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Knock knock knock-knock knock.
“Go away Anna.”
The redheaded girl looked at the door, dismayed by her sister’s less-than-friendly greeting.
“But Elsa…” she whined.
“I don’t want to play,” Elsa said abruptly. “I don’t want to… I just want you to leave me alone.”
Anna’s face went into an immediate pout. There was no one to pout to, but she made the expression anyways, hoping her anger could pierce the door.
“I don’t want to play either,” said Anna to the door.
“Then what do you want?” asked Elsa, her voice muffled in her room. She must have been trying to burying her face in her pillow; it was often something she did when she wanted to ignore her younger sister.
“I am hungry,” cried Anna.
“Just go to the pantry,” Elsa said. She just wish her annoying younger sister would leave her alone. “Get yourself a snack.”
“I don’t want a snack,” Anna said. “I want something hot.”
Elsa sighed into her pillow, loud enough for Anna to hear out in the hallway. She looked up to her window, where the daylight of the afternoon was fading fast. The cooks were probably not in the kitchen… more than likely off with the hunters. It would be hours before her sister ate if she told Anna to go look for them. She wanted her sister out of her hair, but she didn’t want her to starve.
“Please,” Anna begged, leaning against the door. “If you just cook something hot for me, I can go away, but please I am hungry--”
The door swung open, revealing a skeptical Elsa. Her hair was not in its usual elegant sleekness, and her lips were pursed. She was not happy to leave her room.
“I will cook for you, and that is it,” Elsa said, walking ahead as she led her sister to the kitchen.
***
There was nobody in the kitchen, not even the food preppers. Just a single fire to heat the stove, and even that was burning low. Elsa grabbed a piece of wood, throwing it in to stoke the fire. She felt slightly better after the walk from her room— perhaps all she needed was to stretch her legs—but she did not want to let her sister know that.
She looked across to the other side of the large table in the center of the kitchen, where Anna’s head sat on her folded hands.
“What do you want to eat?” Elsa asked.
“I don’t know,” said Anna. “What is there to eat?”
Elsa looked around. Truth be told, she was not much of a cook. Royalty had its perks, and so she did not ever had to learn. There were a number of meats and grains around, but she did not have the slightest idea— or desire— to delve into those. Elsa looked around the kitchen for a moment, wondering what she could make.
Aha! she thought, spying a loaf of bread atop a shelf. Reaching up, she grabbed it and set it on the table.
“How about a sandwich?” she asked.
“I want something hot though,” Anna said. Elsa frowned, but then looked at the fire.
“We can make a hot sandwich,” she said to her younger sister.
“A hot sandwich?” Anna said, her eyes widening. They had never had a hot sandwich— the only hot things they were served were mostly stews and meats. “What will you put in it?”
“I have to see what we have,” said Elsa, striding towards the pantry. She sighed as she turned her back to Anna— this was going to take a while. She just wished sometimes her sister would do things herself…
The pantry was dark, a little light hanging between some of the shelves. Elsa went from shelf to shelf, imagining what the substances in the jars would taste like hot. She shook her head at most of them, not liking the idea of anything. Where were the cooks? Why weren’t they here? They would be useful about this time. Not wanting to spend any more time than she already had, and wanting to get this done and over with, she scooped up a few jars and baskets of things, heading out to the kitchen with them. She would figure out something with them.
Back in the kitchen, Anna’s eyes lit up as she saw the large bundle of ingredients her sister had come out with.
“What do you like?” asked Elsa.
“Are we going to use all of that for one hot sandwich?” asked Anna.
“No, think Anna!” Elsa said. “We can’t use all of this on one. It will not taste right at all. Pick one or two things, and we can try making a sandwich out of them.”
As Anna looked over her choices, Elsa sliced the bread and watched her sister. She set a pan on the stovetop to heat up as she waited for Anna to pick ingredients. While she waited, she picked at a block of cheese.
“Maybe this one! Oh no…. maybe that one,” Anna went on. “I don’t know what to pick, there are so many choices!”
“Well I am telling you right now, this one won’t taste good hot,” Elsa said to a spread in a jar, pulling that one to the side in an ‘off limits’ pile. “And I don’t think that this or that will go good either. Those will burn too easily, and who wants that?”
As they picked through the pile, it gradually thinned out.
“I don’t like any of these,” said Anna. Elsa sighed through her nose, not looking forward to going back to the pantry.
“Well I’m not making another trip. This is what we are going to use,” said Elsa.
“What about the cheese?” asked Anna. “Can we put that on?”
“The cheese?” Elsa asked, looking at the block. She did not know what would happen with it, but it seemed as if it were a better idea than the other ingredients she had brought out. “We can give it a try.”
Placing one of the oils nearby on the pan, they began to give it a try. Slicing a few bread sized pieces of cheese, Elsa set the bread on the pan. She then put on the cheese on top, and another piece of bread to cover it. Immediately the waves of heat began to wash over the sandwich, the cheese seeming to soften as it sat in the pan. The bread itself seemed to harden, the heat grilling the side touching the pan. Hmm. Maybe she was onto something.
Noticing the bread slices on top not changing, Elsa decided to flip them over. Grabbing a nearby spatula, she thought they were called, she flipped the thing over until they were cooking on both sides. The solid and rigid cheese had seemed to have taken on a more liquid form. Just like ice melting into water, Elsa thought.
“Is it ready yet?” asked Anna, standing next to her sister as she attempted to cook. “It looks really good.”
“Patience,” said Elsa. “Just please, be patient.”
After using her judgement, Elsa took the sandwich off of the pan, sliding it onto a plate. She placed the plate on the counter, warning her sister not to bite into it immediately.
As she placed the pan back down, the fire below the stove leapt several feet in the air. The oils in the pan had trickled over when Elsa had removed the sandwich, dripping right into the fire. It now rapidly grew.
“Woah!” the two girls screamed, leaping back.
“You’re going to burn the castle down!” yelled Anna as they looked up to the building fire.
“NO!” Elsa said. “It was an accident!”
“What do we do? How do we put it out?” asked Anna.
“I don’t know!” Elsa replied, panic apparent in her voice. The flame was growing higher, bursting above and enveloping the pan.
“Help!” Anna screamed. Elsa’s eyes darted across the kitchen. There was no water to put it out, nor was there anything else she could have used to put out the fire. There was nothing else to do, she didn’t want to burn the castle down. Elsa looked in horror as the fire grew, and she could practically see the fire ready to leap out at her in a fireball. She cringed, closing her eyes and holding up her hands….
And then the whole room grew immediately ice cold.
Elsa cringed, still waiting for the fireball to scorch her. When she felt nothing, and then the cold, she opened her eyes, to see the entire stove covered in ice. From the base of the fire, which barely smoked, to the top of the wall, ice and snow coated the kitchen, the fire extinguished.
Anna standing to the side, having began to dash to get help, stood in place, frozen out of shock.
Elsa, looking from what she had done to the expression on her sister’s face, suddenly felt a wave of weariness overwhelm her, and sunk to the floor.
Breathe, she told yourself. Just breathe. She did just that, letting the sound of her own breathing fill up the space in her head until she could hear nothing else. Her hands were at the top of her head, pulling her hair back as she realized what she had done.
“Elsa? Are you ok?” came Anna’s voice in between breaths. Elsa had zoned out for a few moments. Her sister’s voice was the first sign of reality coming back into focus.
Elsa said nothing, but eventually found her sister sliding down the side of the counter to sit with her. In her lap was the brown breaded and melted cheese combination she had made.
“This is pretty good,” Anna said. “Do you want a bite?”
“I nearly burnt the castle down,” Elsa panted.
“You saved my life though,” Said Anna.
“But I nearly burnt the castle down!” exclaimed Elsa. “Do you understand how serious that would have been?”
“I would forgive you,” said Anna. “As long as I have my sister, it’s alright.”
They sat in silence for a few moments, the only sound being Anna closed mouthed munching on the sandwich.
“Can I have a bite?” asked Elsa eventually. The sandwich appeared in front of her, and Elsa took a bite. It was not actually that bad. Gooey… and somewhat tasty.
“Thanks, Elsa,” said Anna.
“You’re welcome,” mumbled Elsa, still overwhelmed by the experience.
They sat there in each other’s company, eating in silence for a few moments before the noise of metal dropping to the floor spooked them.
“What in blazes has happened to my kitchen?” a voice boomed through the quiet. The two girls jumped in place. The cook had returned.
They ran, sprinting all the way back until they were safely hidden behind their bedroom doors.