When I was no older than ten my brother, Jack, died before my eyes. Minutes later I too perished with the same fate as him… however, my story will never have a happy ending.
It was the day of New Years Eve. Fresh fallen snow dusted the trees and blanketed the ground; my hometown, Burgess, received one of the first snowfalls of the season last night while I slept tucked in next to my brother under the warm woolen blankets. Now that it was morning and the water had finally froze solid, Jack and I walked through the frost-bitten forest to the lake to test out our new ice-skates we received for Christmas. The invention was fairly new, and I could tell that Jack was itching to try them.
It wasn't long until we arrived at the lake. Ice lingered over the cold depths which provided a barrier between life and death, however, Jack said that the ice was thick enough to skate on so I believed him. Once we both put our skates on I took cautious steps onto the glossy exterior of the lake. It was only a few seconds before I fell flat on my face and right onto the ice. Cold burned my rosy cheeks and I struggled to stand back up. Jack was quick on his feet and dashed to me, placing my feet back on the ground.
"It's okay; you only fell because the ice is more slippery here." Jack said, he then grabbed my arm in his warm hand and slowly skated further out onto the lake. "Let's go over here where there is more snow to pad your fall…. If you fall that is." He flashed an encouraging grin at me, and we made our way to the center of the lake. White flakes of snow covered the ground; the ice was barely visible in some patches.
I slid over the ice with ease thanks to the help Jack gave me on the way over. I let go of his hand and showed him how well I could skate by myself. "Jack look at me!" I said and I skated onto the very center of the pond and attempted to spin around, it must have looked more like a waddle. Jack chuckled and skated over to me, but stopped mid glide when a loud cracking nose came out from under the ice. I looked down, tiny cracks began to form around the ice below my feet. I let out a shrill scream.
"Jack! Jack! Help, I'm scared!" The cracks around my feet had grown larger and larger by the second. I looked deep into my older brother's eyes for help.
"Calm down, calm down." Jack ran a hand threw his mousey brown hair and looked around the frozen wasteland for anything to help him. He grasped his walking stick tightly in his right hand and slowly inched closer to me. "Let's play a game, like hopscotch!" He jumped in my direction, lessening the distance between us then motioned for me to follow suit. I took a giant leap, the ice cracked dangerously loud and I was sure that my body would soon plunge into the icy waters. Jack reached out to me with his walking stick and flung me out of the way, falling in my place.
The wind got knocked out of me as I crashed onto the hard surface of a snow bank, I open my eyes just in time to see Jack plummet into the icy depths of the lake. I scream until a pain in my head numbs my senses and fades me into darkness, I had hit my head on the ice when Jack pushed me out of the way.
Night came and the howling of wolves woke me from my slumber. Head throbbing, I stood up, my memories leaked back to me. "JACK!" I ran to the center of the lake, not caring if I fell. When I got there, the hole was frozen over, no sign of an accident which I swore happened earlier. "Jack this isn't funny, stop playing your tricks!" I said, no one responded. I threw my hands down frustrated and begin to storm off of the lake. Jack shouldn't have scared me like that.
My thoughts were mean and hateful; I wish I could have changed that because the next step I took was my last a human being. My foot struck a crack in the ice and I plunged into the dark depths of the freezing water. Water flowed into my mouth… my eyes ceased to work; I knew this was the end and awaited my death...
It was almost light at first… but then darkness corrupted my vision… and I was scared.