Changes |Part 1|
Nathan frowned as he did his work. It wasn't that he was unhappy, more like he was very into what he was doing. He heard a ruffling sound, the sound of a tree branch shaking, as if someone was standing behind it, trying to spy on him. Nathan didn't see anyone when he turned around to look but upon hearing that noise he crouched closer together, letting his back arch above what he was working on, not wanting anyone to see. What he was doing was a surprise for a special someone.
The idea sprang to him one day after one of the biggest snowfall he had ever experienced. Nathan had gotten lost within the woods after hiding from Elizabeth, a girl who was quite infatuated with him. He had almost given up trying to get out until he saw a bright star darting across the sky. When he had looked up, it seemed like for a second the star had stopped, looked right at Nathan and told him, follow me!
And Nathan did as so, he sprinting over the cold terrain, hopped over a few fallen trees until he reached a point where the trees had begun to thin. He liked to believe that the shooting star had guided him; the strange thing was that the star had guided him to the other side of the forest, the side that was towards the pond.
He froze when he realized this. No one went to the pond during winters anymore, ever since what happened to Emma's brother, Jack. Immediately he felt guilty by just standing there. He had this feeling that maybe he'd have been able to save Jack. Maybe if he had asked Emma to play on that day, to run around the village and play pranks on old man Richards. Jack would totally have approved.
Nathan had stood there for a solid minute deep in thought before he felt the wind tug at his sleeves. It felt as if they were directing him towards the pond. At first he had resisted but when he tried to go the other direction, a huge gust of wind pushed him backwards, causing him to trip and fall flat onto his face.
He got up with a groan, brushed himself off and decided that following the wind would be better than for him to fall again and again. The wind was dragging him closer and closer to the ice and Nathan was starting to feel a little nervous. The ice that covered the pond looked thick, but Nathan still felt worried that if the wind dragged him onto the pond, no one would ever see him again. It wind died down and they gently tugged at his cloak, turning him around and leading him towards the big rock that sat upon the snow.
The wind had stopped him right in front of the it; Nathan had a feeling something important was going on. He wondered if the wind was going to come back and point something out to him, but there was nothing. The wind had disappeared. It was absolutely silent, not even the branches of the trees were ruffling.
Nathan began to inspect the rock, it was big and round, but the bottom was flat, unable to roll and move away. The idea of something being hidden underneath was crossed out. He began to circle around the rock, trying to find out what was so special about it. He moved slowly, his eyes inspecting every inch of it. That was probably the reason to why had tripped, he hadn't noticed the rough spot next to the rock.
"Not again," he muttered as he got up. He thought he heard a faint chuckling, but he threw that thought out of his mind, no one came here in winter. No one could possibly be watching.
He brushed himself off, and found what he had tripped on. He kneeled down to pick it up. Nathan's eyebrows furrowed at the sight. He had tripped on battered up skates; the leather had been worn down, probably due to the weather. He picked it up and noticed that the blades were dull. Despite those things, the rest of it was still in quite good condition. Nathan began to wonder how long the skates had been sitting there, probably for years.
The wind had brought him to the skates, but the question he had in mind was why. When he picked up the skates, he saw a ragged indent like someone scratched it intentionally with a knife. There was a straight vertical line and another that connected to it at the bottom but it pointed upwards towards the left. Next to those lines was a square, but what did those lines symbolize? It took Nathan a minute before he understood what he was seeing.
He was holding Jackson Overlands pair of skates. Jack had been one of the best skaters in their whole village. Jack had just excelled when it came to sports regarding the winter weather.
A sudden idea hit Nathan, he shot straight up, grinning from ear to ear, this eyes sparkling with excitement. He dashed off, towards the village with the skates in hand. He hadn't noticed how the winds were echoing the sound of a happy young man's laughter, nor did he hear the soft words that were repeated by the winds. I hope you make her happy.
A/N: So sorry for the late update! I've been really busy with school and family stuff! Seriously busy! Lots of things I've got to do and lots of things I'm planning on doing! I'll try to upload part 2 sometime soon! You may have some questions, feel free to ask! Though some questions you may have might be answered in part two. I hope you guys enjoyed it! Can you guys guess what's going to happen in the next chapter? :)