Our Norway Pond

The air horn blared and all at once the fleet of box sleds began their uncertain descent down the hill towards the frozen pond. The bumble bee sled rolled over right at the beginning of the race and the airplane sled started to spin uncontrollably down the hill. The race car sled had the lead, it's wide, low profile allowing speed and stability. Jay and I watched as children got thrown from their poorly made cardboard contraptions, their parents failing to run to their aid, slipping down the icy slope. Jay was nearly in tears laughing, pointing at his younger brother's sled, barrel rolling down the hill, taking out all other sleds in its path. The race was over within minutes, Jay's younger brother the victor, by literally crushing the competition, emerged from his beaten sled in tears and covered in vomit.

This was an annual event in our small mountain town. Only a couple years earlier Jay and I also competed in the race with our duct-tape and cardboard sleds but this year we were thirteen and too old. That was fine with us though, we preferred each other's company over the crowds of people in town. Jay could not contain his laughter, his face turning red as he rolled next to me on the snowy hillside. It was common for him to laugh at the misfortunes of others, especially his bratty little brother. With a chuckle I stood up and offered him my hand "let's get out of here before your dad sees you".

"I don't give a damn about that old man, he wouldn't be able to chase me up this hill if he wanted to." Jay replied as he grabbed my hand.

"That's true but if you get grounded again then we won't be able to hang out after school" I reminded him, irked that he seemed not to care.

"I'm already grounded" he confessed with his big toothy smile "I snuck out and walked into town as soon as everyone left the house for this stupid race" He continued as we started our trek towards the graveyard. "I don't care what my dad says. He thinks he can control me but I'm not scared of him".

Just like me, Jay was fearless, that was one of the reasons we got along so well but he was also reckless. He acted without thinking about the consequences, getting himself, and me by association, in trouble on many occasions.

I balled up a fist full of snow and pegged him in the side of the head a little harder than planned. Stopping mid step he wiped away the snow, a devilish smile creeped onto his face "you're gunna regret that" he warned. I ran as fast as I could but the snow was deep, tripping me every other step. There was no chance of escape. Before I knew it he had tackled me down into the snow, sitting on me he shoved multiple handfuls of snow into my pants. "STOP THAT JAY!" I screamed as the freezing snow stung my bare skin, melting inside my suit. "I have to walk home you jackass! Now I am going to be soaking wet and cold the whole way!" I managed to push him off of me. He laughed as I did the jig trying to get the snow to fall out of my pants.

"You started it" he stated as I glared at him.

"I'm going to sick Seth on you when we get to the rope swing" I warned, stomping off through the graveyard. Jay laughed, "Bring it!" and ran ahead of me, down the hill into the woods.

The rope swing was a place where kids went to hide from their parents. It was located behind the graveyard down a steep, narrow bank that adults had a hard time climbing. We spent most of our summer days there, sometimes as a group, sometimes by ourselves. Seth was a friend of ours, like us, he didn't have the best home life. His mother committed suicide only 3 years ago and left him in the care of her socially inept boyfriend. He took on the role of my "protector" the past summer when a local creep decided to follow me around town and refused to leave me alone. Jay and Seth flashed their switchblades at him and told him to never show his face again. It worked and I was able to freely roam the town again without any worries.

I slid down the embankment to the rope swing. "Seth! Jay shoved a bunch of snow down my pants!" I tattled expecting Seth to jump to my defense. Instead he looked at Jay with dark eyes and an open mouth smile. "You ready?" he asked.

I immediately knew I got there too late, they had already put a plan together for my arrival. I tried to clamber back up the bank but it was all ice. The first snowball hit me in the shoulder, then another to the back of my head followed by about fifteen more pelting my back while I sat balled up in the snow. I should have known better, ever since we did that blood pact I was considered "one of the boys".

"Hey Guys! what ya up to?" A soft voice asked from the top of the bank. "Is that Midge?" he asked.

"Yeah it's me! These jerks just attacked me with a barrage of snow! Come beat them up for me!" I yelled back, flustered.

Eli stood silent for a moment and assessed the situation from above before answering "Nah, You probably started it" he concluded before sliding down the embankment onto my lap. Jay and Seth fell into a fit of laughter at my failed attempt. Reaching out, Eli gave me a big hug, squeezing as hard as he could. I didn't hug him back but he knew that it was appreciated and it helped calm me down after dealing with the other two bozo's.

"Aww you guys are gross" Jay mocked before plopping down on Eli's lap and joining in the hug, rendering me completely immobile. "Don't forget about me!" Seth called before jumping onto Jay, knocking us all over.

"You guys are ridiculous!" I cried while pushing them all off of me. "Yeah but you love it" Jay replied before grabbing his backpack and pulling out a box of matches to start a fire. He wasn't wrong. I loved all the boys, they were my family away from home. I had known Jay and Eli since we were in second grade. Seth came into the picture only a year ago but he and I clicked as soon as we met. Over the summer he developed a habit of randomly showing up at my house when he couldn't find me in the center of town.

I watched as the three boys worked together to start a fire a few feet out on the frozen pond. Seth had laid out some hotdogs and marshmallows in the snow and Eli unpacked a bottle of wine he stole from his mom.

"Sorry guys I wasn't able to bring anything from home today, Mom hasn't gotten any groceries for the past few weeks. We are living off scrambled eggs until the food stamps come in" I explained while I took a seat next to them and the fire.

"Eh, It's fine Midge, we all know what it's like at the shit shack." Jay reassured me. My home was known to many as the "shit shack" due to its poor construction and maintenance. He took a swig off the bottle of wine and passed it to me.

Seth cut open the hotdogs and stabbed them onto sticks for everyone. "We should make a fort out here and camp for the night" he stated while looking at a patch of trees. "We have a canvas tent in our basement that would fit perfectly over there." he added.

"I'm in if I get to sleep next to Midge" Eli teased.

"No, Midge gets to sleep in the middle!" Jay added, laughing and nudging my arm with his elbow.

"Oh Yeah, Good luck with that guys, It's fucking fridgid out here at night, I'll pass" I took a small swig off the wine and passed it off to Eli.

"Well I might do it anyway, I am sick of dealing with Trent" Seth stated. He never liked to explain the details of his home life but every day it seemed he had a new injury, bruises, cuts and sometimes even burns. Once I asked Eli and Jay if they knew anything about it but both of them weren't sure what was happening and didn't want to push Seth to talk.

"You're welcome to stay at my place, you can have the top bunk, if you climb through the bedroom window no one will know you're even there" Eli offered. Eli had a pretty good home life, he lived in a beautiful house with his parents who worked decent jobs and were always able to keep food in the house. His biggest problem was that his parents didn't really like his friends, us.

The band in town started playing a folksy tune that echoed across the frozen pond. It was a local band that we were all familiar with. Jay and I sang along with the song, our arms over one another's shoulders. Sitting around the fire, we passed the bottle between us and complained about our home life. Sympathizing, harassing and consoling one another.

Time passed and the sun started to set behind the surrounding mountains.

"Jay you are never going to make it home before your dad" Eli informed him. Jay let out a big sigh "Ehh what's a couple more bruises" he lifted the empty wine bottle to his mouth hoping for one last drop.

"Give him hell man" Seth chimed in, stumbling up to his feet "Eli I think I'm going to take you up on that offer" he added. A smile illuminated Eli's face as he stood up "Awesome, I'll open the window and you can climb the tree, I have this new computer game we can play" Eli looked down at Jay and I "Midge you going to be okay on your walk home?" he asked but before I could answer Jay responded "I'll bring her home". Eli nodded and said his goodbyes before heading up the hill with Seth.

Jay and I sat in the snow looking out over the lake "We should probably head home" I said reluctantly. "Home is when I'm with you" he replied and grabbed my hand, laying his head on my shoulder. Jay often got mushy when he drank but I understood completely what he meant. The homes we lived in brought us no comfort compared to the company of one another. I rested my head on his and sighed.

That night we took the woods trail to my house. Walking hand in hand, fearless of the darkness surrounding us, we laughed and joked about running away and building our own lives together. By the time we made it to "the shit shack" it was just past 10pm.

"Are you going to get in trouble for being home so late?" Jay asked, walking me to my door.

"Nah, Mom is probably still passed out drunk from earlier today, I doubt she even knows I left. How about you?" I asked, knowing the answer.

"I'm in for a beating but I can handle it" Jay smirked.

"Give him hell" I joked, mimicking Seth. "I'll see you tomorrow at the pond?" I asked.

Jay pulled me in for a big, long hug "You bet" he whispered quietly. I hugged him back before watching him walk back down the path towards his house. I'll never forget that night, that whisper, that day.

Tomorrow never came for Jay. That night when he got home his dad strangled him until he fell limp.