❄️Miss Holiday❄️

Coldness is an incurable sickness. The frozen rule set in my mind that I’m prohibited from standing too close to windows. With a perfect view and perfect shot, I could be dead in seconds. Anything from assassinations to catching a cold. I am as delicate as a walk on thin ice.

Then I was taught that nowhere was safe. Sickness affects anyone, even members of nobility. I wasn’t safe anywhere, not even in the comforts of home.

The sooner I can make it to the safety of my room the better I’ll feel. My hand gripped the door handle, pushing the door open, itching to relieve myself of this tight dress.

“Selesta!”

I fought the urge to slam the door behind me, I tightly gripped the doorknob, hearing the familiar ‘clank’ of Venya’s cane as she followed me down the hallway.

“Explain yourself.” She demanded.

I bared my teeth, “I had to.”

“What do you have to complain about? You knew you weren’t cut out for the throne since your disastrous affair. But I took pity on you! Why after your embarrassment, your father didn’t want you stepping a foot out of the palace. But I advocated! You have a whole future at the opera!” She spouted off.

“A life at the opera house? I’m not even allowed to step outside of the palace without an army coming after me.” I retorted back.

Venya drew out a sigh, her tone whining, “Are you expecting a holiday? Better treatment? You’ll hardly make a suitable ruler. And don’t think your new schedule will change a thing!”

It was people like Venya I had a much easier time trusting. People like her never change. I could always count on her to be the most exasperated person in the room. She was the rule maker and forced me to uphold every single one of them.

“Fine.” I gave in, turning to the door.

“Your mother-”

I stopped, half way through the threshold of my bedroom.

“Your mother would have been proud of what you did.” Without explaining herself, Venya stormed back the way she came.

I glanced back to watch her leave, wondering what might have prompted a genuine statement. My grip loosened on the handle as the door quietly shut behind me.

Still lingering on her words, I noticed something sitting atop my pillow. A small white box wrapped in a red ribbon.

I took it from my pillow and sat down on my bed, looking over the unexpected present.

I tugged at the ribbon, inspecting it closer. Attached to the bow was a brown tag with written words.

'To my darling, Selesta. May you dream of better places'.

The writing was unmistakable. It was my mother’s. A sad longing came over me as I removed the ribbon and opened the box, placing my hand inside first as I tipped it upside down.

A glass round ball fell into my hand and I pulled it out, examining a beautifully sculpted snow globe. The base of the snow globe was made of silver with engraved designs along with words: Dream of Better Places.

Inside the snowglobe, I could see an entire intricate tiny village. I could see canals and street corners, shops, I could even see what looked like the Silver palace.

An entire world inside this snowglobe. I wanted to take its advice to dream. To think that if I escaped my life, I would live as a regular girl, unharmed by expectations and rules. But I made a promise that condemned me to a life of perfection. I closed my eyes and caressed the glass with my thumb.

Then I could smell it. Fresh baked goods, wet pavement, peppermint, and chocolate. I heard horse drawn carriages, people singing, children laughing. I could sense the light shift around me. When I opened my eyes, coldness enveloped me.

My bed disappeared and I fell to the ground and my cold hands met icy stones. I looked around me and found towering buildings, a canal beneath the bridge I'm placed on, people walking around the traffic.

“What-” I pulled myself to stand, backing away from the middle of the street. Panicking, I backed into a streetlamp and held on. The bitter air nicked every sense.

Frantically, I caught glimpses of familiar sights from my childhood memories. My first time visiting the ice fair, the day I was brought to the opera house to start my ballet lessons, and my first time ice skating on the lake with my mother.

I turned my head and saw the familiar Opera house in the distance, the canals, the fairgrounds. “It can’t be.” I told myself, but the icy pain I felt in my hands and the light touches of the snow landing on my head and shoulders all felt too real.

Sitting in the middle of the bridge was my snow globe, perfectly upright. I picked it up from the ground and looked inside. I felt the strangest sense of wonder, trying to grasp how this item could possibly be real.

I closed my eyes and thought of my room. Envisioning my bed, vanity, and window. As I did, I could already feel my senses shift as I was placed back into the safety of my own room. When I opened my eyes, I stood in my room with the remaining snow lightly falling in front of me.

The room returned to its silent state, but my mind remained on the bridge. I carefully set the snow globe down on my bed, unsure what magical properties it possessed, but I knew enough to know that I couldn't wait another second. A world yet to be explored beyond the castle walls and frosted glass windows.

I went into my closet, searching through any clothing item that would disguise me.

I found a plain brown scarf and boots. I owned a pair of skates that were in need of sharpening.

I put on a dress that went above my ankles, and didn't quite reach my wrists. But the color was a dusty rose gray and it fit me comfortably.

I placed the scarf around my hair and tied it behind my neck. I slipped on a pair of gloves and slung a bag over my shoulder, placing the pair of skates inside. Realizing my outfit probably wasn’t the warmest, but I would only be gone for a few minutes.

Walking back to my bed, I took the snowglobe and held it close, seeing where I preferred to be placed. If I was already prohibited from standing by my window, who knew what punishment I would receive if anyone discovered me.

I saw the canal and where it poured out into an open square. My eyes went to the nearby bridge, imagining I stood beneath it. It would certainly give me enough cover.

I closed my eyes and welcomed the cold, feeling the ground shift beneath my feet as I was planted on the ice. I could feel the light breeze carry snowflakes over my head and the music that filled the air in the distance as people gathered to dance and sing.

When my eyes opened, I stood under the bridge, gazing up at a decorated fur tree. I placed the snowglobe in my bag and retrieved the ice skates, attaching them to the bottom of my boots.

I lifted my head to the night sky, feeling the coldness on my face and I relished it. Heat left my mouth, puffing outward and evaporating. I held my hands out, watching the snowflakes decorate my gloves.

I kicked backward, gliding gracefully, stepping faster and faster.

The townsfolk gathered around the tree, going in circles around the base. A group of musicians played the violin, clarinet, and jingle bells.

Children raced around the adults, weaving around everyone, laughing cheerfully. Couples gilded together, dancing with the music and waving to those who passed by.

I picked up my pace and started to weave around the way the children did. Skating past the musicians as I made my first loop.

A few strangers waved and I waved back. Figure skaters zipped past me, dancing effortlessly.

After making my first trip around around the fur tree, I attempted to figure skate, swaying a little at first. Keeping my attention focused on performing perfectly.

The ice reflected the lights from the decorated tree, dancing with me as I spun. I swayed my arms, helping my footing as I circled backwards, lifting my foot as I spun slowly. I jumped, expecting to land on my blade, but my foot slipped from under me.

With only a split second to react, I swiped my bag behind me before I could land on my snowglobe.

My elbow met the ice first, feeling the ice particles scrape across my skin as the rest of my weight crashed down on the ice.

A few people skated around me before a group of onlookers came to my aid.

I quickly looked inside my bag to see if my snowglobe shattered.

“Are you alright?!” An older lady’s voice came as she skated to my side. Her husband followed, looming over me as he bent down to lift me to my feet.

I accepted the help, embarrassed. “I should be fine-” she lifted my arm, exposing my torn up sleeve, and the blood that seeped through the cloth.

“Oh my!” The older woman exclaimed quickly turning to her husband, “Did doctor Kovačević leave?”

“Doctor? No, that shouldn’t be necessary.” I lowered my arm.

The husband replied as though he didn’t hear me protest. “He hasn’t left, he’s over by the musicians.”

“Perfect! We’ll bring you right to him!” The lady insisted.

I pulled away, but when I did, my hip gave out and I winced in pain, grabbing her arm for support. I huffed, ignoring the pain. “Really, I don’t want to bother him.”

“I don’t think he would mind, miss. It’s his profession after all.” The husband advocated, skating next to me as he offered his arm.

With my good arm, I linked mine with his. His wife on the other hand, hugged herself around me, helping me skate the rest of the way to the musicians.

I looked around at the crowd of people, unsure which one looked like a doctor. The woman skated ahead of me and tapped on a young man’s shoulder. “Excuse me, Doctor!” She hollered directly into his ear, startling the people standing nearby.

The doctor turned to look at the woman, a smile brightening his face as he recognized her.

“This young lady could use your assistance!!” She bellowed again, shouting much louder than the music was playing. She gave him a light shove over to where her husband held me up.

I straightened, ignoring the pain in my hip as his attention was turned to me. He wore a knitted hat, bulky scarf, jacket, and massive gloves. I quickly denied his eligibility as a doctor. He had the face of a child and ears were too big for his hat to cover. He skated over to me, standing as tall as me.

“Are you alright, miss?”

I turned my face up at him, they must have mistaken me for a fool, there was no way I would allow a physician child to be anywhere near me. I had a reputation after all. “I’m better now.” I pulled my arm away, standing tall on my skates so I stood just a bit taller than him. “Good day.”

I did my best to hide my injured arm as I skated off.

The doctor wished the older couple well and skated after me, easily catching up. “Milady, it would be against my code as a doctor and as a gentleman to leave a lady in distress.”

I abruptly stopped and looked him over. “A gentleman?” I mocked. I’ve seen many gentlemen and I found it amusing this child would consider himself with such status.

The doctor tipped his knitted hat to me and winked.

I nearly swallowed my tongue. My eyes shot open and my mouth fell. Never has a man had the audacity to wink at me. A slap across the face would have been less direct. I stuttered to find words, “I- I don’t think- I don’t-”

“Is your arm alright?” He pointed at my ripped sleeve.

“Well-” I huffed, lifting it up for him to see. “Well I tripped. My skates aren’t very sharp,” As is my wit it would seem.

The doctor held his hands behind his back as he inspected my injury. “Can I bandage it for you?”

I caved in, my hip already hurt too much from standing. “Fine. Help me to the nearest bench.” I ordered.

The doctor did as instructed. He placed my wounded arm around his neck, and placed one arm around my waist as he helped me the rest of the way to the nearest bench, lifting most of my weight off of my injured hip.

I carefully sat down and he sat next to me, placing his doctor’s bag on his lap. He pulled his gloves off and searched through the bag for something to clean the wound.

I held my arm out to him. He began rolling up my sleeve, exposing my arm. I ripped away, eyes wide and horrified.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

I swallowed. A certain 'disastrous affair' came to mind. I pointed down at his gloves. “Put those back on?”

He looked confused, “But I won’t be able to dress your wound with gloves-”

“I’ll help.” I shot back.

Thankfully he did as requested and pulled on his thick gloves. He awkwardly attempted to roll my sleeve up. I looked at my elbow, seeing a scrape stretch down my forearm, with a few different places bleeding out. It looked a lot worse than it felt.

With his gloves he carefully cleaned the open cut using gauze and an odd smelling ointment.

I watched his face, wondering how young he must have been to start studying. The snow lightly dampened his brown hair, making it curl a little. I still found his ears alarmingly big, making him look more like a mouse than human.

“You’re a... doctor?” I clarified.

He lifted his head and nodded. Placing his hand over his heart. "Doctor Silvestr Rov Kovačević."

“You’re very young, Silvestr.” I pointed out, finding it awkward to address him as a doctor, but he didn’t seem to mind being called by his name.

He placed a sterile gauze on top of the cut and took a rolled up bandage from his bag and began wrapping it around my arm. “Thank you!”

My face fell, “That wasn’t a compliment. More of a concern. Aren’t you a little young to be a doctor?” I corrected. He simply carried on with his hazard attempt at wrapping my arm. After he finished, I helped him tie it into place.

“All fixed!” He smiled.

I rolled my sleeve down, “I can’t repay you. I don’t have any money.”

Silvestr waved me off, “Free of charge, but I’ll settle for your name.” He replied confidently, offering me his hand.

I opened my mouth to say my name, but hesitated when I realized I couldn’t give it. “Miss… Um.. Holiday.” I placed my hand in his, not sure I convinced him with my fake name. He gripped it and shook, rougher than I'm used to.

“Holiday?” Silvestr looked intrigued. He released my hand. “What's your first name?”

“My first name? Well-” I searched for another name, but I wasn't sure what name would fit me. In my hesitation I noticed his eyes were on my mouth. “Are you finding something amusing, Doctor Kovačević?”

Silvestr’s eyebrows rose, locking eyes with mine. "Sorry, what?”

“Your eyes haven't left my face.” I stated.

“Well you do have a lovely face to look at.” He shrugged, but when he noticed he didn't get a reaction from me, he pointed to his ear and shook his head, "My ears don't work very well. But my eyes work." He made a makeshift OK sign with his thick gloves and winked at me again.

My eyelashes fluttered, still stunned by his forwardness. I should have put together that he was hard of hearing, by the way that woman shouted in his ear.

I got to my feet, testing my weight on my hip. “Well it was a pleasure meeting you, Silvestr.” I spoke louder so he could hear me clearly.

He jumped to his feet, “Perhaps I’ll see you soon? Uh, not for another two days at least to heal, doctor’s orders.”

My hand went to my bag, feeling the snow globe inside. “Well I-”

“Oh doctor!” the woman from before waved and called over to us. “I hope you two are getting well acquainted! Perhaps you two should join us in the dancing hall!” She screamed, and her husband pulled away from her, trying to spare his ears.

Silvestr turned to look at them but kept an eye on me. “Uh- well. Miss Holiday is still injured but if she wouldn’t mind-”

I kicked forward, skating backwards. “I should go.”

“Perhaps when I see you again, we could join them?” Silvestr asked hopefully.

I frowned, unsure if I could come back. A part of me wanted to, but if I disappeared from the palace I knew my father would burn the city to the ground to find me.

“Perhaps.” I emptily repeated back to him. “Goodbye, Doctor.” I turned and skated off.

“Goodbye, Miss Holiday!” He called after me.

I skated back to the bridge I appeared from, hiding out of the view. Before I disappeared, I watched Silvestr.

If only Miss Holiday could stay, she would never want to leave. I on the other hand was controlled by obligation. There was no doubt in my mind I would attempt to sneak out of the palace. A part of me wanted to see him again.