Icy Dreams

I keep staring at the large white sign on the door with the barely legible handwritten words in red marker that read “Closed today for maintenance.” Maybe if I stare long enough then the sign will disappear, and the manager will walk up to unlock the door. A voice to my immediate right responds, “Great! Now I can’t practice! I drove over 30 minutes only to be greeted by a closed ice rink!” The tall, blond, and slender young man turns around and walks swiftly to his car as he releases loud grunts and allows his blue duffle bag to swing wildly back and forth. After watching him enter his blue jeep and speed off, I turn around and walk towards my bright yellow Volkswagen Beetle with my white backpack on my back and my ice skates draped across my right shoulder. As I begin to drive off, the little voice in my head asks the same question over and over again; “What am I going to do? What am I going to do?” I made a promise to my family and myself that I would practice nonstop everyday in hopes of competing professionally in the World Junior Figure Skating Championships this year, and now I’m on the verge of breaking that promise today. Before I could switch into pure panic mode, my phone rings.

“Hello?”

“Hi Peanut! I was waiting for your call once you arrived at the rink…”

“Yeah mom, the rink has closed unexpectedly so I’m heading back home as we speak…”

She must have heard the utter disgust and disappointment in my voice which inspired her to make an absolutely wonderful suggestion (one which I could have easily thought of if I was in more of a rational state of mind).

“Tracy, why don’t you drive over to Nana's farm and skate on the pond? I’m sure she wouldn’t mind; we did that all the time as kids, as you well know.”

“Enough said. Thanks mom, and I’ll call you back. Love you!”

Before she had a chance to respond, I quickly hung up the phone and made a swift u-turn on the empty two-lane road. As I’m picking up speed my heart begins to race faster as I’m saying to myself, “It’s you and I, triple lutz. It’s you and I!” It’s the one move that I can’t seem to stick the landing on, and I know that I have to in order to have any chance of going to the next level. After 35 minutes of driving and talking to myself, I finally arrived at the farm. I see Nana’s horses, Stella and Bo, off in the distance as I park on the side of the main house. She greets me on the porch with a hug after I ascend up the stairs.

“Hi darling!’

“Hi Nana.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. You are literally growing up before our eyes! I just spoke with your mom, and she said that you were heading this way to skate on the pond.”

“Yeah, the rink is closed and I’ve got to nail this difficult jump or else.”

“I have faith in you, honey. You’ve got this! Want some breakfast? There’s fresh biscuits, sausage and gravy, and scrambled eggs on the stove, along with peach preserves on the table.”

“No thanks, Nana. I’m already behind schedule, and I’ll eat later.”

“Are you sure? You know it tastes better while it’s hot and fresh. And there’s an extra goodie in there waiting for you too!”

“Thanks, but I’ve really got to practice. Catch you later!”

I sit my backpack and phone on the brown wicker furniture on the porch and quickly run down the porch stairs with skates in hand towards the pond. Nana yells something at me but in my haste the only two words that I hear are good and luck. Upon approaching my destination, I briefly stop dead in my tracks and marvel at the wondrous site. With a cloudy sky and tall, thick trees as the backdrop, there is a thin layer of fog that hovers over the ice. It conjures up thoughts of the stereotypical scenes from cheesy horror films of the past, yet at the same time it begins to bring me a sense of comfort and hope. After lacing on my skates and wrapping my lucky pink scarf around my neck, I step to the center of the ice and perform a quick warm up. Before I transition into my actual routine, I pause to take a deep breath and tell myself to FOCUS. I repeat that word at least ten times before I finally resume skating. Almost an hour goes by, and I still haven’t mastered this move. After falling for the fifth time, I hear loud hand clapping to my left.

“You’re doing fabulous. Keep trying!” It’s Nana’s neighbor and my former middle school classmate Kevin. I had the biggest crush on him in those days, and after seeing him for the first time in a few years those feelings instantly returned. He’s obviously taller, and as expected he’s drop dead gorgeous. He still has thick, curly, brunette hair and the most mesmerizing brown eyes in the history of mankind. I stand at my feet and walk over to the edge of the pond where he is standing.

“Thanks, but how did you know I was here?”

“A little birdie that cooked a very scrumptious breakfast in that house told me.” He’s pointing at Nana’s house as he’s speaking. Now I’m realizing the real reason why she was trying to coerce me into the kitchen. I’m also making a mental note to have a stern yet respectful conversation later with said birdie.

“Well, she’s always been great at spreading the word. And by the way, it’s good to see you. It’s been a while.”

“Three years to be exact, which technically isn’t a long time but when it’s someone you have great memories of, it can seem much, much longer.”

At this point, I’m really starting to get mixed emotions. Does he have deeper feelings for me, and if so how should I respond? On the flip side, do I really have time for this type of a relationship? And what about my quest for skating glory, the very thing I have been obsessed with since I was younger? Before both of us open up a conversation that I’m simply not ready for at the moment, I switch gears.

“True. And I would love to catch up on old times but we will have to pick up where we left off later this afternoon if you’re available.”

He smirks and lightly laughs. “I’m available. And if you don’t mind, I'll sit here in the grass and watch the show.”

“Be my guest.”

I roll my eyes but with a half of a smile, and I walk away to the middle of the pond. He puts on a huge smile and sits on the grass with his legs crossed, ignoring the wetness of the dew on the grass.

After falling twice more into the routine, I decide to practice strictly on the move only. I spin and fall. I spin and fall. After each attempt, Kevin cheers me on. During the sixth attempt, I jump into the air, and I suddenly feel this surge of warmth take over my body. As I’m visualizing myself making the perfect landing, I perfectly spin in the air three times and…..