"Jack, I'm scared!"
Any minute the ice beneath our feet could crack and any minute we would both die. But she won't. I had to save her.
"No, no, it's okay," I manage to say. "Don't look down, just look at me, okay?"
"Jack, I'm scared!" she says the second time.
I take a step forward. And as I did, on the ice appeared another crack. "You're going to be alright, you're not going to fall in," I say, even though I know one of us is going to. "We're going to have a little fun, instead!"
"No, we're not! " she shouted at me, she's nervous. Who won't be?
"Oh come on, would I trick you?"
"Yes, you always play tricks!"
"Yeah, well not this time," I say with encouragement. "I promise." Her hazel brown eyes staring at mine. I was serious about the things I've said. I'm not going to let her fall in. I love her too much. "You're—" it hurts. "—you're going to be fine. You have to believe in me."
A look of slight relief, I saw it in her face. And suddenly, I had an idea.
"You wanna play a game? We're gonna play hopscotch, like we play everyday!" I say.
"It's going to be as easy as 1," I take a step. "2," another step. More cracks in the ice. "3!" and I put myself into safety. "Now, it's your turn." I grab a wooden staff.
She takes a step. "1," I count. She gasps. "2," the ice is going to break any minute now. "3!" I grab her legs with the staff and slid her into safety. I went sliding off to the place where she had just been.
She looked at me like she didn't know what just happened. Then she smiled and reached for me.
Her smile was the last thing I ever saw, her voice calling out my name the last thing I heard.
I fell into the cold, freezing water. It was cold, it was dark. Everything was pitch black. I didn't try to swim to the surface anymore. Everything was dark, I knew I couldn't swim to the surface. I knew I couldn't save myself.
When I finally felt the bottom of the frozen pond, I closed my eyes.