Guest Carlyan the Wise Posted December 29, 2002 Report Posted December 29, 2002 (edited) This one isn't near so long, nor as good, I fear, as "Normal," just an idea that popped into my head and I wrote. Couple's Skate “You call that skating, old man?” shouted the only other one on the ice, at an elderly man who had been gliding over the ice for some time now, just simply going around the elliptical edge of the rink. “What? Oh, no… I’m just getting warmed up for practice,” said the man with a twinkle in his eye… outside, on the ground, he wasn’t near as nimble as he could be on the ice. Whenever he put on the blades, and every time he shaved the ice with a clever stop, he felt as though he were young again… so he came every day. “Alright, let’s see it then,” called the brat—a young boy in a sweatshirt and ear-muffs, skating up to be parallel with the older man, a sneer ever-present on his face. “Oh… were you thinking something in the way of a contest?” asked the old man, putting just a bit more creak and age into his voice as he spoke. “Hah! A contest, with you? Sure… I’ll skate circles around you. But hey, it was your idea.” The old man only smiled, and he increased his pace… he dropped down into a speed skating crouch, and put one hand on the small of his back. The boy was taken by surprise at this, but followed suit, and kept up. As they approached a corner, the older man took the inside, and moved his legs in a scissor, rounding the corner perfectly. As soon as he came out of the bend, he turned to the side, spraying ice forward onto the younger man…who, consequently, hadn’t been able to stop, and had fallen to the ice with a sick thud. “Oh, I’m sorry… are you alright?” asked the older skater, kneeling to help him up. The boy slapped his hand away, and the man just smiled… “Ready to continue, then?” “Shut up and skate,” said the boy, who turned around and skated backwards, jeering at the man. The man gave a look of pity at the boy, increased his pace, and passed in front of the boy, coming back behind him and doing it again, so that he had literally skated a circle around the boy. The boy fumed, but the old man just continued his path around the ice. He skated out into the center, and leapt into the air, performing a double-toe loop, and landing it perfectly. At this, the boy stopped and gaped, but the man continued. He spun quickly, faster and faster, his arms out, and as he did so he slightly bent his knees so that he lowered and got closer to the ice—then straightened his legs again, and stopped twirling. He ran across the ice on his skates, not skating, but running, and looped around the boy he had previously been in competition with, before continuing around the ice, backwards this time. And then, another person appeared on the ice… a blinding figure, dressed in all white—it was an old woman, her hair pulled back into a bun on the back of her head—and her wings spread behind her, as she landed—an angel. She was wearing, as it happened, skates. The old man stopped, and gaped. She held out her hand, and he smiled softly, skated over, and took it. They bowed to each other, and the woman folded her wings on her back. They took both hands of the other, and the man skated backwards and the woman forwards, doing a quick circle around the ice, before he looped an arm over her head still holding her hand, spinning her. With that, she skated away from him, laughing… he chased her, and after much quick paced skating, he caught her… she hugged him, and spread her wings… They took off like that, together, arm in arm… as they passed over the boy below, a teardrop of happiness hit him on the cheek… and he watched them soar out of sight. Edited April 29, 2004 by Alaeha
Guest Tamaranis Posted December 31, 2002 Report Posted December 31, 2002 (edited) Bet that kid feels really dumb now! I find that I don't have much to say about this, except that its well written and I have no problems visualizing what is happening. Also its a little surprising to see an angel appear in what I had been thinking was a setting that lacked magic or the supernatural. Edited April 29, 2004 by Alaeha
Guest Carlyan the Wise Posted December 31, 2002 Report Posted December 31, 2002 (edited) *gives thanks to Tamaranis for replying* Aye, it was supposed to be set in "Real Life," but yeah... the Angel was supposed to be his wife, and yeah... hmm... Edited April 29, 2004 by Alaeha
Guest Tamaranis Posted December 31, 2002 Report Posted December 31, 2002 Oh, was that some of that symbolism stuff then?
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