MInTheGap Fiction Fiction Writing from MInTheGap

S-No Kidding–Page 5

"ADAM!!  Wait, I didn’t mean it," she said, trying to get up.  She just kept sliding and falling.  I came back to her.

"Promise not to pull me down?"

"Yes," she stated.  I offered my hand, and with it she was able to get up.  She shook a little, and I wobbled a little.

"Easy killer.  Don’t try to be world class all at once.  Let’s take this one step at a time."  I showed her how to move her feet to get the rhythm and motion going correctly.  We skated together for a while before I turned to her and asked, "Are you ready to try this on your own?"

"Sure," she said.  I let go of her hand.  I slowed up a bit, and she went a little faster.  It seemed like she had gotten the knack of it.  I chased her, and she went faster.  She started to lose her balance.  She fell backwards, I reached out and caught her.  I had her under her arms.  We were still going pretty fast.

"Are you okay?"  I asked her.

"Thanks.  That might’ve hurt."

"Not a problem.  Can you get up?"

"Umm."  She started, trying to get enough force to get up, but she kept slipping.

"Okay, here’s what you do.  All I want you to do, is start to bring your feet backwards, I’ll lift you."

"All right."  She said.  I started to lift her up.  She was a lot lighter than I figured.  Easing her over to my right side, I kept my arm around her back.  She put hers around me.  "This is a lot of fun, Adam.  Thanks for bringing me."

"Let’s be honest with each other, all right?"

"About what?"

"You’ve never skated in your life before now, right?"

"I wondered how you figured that one out."

"And I. Well, I can’t swim."

"You can’t swim!  That’s so funny!"

"Hey, I could let you go right now!"  I said, loosening my grip on her side.

"No, no, I didn’t say that.  I was just remarking how things are different from where we live."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I grew up in water, practically."

"You’re not a mermaid are you?"  I asked with a smile on my face.  She punched me in the stomach.

"No.  And you were born in the north so you know about all these snow things."

"And skating."

"And skating," she repeated, "It just goes to show how much we could learn from each other."

"Oh, I get it.  Well, my dear southern belle, are y’all hungry enough to get something to eat?"

"Sure’n enough I am."

"Well then follow me."  I took her over to the booth and exchanged our skates.  We put back on our boots, and we walked back to the car.  Taking a path that was not used, which you could tell because there were no other foot prints in the snow, Kendall was struggling walking beside me.  "Walk in the holes I make."  I instructed her.  She started to follow in my foot-steps, literally.  We got to a place where no one could see, and I turned to her and said, "Would you like to make a snow angel?"