Christmas Break

Tiny flakes fell so slowly at first no one cared. Another flurry of snow wouldn’t amount to anything. During that night the tiny flakes became a big and steady fall of snow that went on for 2 days. When it stopped, a thick blanket of white covered the northern half of the state. Blue sky and white snow were all that could be seen. Ice-covered everything from houses to trees, making them look as if they were made of glass. Nearby, Dare Pond was almost the size of the elementary school. The kids in town had never seen a frozen pond before, they were going to see it now.

People came from all around the area to the pond to ice skate, sled, and build snowmen. Christmas break wasn’t over until next week so no one worried about school.

Maes’ Mom took her to the pond that day thinking it would be a chance for her to exercise and meet other kids. Mae and her family had just moved there in early December. Moving in the middle of third grade was hard enough, Mae was shy and found it hard to make friends. She wanted to but she felt like they were always judging her as the new kid. Mae had spent most of Christmas break playing by herself. Today, her mom had insisted that they go ice skating, maybe they would meet some nice people she said, Mae hoped they did.

She wore her favorite coat, red with white faux fur with matching gloves and hat, it made her think about Santa Claus. Christmas was her favorite time of year, she got a break from school, play whenever she wanted, and watch her favorite movies. It would be nice to have someone to play with.

There was a group of girls not far away from where Mae entered the pond. They looked like they were having fun skating and hanging out together. She felt good today, she would try to make friends. She skated up to them.

“ Hi, I love the snow, don’t you?”

The other girls stared at her, Mae hated that stare. She felt like she was being examined from the inside out. Finally, one of the girls with pretty long brown hair looked like she was the boss of their groups. She looked Mae up and down.

“ Who are you?” the girl asked

“My name is Mae.”

“Whatever, we have friends.”, the girls snickered and skated away.

Mae stood there not knowing what to do. She hated feeling rejected, why couldn’t everyone just be nice, she thought. She just wanted someone to talk to. Mae felt frozen in place like her brain didn’t what to do next.

“ You want to skate with me?”

“Who said that?” Mae looked up surprised.

A girl was standing there in a brown coat and snow boots that looked a little too big.

“ Hi I’m June, you want to skate with me?”

“Yes!” she said with a big smile on her face.

“ Well, let’s go.”

The two little girls began to skate around the large pond and talking about themselves.

June told Mae about her Mom and Dad who were farmers that sold produce and baked goods in the summer. They had a little stand they would sell from every summer. Mae learned about what it was like working on the farm and the people June would see in the summer when her family would operate the fruit stand. Mae told her about the movies she loved and they liked many of the same ones. The girls also talked about their favorite foods and tv shows. After they asked their moms, Mae and June decided to play together tomorrow.

Mae had to go home, it was time for dinner. June looked forward to seeing her the next day. They would become good friends and always remember the day they met.