Marie always felt that there was a rift between the properties where she grew up. It felt almost magical, even paranormal, like angels crossed over as though they were punching in their time stamps for work. For a young child, things such as property lines did not exist as her bare feet pounded across the grass. Her family dog, a yellow hooligan named Buddy, chased after her in the summer sun, his tongue hanging out gleefully.

"C'mon, Buddy! Faster!" she yelled, the child believing she was outrunning the Labrador. He dove into the woods as the yard wrapped around the vegetation. Marie mimicked him and hid in a pile of tall grass. The lab sprang out of the forest. She bit her lip to stop herself from giggling at the silly look on his face; at the age of five, Marie was already a master at hiding. Buddy cocked his head to the side and listened, his pink tongue rolling back into his mouth. The girl sucked in a breath at the same time, her blue eyes never leaving his brown ones.

"Marie, come here! I need some more water!" Her mother's loud but gentle voice rang through the enormous yard.

The youth smiled and readied her body to pounce. "COMING!" she hollered. Buddy jumped and playfully sprang on her, licking her from head to toe. She rose and brushed herself off. "Marie, 1. Buddy, 4!" she stated matter-of-factly.

"Marie!"

"Mommy!" Marie leaped through the brush. Her mother dropped the garden rake she was holding in surprise. "I finally got a point against Buddy! It was best out of five and he had four, but-!"

"That's nice. Get me some more water, please." She handed her daughter her tin cup. "The hose is running over there, so you can just fill it up with that." Marie's mother, father and older brother were gardening in one of the many dirt beds the family had in their yard. Marie had tried helping, but Buddy had perched himself outside of the carrot rows, whining and begging for her to play with him. Marie hummed and trudged towards the hose. It was throbbing within the giant blue container, filling it with copious amounts of water. She wrestled with the seemingly heavy hose, soaking her arm before pulling it out and sticking the tip in the cup. As it filled, the girl glanced behind her, eyeing her father. The tall, lean man was stretching and drinking from a glass bottle. Marie set the hose down with a frown and started for her mother.

"Surprise!" Cold water shot into her skin, petrifying her. Her older brother laughed maniacally when she shrieked.

"John!" Marie snatched the hose out of his hand and sprayed him. He shrieked and leaped backwards. Buddy lowered the top half of his body and barked loudly. The siblings fought over control of the hose, the water spraying high above them. Their laughter filled the air. Suddenly a green watering jug slammed against the water barrels with a deafening jolt. Their father withdrew his arm, his clothes soaked.

"Marie, go play with Buddy," my mother said in a hushed tone, her eyes on her husband with disgust. "Okay, honey?" The girl gave the water to her mother and sprinted, Buddy following close behind. She dove into the woods and began zig-zagging in fright. Left, right, left, right… She burst through the foliage to see the property line between their land and their neighbors. Her family had an extensive forest while their neighbor had planted trees in neat rows almost as if to mimic its grandeur. Marie plopped down about a foot away from this invisible line. Buddy roamed in the brush behind her. She sighed and stretched out. Her mother had told her that she was redoing preschool again and that she wouldn't see any of the kids in her class. Marie frowned. They were mean anyway. A gentle breeze tickled her freckled nose. Hopefully I will make new friends, she thought to herself.

A low growl sounded behind her. She shot up. "Buddy? What's wrong?" Marie whispered nervously. The built Lab stood immediately behind her, his fur rising. Her blue eyes followed his. It was almost as though Marie could see the wind, but it was concentrated in one spot. It was clear, yet there was something moving within. The girl crept forward. "Hello?" she asked in a cautious tone.

"Who are you?" came a small voice. Marie fell backwards in shock. It spoke!

Buddy whimpered and ran into the woods. Marie swallowed a huge lump in her throat. "I'm Marie. Who are you?!"

Within the rift, she could see another child, a girl. "I'm a princess."

"Really?" Marie slithered onto her hands and knees. "My parents say that I'm a princess sometimes, too!" The girl's blonde hair was now visible. Marie tilted my head. "What's your name?"

The girl pulled her hands close to her chest. Her hair was a bright blonde color and she had bright blue eyes. She wore winter clothes, and as the rift shifted through the air, it was visible from behind her that there was snow on the ground. A slight breeze tousled Marie's dark blonde hair, and to her surprise, the other girl's as well. "My name is Elsa."

"Elsa?" Marie had never heard that name before. "How old are you?" Before she could answer, Marie reached through the rift.

"Ow!" The snowy girl flinched. The lower half of her body faded in and out of focus as the breeze went past. "Why did you do that? How did you do that?"

"I just wanted to see if you were real!" Marie reached her hand forward right below the rift. "Can you feel that?"

"No." Elsa looked down at her hands. "Is this more of my power?"

"Power?" Marie questioned, her hands waving dramatically around the rift.

Elsa brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "I was born with ice magic. Do you have powers, too?"

"Um…" Marie furrowed her brow. "Well, I can see you, can't I? I'm five!"

Elsa let out a small smile. "I'm five, too." She raised her hand. "When you reached through, I could see through your hand." Her hand broke through the rift. "Is mine see through, too?"

Her hand was alive. At least, it looked that way to Marie. It shimmered with a brilliant ice blue color. "Whoa…" The dark blonde youth reached out in amazement. As the summer sun beat down on Marie, she withdrew in shock when her hand was ice cold. "It's frozen!" she yelped. "How?"

"It's my powers!" Elsa turned her hand over and conjured a snowball.

"THAT'S SO COOL!" Marie jumped up and down. "Can I hold it?!" Elsa giggled and flicked her hand to launch it. Marie caught it. "Wh-whoa!" She looked around. The sun was still shining and the grass was still green with the glow of summer. "Can you see behind me?"

"Mhm." Elsa looked over Marie's shoulder. "How is it summer there? It's supposed to be winter."

"It's supposed to be summer!" Marie retorted. She grabbed a clump of long grass and pulled. "See?" She shoved her hand through and held it out.

Elsa lifted a strand off and stared at it. "Oh, wow!" she whispered in amazement. "I haven't seen grass this green in months!" She looked at Marie with huge blue eyes. "You're see though and in summer, and I have ice powers and am in winte- hey!" She put her hands on her hips. "What are you doing? You're not supposed to eat it!"

Marie paused mid crunch in the snowball and smiled cutely. "Swrry. I wz thwsty." A brilliant chill ran through her entire body. The sensation was bigger than any Northern Minnesota winter she had experienced but it was not painful. It did, however, make her visibly shiver, to which Elsa started laughing. Marie joined and continued to chew on the snow.

She finished giggling. "I wonder…" She raised her bare hand once again. Marie did the same, but this time, they reached for each other's hands. Elsa paused at the edge of her rift, waiting. Clenching the snowball in her other hand, Marie approached and met the edge of her side of the rift.

A flash of light zapped through the air, splitting the rift into a thousand pieces. Elsa was blown backwards, her small body landing roughly on Arendelle's stone bridge connecting their town to the forest. She grunted uneasily, pushing herself up. "Elsa! Elsa, what happened?" Her mother and father ran up to her from behind. Elsa looked down on her other hand. Her brilliant blue eyes widened when she saw that the blades of grass that the strange girl had given her were still there and intact. Her father lifted her up gently. "Elsa, what happened? What was that flash of light? Was that your magic?"

Elsa broke free from her father's grasp and ran towards the place on the bridge where the snow was now unsettled and swirling in a sudden breeze. She planted her small feet and called out, "Marie! Are you there?" Nothing but the howling wind answered her.

Her father stood. "Who's Marie?"

Her mother approached with her little sister, Anna, in her arms. "Did you see someone in the forest, dear?"

"No! Didn't anyone else see her? She was standing right there!" When her family only looked at each other in confusion, she opened her hand. "She gave me this. See?" The blades still shone with a brilliant summer gleam.

Her parents eyed each other. "Elsa, let's get back inside. It'll be dark soon. Come on." Elsa obeyed, but turned and eyed the bridge, the grass still somehow warm from the summer sun on the other side.