Shadows And Regrets

Chapter 5: These Walls

Who wants to explore around the Frost Manor?

*****

The interior of the manor was spacious like Jack used to remember. When a guest came over to visit his parents, either to talk to his father over future business plans or his mother's friends from the local children hospital wanted to discuss about an upcoming charity, they always commented on how marvelous the mansion looked. A grand staircase stood at the middle of the foyer which led up to the second floor.

"Remember we used to play up there?" Anna pointed at the flight of stairs.

Jack reminisced the days where Elsa and Anna came over to play with the Frost siblings. He saw images of him when he was young, running up the stairs with his hockey helmet, knee and elbow pads in place. Elsa, Anna, and Jack's little sister, Sophia was also geared up. All three of them were sitting inside a sturdy laundry basket.

"C'mon Jack!" Anna shouted with excitement. "Okay hang on!" Jack rushed up to the very top of the stairs. Before jumping into the back of the basket, he pushed the pretended bobsled to the edge. "Here we go!" Jack cheered.

"Hang on Sophia," Anna said while hugging the little four year old. Sophia was three years younger than Anna at the time, while the two's older siblings, Elsa and Jack, were only nine.

The four yelled in excitement, hollering down the staircase while creating a raucous. One of the staffs, exited out of the large parlor with a tray of empty wine glasses. Without looking, the man was struck hard by a flying laundry basket that was filled with wild rugrats, believing that they were olympians for the Norwegian bobsled team.

Jack chuckled over the funny memory. "Yeah, I remember that day. My parents weren't happy about it."

"I think my mommy and daddy too. Elsa told me, we weren't allowed to have any sweets for two weeks." Anna remembered.

"Yeah Elsa told me that. She was going nuts when your cousin brought a big bag of chocolates from Germany one time. And you two weren't allowed to have any." Jack went on telling.

"You should had seen her when we were allowed to eat sweets again," Anna giggled. "She attacked the candy jar like a wild hungry viking." Jack laughed at Anna's story.

Across the room, Bergman's wife noticed Jack talking to himself. She was curious of what he was laughing about. The woman tapped her husband's shoulder to get his attention.

"Robert, who is he talking to?" She asked him without leaving her eyes on Jack. Bergman looked up and saw Jack talking to the little girl he saw inside the car. His eyes widen, looking completely surprised.

"I thought I was seeing things..." Bergman staring at Anna. "Don't you see her, Sasha?" He asked her.

"Her?" Sasha looked at Robert confusingly. Robert pointed at the little girl who stood nearby Jack. Sasha took a moment to see where he was pointing to. Then suddenly, she let out a soft gasp, covering her mouth with her hands. "It can't be."

"I believe so. It's been years since we last saw her." Robert glued his eyes on Anna.

"How is this possible?" Sasha wanted to walk up to the little girl. The couple studied Anna's appearance. They noticed her summer green dress and barefeet. But, they're confused over the sign of no injuries or scratches. The two noticed Anna talking to Jack like nothing really happened to them. Jack was very calm talking to an eight year old that no longer existed.

"Jack might know why," Sasha concluded. Just as she was about to approach the two, Robert grabbed her shoulder. "No, he just arrived. We need to make him feel like he's still welcomed here. We shouldn't trigger anything that badly happened in his past." He said sincerely.