"That was fun, wasn't it?" Finland said behind me on the sled.
"I guess," I said.
"What do you want to do next?" he said cheerfully. "What's your favorite thing to do in the snow?"
"Don't know."
"I know! There are just so many fun things to do! There's fort making, snowball fights, skiing, snowboarding…" He rambled on and on. His enthusiasm about the snow made me happy.
"I know! Lets' go to the lake to see if it's frozen over!"
I nodded. "Just point the way."
Finland pointed to the right through a thicket. There was a small little path that was just big enough to slide the sled through.
The clear lake was completely frozen. It had frozen so perfectly smooth that it looked like glass.
Finland pulled out something from beneath the sled. It was two sets of strap on skates. He handed a pair to me and started strapping some on to his boots. Hanatamago hopped off and ran to the shore. He sniffed at the ice.
After Finland was done, he helped me fix mine on. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to the edge of the pond.
My legs were shaky at first, but Finland helped steady me.
"There! You're getting the hang of it."
My legs were stronger and I found I could skate without his help. He skated ahead of me, keeping close to the edge. He skated backwards, looking back at me and smiling.
He could skate a lot better than I could. He lapped me several times. He might have been showing off a bit, but I didn't mind. I liked to see him shine.
Hanatamago decided he wanted to join in on our fun. He took a tentative paw out and stepped gingerly onto the ice. He gave a happy little bark as he found the ice would in fact support his weight.
"Finland!" I called out. Hanatamago had stepped out into Finland's path.
Finland turned around to notice the little puppy. He swerved in order to avoid him. He lost his footing and fell down onto the ice.
"Finland!" I called out again. I made my way over to where he was.
"Don't worry, Susan. I'm okay. I'm just a bit embarrassed." His eyes went wide when he saw me. "Susan! Don't come any closer! Stay right where you are!"
I was a little confused by his request, but it was too late. I stepped onto the middle of the pond.
The next thing I knew, the clear ice cracked from under me. It no longer could hold me, and my body fell straight down into the icy water.
I fought gravity as my skates tried to pull me down. I reached for the surface but only felt cold glass. Where had I fallen?
Like a flash, Finland's body passed right above me. I heard a whoosh as he joined me in the freezing water. His arm reached out for me and pulled my head to the surface.
I gasped. I breathed in the precious air. Finland pushed me up out of the water and onto the ice. I stayed on my stomach, evenly distributing my weight. I pulled at his arms so he could join me on the ice.
The cold air felt even colder on my wet skin. Finland grabbed my hand, and we wriggled off the ice.
"You're all wet," I said as Finland clawed at my skates. He threw them off and went for his own.
"We'll be okay," he said. "People in my country do this all the time. We've got to hurry though."
We abandoned our stuff at the shore and hurried back to the house. Hanatamago ran at our heels.
Finland opened a door at the side of the house, and we quickly got in. He dragged me into a little room. There was a curtain that separated the room into two.
I thought I saw his face blush as he closed the curtain behind me.
"Um, you're going to need to take off your c-clothes. There should be a t-towel on the shelf on the wall. When you're d-done, c-come out."
I stripped out of my soaked clothes. I was worried about Finland. Because of me, he had become completely soaked with icy water. He was so cold, he stuttered when talked.
Speaking of cold, I was pretty cold as well. I could hardly peel my clothes off. My shirt clung tightly to my body. I piled my wet clothes into a pile. I wrapped a white fluffy towel around my naked body.
I peeked behind the curtain. Finland wasn't there anymore. I stepped out into the other half of the room.
"Finland?" I said.
"Over here, S-Susan!"
The voice came from the hallway. Across the way, there was a sauna. I opened the door to the warm little room.
Finland was in there. He was tending to the pile of burning wood in the middle of the room. I could feel my face going red. He was only wearing a white towel on his lower body.
"Come on in. You need to get warm," Finland said. He didn't look at me. He poured a bit of water on the wood, causing the room to steam up.
I sat down on the only little bench in the room. Finland sat on the very opposite end from me. Me eyes traveled across his wide shoulders. It was hard to forget how muscular he really was. He saw me looking at him and his face went beat red.
"Uh, your wound!" I blurted out, suddenly embarrassed. "It's still closed."
"Y-yeah!" he said looking away. "You really are the breast, I mean best, at stitching. You sure are good with your hands. Ah! I didn't mean it like that! I meant that you're really good at making and fixing things. I'm really glad I met you! You've been making things a lot easier for me. You're really good for someone like me." He babbled.
"I'm glad to have met you, too," I mumbled, suddenly shy.
It seemed like sweat was coming out of every pore. I couldn't tell if I was hot or nervous. What was this strange feeling?
"I-I think I'll leave first," Finland said. "When you're done, you can put the fire out."
He opened the door and stepped out.
I stayed in the sauna so I could clear my head. My mind tried to wrap around what Finland had said. I shook the offending thoughts out. I was thinking about it too much. He probably didn't mean it like that. I was blowing it out of proportion.
I took the bucket of water and poured it over the fire, filling the room with steam and effectively putting out the fire.
I made sure that the towel was firmly secured around me and stepped out into the hallway. I turned the corner and quite literally ran into Finland. His hair was dripping wet. There was alittle confusion as he tried to work his way around me in the skinny hall.
"Th-The shower's open now! I left out some of my clothes out that you can change into."
I nodded and ran into the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I hadn't realized I had been holding my breath. I breathed out. Get a grip, Susan.
