One Month Later (The First Day of Snow)
During another cold and cloudy day, the streets laid quiet outside due to the low winter temperature. A front door outside the apartment building on the ground floor was opened by Robot, who held a black trash bag in his hand. He whistled to himself the September tune as he opened the lid of a nearby trash can and dumped the dirty bag inside. He dusted off his hands, and before he could ring the door buzzer to get back inside, a small, freezing particle landed on his tall head.
He flinched a bit from the sudden chilly feeling and now looked up to the skies. From there, another new season emerged that Robot now saw for the first time with its wondrous appeal. Large masses of tiny snowflakes flew from the gray cumulus clouds in the sky, and Robot stood in wonder to gaze upon its beauty. He exposed the palm of his hand to this unknown white powder and watched as it slowly piled up.
After a while of staring at the pile of snow that accumulated on his right hand, Robot eyed curiously at the fresh powder and tilted back his head to drop it in his wide-open mouth. When the freezing snow entered his body, everything inside him froze with numbing sensations. But, he only shivered for a brief moment and looked up to the skies again as the snowflakes kept falling at an increased rate.
Now, he eyed the different directions in which they fell and began to move around his head, eating every single snowflake in his view, one by one. After that, once he eventually missed catching one of the snowflakes, he stepped out of his trance and noticed himself now getting covered with more snow on his arms and shoulders. Despite that, he stayed perfectly still in his spot as more clumps of snow stuck onto his head and feet.
Meanwhile, Dog held a small cardboard box filled with a few ornaments as he was almost complete with the finishing touches of his Christmas tree. He pulled out the last blue ornament and placed it on the top of the tree and then pulled out the final piece from his box which would be the Christmas star. Dog tiptoed a bit and stuck out his tongue as he positioned the large pointy star out and looked at his decorated tree with a corner of a smile.
The star tipped over a little, but Dog pushed it back into place with a brief grunt. Furthermore, he crawled on the floor and searched through a large tangle of wires until he finally located the one that connected the Christmas lights. He plugged it into the electrical outlet, and the entire tree was now illuminated with tiny flashing lights.
Now, he searched around the room, noticing that Robot hadn't been back in the apartment for a while. Dog stepped over to the window and gasped at the sight with a hand over his chest when Robot was nearly covered in snow. Under the impression that Robot was frozen stiff, he quickly snatched his oil spray can and ran outside his room to come to the rescue.
Dog stumbled clumsily on the way downstairs and rushed his way out the front door. The snow-covered robot laid motionless, and Dog gave the aerosol can a good shake. Robot then abruptly jumped right out of the snow, startled by the rattling noise behind him, and turned to Dog. His friend looked back and forth between his oil spray and Robot sheepishly from the false alarm and hid the can behind his back with a nervous chuckle.
Now that they were both back inside the apartment, Dog used a white bath towel to wipe the melting snow off Robot. To the robot's horror, the melted ice that dripped on the wooden floor made him realize that snow was a frozen version of water. The concerned canine could barely keep the panicking robot restrained while his metal limbs flailed around, trying to shake himself dry as quickly as possible.
It wasn't until the spray was shown to him again that Dog helped him to calm down a bit. When Dog was positive that Robot was as dry as he could be, he sprayed the oil all around his body like it was sunscreen. After that was all done, now he wanted to play a safer game with Robot, so he grabbed one of the Milton Bradley cardboard games from the top shelf. A 100-piece snowman puzzle box was laid on the table, and Dog opened the box, pouring out the puzzle pieces onto the table.
Not long after, Robot sat on the tabletop and watched Dog try out the first few pieces. To Dog's satisfaction, he managed to find the pieces with both button eyes and assembled them. Then, he walked away from the table, giving Robot a chance to try out the next pieces. He grabbed the condensated TAB bottle and walked next to the sink to refill his red bottle with more soda pop. When Robot connected two more pieces of the puzzle, he grinned and soon added three more, and so on.
Dog soon finished screwing the lid back on his plastic container and grabbed a spare newspaper nearby. He turned around back to where Robot sat and gasped in shock, nearly dropping his drink, when he noticed that the 100-piece snowman puzzle was completed already. Dog, in complete disbelief, placed his drink on top of the newspaper on the table and rubbed his hand across the completed puzzle.
Robot sat there confused, unsure if his friend was pleased or not for finishing the puzzle like Dog wanted to. He kept staring at the jigsaw snowman, bug-eyed with amazement until he finally looked Robot in the eye and wagged his tail with a proud smile
Dog then picked up his bottle, and before he could take a sip, the water ring left by his drink stained a small ad that caught his eye. The square picture read, "NOW OPEN - The Rink At Rockefeller Center." With a glimmer of hope, he smiled as he took another sip of his carbonated drink. Ice skating was something he wanted to try out for a while. If he was able to roller skate, how would ice skating be any different?
It was quite a walking distance from home, but they soon made it inside the center. Dog pulled down the hoodie of his orange-blue striped jacket while Robot only wore a green scarf wrapped around his slim neck. Inside the entrance to the skating rink, they headed over to the counter to receive their new skates from the Rottweiler at the front desk.
Then, they took a seat in the waiting room to strap on their black ice skates. Robot turned his pair upside down and was surprised to see metal blades in place of the roller wheels he was used to seeing. Dog had mentioned prior that they were going skating on ice, but he didn't specify that it was going to be with these metal blades. Regardless of whatever concerns he had, Robot still tried them on anyway.
After securing the Velcro from both skates, Robot stood up from the wooden bench to test them out. But, he nearly lost his balance when the blades scraped against the floor instead of rolling. Robot quickly regained his stability soon after, and Dog stood by his side with concern to make sure he didn't do another faceplant. They both held hands together as they walked out the glass doors and were about to enter the ice. Since the winter season had just commenced, there weren't too many animals in the rink as of yet.
Before they went through the entryway, Dog rubbed his hands together in preparation and kicked his blades against the wet concrete, his eyelids lowering with determination. Feeling pumped up, he ran proudly onto the icy surface just like how he did when he jump-started his roller blades. From the moment the metal skates made contact with the ice, it was a whole nother level compared to what he was familiar with before now.
Immediately, his right blade shifted off-center, and he yelped loudly as he fell hard on his side. Before he could get to his feet, he heard a loud CLANK! next to him and saw Robot fall in the same pose as him. Whether Robot had imitated Dog or unintentionally fell as well, Dog crawled over to the edge and grabbed onto the nearest railing he could find.
In fear of getting his body more sore, he gripped one hand over the other on the outer rail as he took small steps over the slippery surface. Occasionally, he tried letting go but kept returning to the railing within a second or two. Meanwhile, Robot followed from behind and observed closely at some of the other animals that went skating around the rink. He watched the others and tried to get a glimpse of how skating was done on ice compared to the asphalt pavement.
He noticed many of them skating around in pairs while others did special techniques and tricks on the ice. One of them was a tall giraffe who ran as if the skates were rollerblades and picked up the pace by reaching the other side of the rink in a matter of seconds. Then, Robot turned to a short pink bunny that circled around the center of the rink within a radius of a few inches. He glided past a few animals with just the balance and momentum of his feet.
But then, a certain individual caught his eye. A short black and white penguin with an orange-striped beak and yellow eyebrows entered the platform and started showing off his moves. Robot watched closely with amazement as he skated over to an empty spot and started spinning around on only one foot. Penguin straightened his arms parallel to the ground and kept twirling around in one spot while Robot was amazed that he could keep his balance with that much speed.
After showing off that maneuver, Penguin skated a bit forward and curved his path from left to right. He hopped a bit, landing his feet back on the ice, and then alternated between lifting each foot as he turned around, forming a spiral shape on the ice. Later, he stuck out one leg and began twirling around again at a rapid rate to Robot's amazement. That was the best performance Robot had seen as of yet.
Now, since he wanted to try out that move, Robot gained the courage to leave the edge and slide closer to Penguin. He stumbled over his feet on the way, but this time he stretched out his bendy arms to catch his fall. Once he found an open space, he raised his arms in the air and tried spinning around with one foot in the air. To no one's surprise, he failed miserably and landed on his back. He then got up to his feet and tried again. It went as well as anyone would've expected.
As Robot continued to repeatedly practice the same moves, a constant metal clang echoed through the area which especially drove Penguin nuts. He covered his ear holes in annoyance and grumbled a bit as he heard Robot fall over and over again. The robot tried little by little experimenting with various ways to balance his legs and curving them in different forms just to get the right posture.
Eventually, Penguin grew sick of it and skated far away to escape the unbearable sounds of Robot. Dog continued to watch from the sidelines full of hope that his pal would not humiliate himself the same way he already did with his boastful entrance. After falling a few hundred more times, Robot was able to prove that practice makes perfect. He finally started to get the hang of it and was able to spin around just a couple of times before falling once more.
Unfortunately, this penguin came back with a vengeance. With a little smirk on his beak, he raced straight towards the robot and came to a stop by drifting on the ice, which sprayed a large heap of ice shavings onto Robot. He raised his hands to shield his face, and when he put his hands down, Penguin pointed and honked at him with laughter from his little prank.
"Hey!" Dog shouted in the distance.
Dog witnessed the whole ordeal from the background and scowled at the penguin, picturing all the different ways he could give him a piece of his mind. He then let go of the railing, but his feet already began to wobble before he even took the first step.
The doggo wailed with fear as his skates veered off course, and he swung his arms around in circles as he tried to maintain balance on the ice. Penguin took notice of the fumbling canine in the background and waved to him with a mocking greeting. Before Dog could lose his balance, he managed to leap right back onto the railing just in time. He took a few shaky breaths and gripped the handrail tighter, his black pupils now wavering.
"Bah!" Penguin shrugged off Dog's pathetic attempt and left the two alone after skating off.
Once the short penguin went out of sight, Robot faced his fearful pal just a few yards away from each other while Dog stared at him, absolutely petrified. The terrified look in his eyes drew Robot closer, and he arrived face-to-face with the other. Robot looked down as Dog gave a high-pitched whine and looked down in shame. The robot then whirred one arm, cupping his hand under Dog's chin, and lifted his head to stare at him directly. The canine simply gave a comforting smile in response.
But, in an instant, Robot whooshed away into the open space, pushing his feet as hard as he could. It was almost as if he wanted to prove a point to Dog. Skating on ice wasn't all picture-perfect for the tall android, but he ran with his feet in a slightly curved direction. He took full advantage of his flexible arms, elongating them to bounce himself up every time his legs slipped. At one point, a deer couple stood in his path, but he expanded his legs over them before returning to his regular height shortly after.
Following that close call, he resumed skating across the ice, now gliding along the flat rink in a circular motion while creating a large ring in the center. During that period, Dog eyeballed Robot with his peculiar skating skills and beamed with joy, now loudly applauding while resting his elbows on the wall. For the finishing touch, he kicked one leg while balancing himself with the other one, now spinning around on one foot.
He twirled around in one spot and then gradually bent in his arms and leg as his spinning accelerated with Dog quickly losing count of how many times he spun around. Once Robot finally came to a stop, he hopped on over a few times on the way to Dog and gracefully landed on his feet, his long arms now grabbing onto the wall beside Dog. The long breath he held since Robot showed off his moves was released, and a frosty vapor cloud was exhaled onto his face. The metal surface clouded a bit as a result.
Suddenly, a slow clap was heard behind them, and they turned their backs to see that it was Penguin who stared at them with a little smirk. Then, he skated away, and both Robot and Dog now looked at each other in the eyes once more.
Robot offered his hand to Dog to skate along with him. Dog gladly obliged, but he winced with chills up his spine and rubbed his hands rapidly from the chilly contact. Due to the freezing temperature, his exterior metal surface became cold to the touch, making it difficult for both of them to make contact with each other. Then, as an alternative, Robot unraveled the green scarf wrapped around his neck and offered it to Dog as a way to hang on together. Dog gladly obliged again, and now, they went off to skate together.
Robot started off slow by taking casual steps while Dog glided along. He remained giddy with excitement as he could finally slide along and admire the view. But, when Robot saw another brown horse race past them, he beamed with eagerness and began to get carried away, catching up to his pace. Dog tried tugging on the scarf, but due to the lack of traction on his skates, all he could do was helplessly watch.
It wouldn't be long before his cowardly scream rang through the field as he hung on for dear life with Robot getting progressively faster. Now in the position of a glider, he shifted off-center when Robot made a right as other animals barely dodged out of the way. Ultimately, a pair of two anteaters stood in their way, and he released his grip on the scarf to narrowly avoid them. He slid across the ice diagonally, susceptible to impact, and soon enough, he accidentally bumped into Penguin, knocking him over to the ground.
He frowned, disgruntled with the little inconvenience but quickly skated away like nothing had just happened. Dog, who stood perfectly still, then bent his knees to slide a bit forward and gasped in amazement when he didn't fall for once. He soon began to realize some of the correlations between roller skating and ice skating. When he could pinpoint those similarities, he took a few more small steps and began skating a bit more as he cautiously caught up to where Robot was moving along.
In the meantime, Robot drifted to a stop and sprayed off more of the ice. Eventually, Dog finally made it and whooped with triumph as he tagged along with Robot and skated together side-by-side. When Dog noticed that his friend still held the long scarf in his hand, he wrapped the whole thing around his metal hand. Now, they could finally hold hands together in some way, shape, or form, skating together into the sunset. When going solo, it may seem sloppy but when synchronized, everything goes just right.