" The North Wind grew to fearsome dimensions with huge arms. "HERE WEEEE GOOOO!!!"

         He rose up, circled the building, and then bore down on then. He scooped Justin up in his burly left arm and Gus in his burly right arm and flew off with them toward the north.

         Justin was enveloped in an intense, white cold and a fearsome roar filled his ears. He was propelled through a swirling spiral of whiteness. The coldness began to take its toll. He went numb. He went blue. But he had to hold on. He had to.

         "You're little boy can't take much more..." echoed a deep voice all around him, "I'm afraid this is the end of the line. GOOD LUUUCCK!!!!" the voice echoed and faded and Justin was flying through the air with the ground rushing closer and closer. He landed in a deep snowbank. He struggled a bit but couldn't get up so he just rolled over. He saw Gus flying/falling straight toward him and as if it were planned Gus fell straight into his arms. They were shmushed a few inches further into the snow.

         "Th-th-th-th-that was scary!" Gus chattered. "I'm really cold!"

         "I know buddy! But it's over now! Are you gonna be OK?"

         "I th-th-think so! Let's do it again!"

         Justin smiled wryly through the intense cold. His body was starting to pins and needles. "Maybe next year," he said.

         Keeping Gus close to him, he sat up to see where they were.

TBC