SOLSC 7/31

The soft swishing noise of metal on ice fills my ears. The cold, frigid air surrounds me. The blood oozes out in droplets, and lands on the hard ice with a small plop.

I was in first or second grade – maybe even kinder garden – I can’t remember anymore. For several years, during the winter, my dad got out our homemade ice rink. It was basically a big tarp with inflatable edges, so that it could hold a few inches of water. We would inflate it, fill it, and let it freeze. In the end, we would have a big ice rink we could walk out onto that was ten steps from the back door. Sometimes we would skate, sometimes play hockey, etc. But after one unfortunate experience on that homemade ice rink, I grew to hate it – and barely skated on it afterwards.

The only problem with the rink was that it became uneven. It had higher and lower spots that were almost to small to see, but were noticeable when skating. It made me lose my balance so much so that the rink was difficult to use for an inexperienced skater like me. The rink could even have small holes, and some of them would have jagged edges. They were basically little holes in the ice full of spikes. That made the rink scary and dangerous.

One night, I was feeling pretty confident with my skating ability. I was cruising along, humming to myself, trying to have fun. I put my hands in my coat pockets, and kept skating along. Then, I hit something – maybe a rough spot or a bump. My feet stopped, and I tipped over. I began to fall straight forward, like a tree falling over. However, I had my hands in my pockets, so I couldn’t stop myself. I saw the small jagged hole as I fell, getting closer and closer. I face planted right onto the hole, and tore apart my lips.

I started bawling, and everyone came rushing over. My lips were totally cut up, and blood was running down my face. My dad picked me up and carried me into the house. They fixed me up pretty well, but it hurt a lot, and I was really scared. It was a lesson learned the hard way: watch for jaggedy ice holes, and keep your hands out of your pockets.