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On Frozen Pond

When the Sun Shines

By NJPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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Gail bent down at the edge of the frozen pond. Her glove pushed away the recently fallen snow. She guessed it was solid frozen an inch thick.

Clear ice. She attempted to catch a glimpse of what stood between her and the ice. A strong sun blazed overhead. Her head bent down further. No sign of life. But ghosts of the past pushed through the limits of her mind.

She saw herself as a small child. Skating hand in hand with her Pa. Pa always wore his red and black lumberjack shirt layered over a puffer vest, thick wool sweater, and several layers underneath. Her pa was strong as he plucked her standing on the ice. In one fell swoop he lifted her over his shoulders and began to skate.

They laughed in joy. Often the sun would dance above their heads. Ma would cry from the edge of the frozen pond.

“Be careful of my only daughter, John. Be careful. She’s my heart and soul.”

Pa usually waved back to Ma. And hugged legs tighter. Gail squealed in delight as Pa skated crazy eights, and then backwards towards the edge of the pond.

As Ma would grab Gail, Pa would bellow. “She’s my heart and soul too, Cheryl.”

And they both kissed. Gail recalled that happy time in her life. Their life on the frozen pond. Idyllic and happy as the sun always seemed to always shine on those golden moments.

Then one day, the sky turned black. Forever blocking out the sun. Pa received a phone call. A call for help from a neighbour across the pond. The sun started out shining, and as Pa rode on his ski-doo snowmobile to aid a fellow friend. The ice must have cracked. Pa, and the ski-doo snowmobile fell through the ice. Gail and her Ma saw it all. The sun went out at that exact moment.

Gail saw her panicked Ma call that same neighbour asking for his help. And then called another. Gail stood at the edge of the pond.

“Pa, come back, come back. I can’t see you anymore.”

Dressed in snow pants, and pink hat with a matching pink pompom, Gail began clearing the snow from the frozen pond. She looked below. All she saw was the colour black. An eerie darkness fell over, along with a sinking feeling that life was not going to be the same again.

Ma came running out screaming.

“John! John! Can you hear me? Grab the ice. Help is coming.”

The neighbours came to help. A special machine came on the ice and hauled up a ski-doo snowmobile. And then a frozen Pa from the dark waters.

Life was not the same. The frozen pond was never the same. Gail and her Ma moved away that winter to live with Gail’s own Ma and Pa. They lived 30 minutes away in a big house in the main part of town. There was no lake to be found behind their house.

Twenty-years later, Gail had moved back into her Ma and Pa’s old house with her husband Will. And on this exact day twenty-years ago, Gail began to search below the depths of the frozen pond. The only difference. The sun was shining. It was blazing upon the frozen pond.

A few tears washed upon Gail’s cheek as she thought of that fateful day. She turned towards the house and saw Will and their young daughter waving. And she thought.

It will be different this time, on frozen pond.

Short Story
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About the Creator

NJ

A creative soul at heart. Truth, love and compassion influence my creativity in the form of writing, painting, and living life.

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