Oh dear. I'm sorry! I swear that this was going to be updated all March Break, but then the random spring weather didn't allow us to get to the cottage. :( I was really hoping for the inspiration. But anyways, as I looked at the story, I liked it again. So, rekindeling my passion, I will finish this story over the next few days.
Ella
Outside, they sun was setting already, casting an eerie glow across the lake. The rink was on the other side of the island, along with the skates and sticks for hockey. Walking around, my mouth opened in wonder.
The flood lights that someone set up shone on the ice, showing every scratch and crack along the shoveled ice. The way the ice dipped, there was a shadow on half of the rink, with an old hockey net hanging on one side of the rink. The thing that amazed me the most was not a thing, it was a person.
Annemarie was on the ice, pearly figure skates strapped to her feet. In just leggings and a bomber coat, she soared, no, floated across the ice. The light dusting of snow that was falling and her hair streaming behind her mixed with the intense power of the flood lights made her look almost like a winter fairy. She glided across, flicking herself into a high powered spin and landing with graceful ease. The small smile on her face was accented with the rosy cheeks as she skated backwards, turning and twisting this way and that.
Another spin was propelling her through the air, making it look almost slow motion, but I could almost feel the dizzying speeds that she was turning. Landing with hardly a sound on one foot, we heard the gentle scrapes of her sharpened blades against the ice. Finally she pulled into a spin, bending unnaturally backwards and spinning faster and faster, her hands up like a tree's branches. Then her spin slowed, and slowed, the smile on her face slipping a little, and she finally came to a stop, looking at the ice at her feet in finality. I almost wanted to cry, the way she looked so broken.
The Gasman was the first to start clapping with his gloved hands, making a muffled thump. We all joined, and the older ones without gloves made the most noise.
Her head snapped up and she smiled and blushed and skated to the edge, preparing to take her skates off. By this time, the sun had already fallen behind the tree line and the floodlights shone brighter with every second passing.
Walking towards her, we all wondered how long she would have had to be skating for before to pull of those beautiful moves. I could even tell that Fang was impressed, and that's saying something.
"Don't take them off! They look as if they were made to your feet the way you moved on the ice like that. That was totally amazing! You should be in the Olympics or something, it was that freaking amazing!" Nudge yelled, running towards her now. We all followed suit and stood around her in a lopsided circle.
"Really, I'm not. I just like skating." She declined and blushed a bit more before bending down to loosen her skates.
"No way! You have to skate with us now! We will all look like fools next to you, but you could teach us some moves or something! Like, I really like that foot changing thingy. Come on, you gotta skate some more!" I really wanted Nudge to shut up, but I could see that Annemarie was reconsidering.
Sighing, she finally gave in to the quadruple Bambi eyes. "Fine, but only for an hour." We all cheered and sent the boys to bring down the tub of skates for us to sort out. After ten minutes, we all found a pair that fit us and started to lace up. With the help of Annemarie and Ella, we got Angel and Gazzy on the ice, trying out their new feet.
Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Ella and I laced ourselves up, Iggy feeling everything out. He actually got his laces the tightest out of all of us. We joined Annemarie and the younger ones on the ice who were laughing as Gazzy slipped again.
I cautiously stepped onto the ice, nothing to grab if my feet did slip from under me. I had the dumb figure skates on with the annoying pick in the front. All of the guys had hockey skates and so did Ella for some reason. I still had one laced foot on the snow bank that surrounded the rink, so I was stable for the moment. Ella was at ease, skating backwards while holding Angel's hands to keep her steady. Iggy was told of all the cracks and bumps and carefully avoided them, but skated like he had been doing it his whole life. Fang was the same, and trying some stops on top of that.
Taking a deep breath, I pulled my foot out of the snow bank and pushed off a bit. The skates had a mind of their own and slid out under me. I gasped, my arms pin wheeling, as I tried to find some sort of friction on the ice. But with it being ice and all, there was nothing but air. Prepared to take a hit to the head, I felt some arms wrap around my upper torso, stopping me from falling.
I turned my head to see Fang there, with a smirk on his face.
"Ice not your element?" He asked with a smirk. I huffed, annoyed that I was bad at this.
"Air is the only element that I have mastered." I shot back. He chuckled but released the hold he had on my body to my hands.
"Let me help you out, Maxie." He kept his grip as he started to skate backwards, gently pulling me along with him. It was just like Ella was doing to help out Angel, but this was a bit more…romantic. I watched my feet as they moved with his, making sure they didn't fly out from under me again.
I started smiling when we got half way around the rink. He kept his gaze on my face, not looking behind him for skating bird kids. He smiled along with me as we reached a full lap. His grip loosened on my hands until they broke contact.
"What are you doing?!" I asked my arms out to keep me from falling. I had lost momentum and was just standing there, the ice a bit too slick for me to take kind to.
"Come on Max, just push forward. I'm right here in case you fall." He stared right at me, his relentless gaze boring into my worried one. The snowflakes were illuminated with the flood lights, as I watched one fall gracefully and catch on his eyelash. I looked over to see Angel laughing as Annemarie and Ella shot her across the ice. The Gasman and Iggy were stopping, Iggy more successful than the Gasman.
Looking back at him, I took a small push with my right foot. My body moved forward, the blade amplifying the imperfections on the ice causing me to teeter a bit. I bit my lip, and tried again with the same foot. I moved again, a little further this time. Fang skated backwards still, his hands ready if I made a mistake. His smile was huge as I tried with my other foot, getting the feel of the movement.
I giggled and gained speed, the whole skating thing coming as easily as the rest of the flock made it look like. Fang laughed and spun around to skate beside me. Even though I was amazing at this already, I needed Fang's arm for support.
We went around for a few laps, Fang showing off and literally skating circles around me. I just laughed, the exhilaration from the sport putting me in a great mood. The adults came down, and soon it was a very busy skating rink.
"HOCKEY!" Gazzy exclaimed as Dan and David pulled the net and sticks from under the cottage.
We rushed to the side to claim a good stick setting up the nets quickly. There was one problem though.
"Where's the puck?" Angel asked, looking around the ice.
"Uh, right. Raine!" Dan called, and the dark brown dog came bounding around the side of the island. Skidding to a stop on the ice, he sat there looking around at everyone, his mouth clamped over something black and important.
"Give it here." Dan crouched down, holding his hand out to the dog's mouth. Raine just looked at his hand and back up to Dan.
"Don't be a pest, just give me the puck." He made a move to get the puck, but Raine just took a step back, tilting his head to the side.
"Fine, please." Raine dropped the slobbery object into Dan's hand and ran off again.
I started to laugh. That dog was very smart.
"Game on!" Shouted Iggy. "Girls against guys!" He went to the center of the ice, ready to play forward. I looked over at Fang who was standing beside me.
"Well, this is clearly to your advantage." I said in a monotone. He smiled and leaned down to give me a kiss on my rosy cheek.
"You have the frigging figure skater. I'm sure you'll be fine." I smiled and skated to the girls' side of the ice.
All the adults came out, including some of the older kids. Amanda was out, mounted onto hockey skates, along with Cheryl and John. Dan, David and Rita were all out; even my mom was on her own skates, moving with a skilled practice around the ice. We all took our positions on the ice, sizing up the other side.
It was 8 against 6 for the girls, including myself. This was going to be a piece of cake.
So, that's a nice little ending. If there's at least 2 reviews in my inbox by tommorow, I will update again! I'm working on all my other storied too, so they shall be updated again. When they leave the cottage, they will come back in the summer, enjoying all the summer activities....I don't know if I mentioned this before, so well, now you know. HOPE YOU LOVE ME!
PS. I loved Alice in Wonderland. ;D
Ella
