Running outside, I lost my breath instantly due to the heavy winter apparel equal to the weight of a small child. Although my layers of warm clothing couldn’t save me from the two degree temperature taking away my warmth in a matter of seconds. I made my way around the house and down the stairs at the back of the house to the storage room. The ice skates were kept here. I tramped through the twelve inch snow to get there. The storage room was accessible from outside as well as from inside the house. 

Someone opened the door that leads from the house to the storage room. I could hear the chatter of voices as the door opened. The voices came to a halt as the person gently shut the door behind them. I gazed at the stairs waiting for the person to appear around the corner. I see my grandma, her face lit up with the warm smile she always wears. I sat on the cold cement floor as she secured my skates tightly to my feet. Ice skates never appeared dangerous to me, regardless of the sharp blade. 

Emily was already on the lake. I made my way towards her, and we began skating. It may have been cold out, but the sun was beaming from the sky as a flashlight does through the darkness. The wind blew with force across the lake, blowing the snow thin in certain spots. We chose the spots that had been cleared of snow to skate. The ice was smooth, making it easy to skate with ease and speed. 

Regardless of the fun that skating was, it was also tiring. I didn’t mind, though. My body was kept warm, fighting off the cold wind that hit my skin as I glided across the glistening ice.  After not even a full hour of skating, I heard Emily let out a small scream as if she had simply slipped. I skate over, and she said, “I slipped, and my ice skate went into my leg.” 

I was frozen for only a second, but then returned to reality. 

Knowing exactly what to do, I skated towards my uncle who was ice fishing. Thankfully, he wasn’t far from where we were. With Emily’s current accident on my mind, I was skating very cautiously. Realization started to sink in, and I began to cry. My cousin had just got an ice skate in her leg...in her leg! Scrambling for my thoughts, I began telling my uncle what happened. He listened to me carefully, trying to make sense of my panicked thoughts. After I was done talking, he reached into his thick, black Carhartt coat to grab a key. Rushing over to the four-wheeler, he picks me up with ease and plops me onto the back end of the seat. Then he put the key in, the rumble of the engine filled the air. The sound of the engine intensified as he pressed the gas. I watched the ground as the tires squashed the snow beneath us. My uncle turned off the four-wheeler and called Emily’s dad who, coincidentally, is a paramedic. 

When we were waiting for Emily’s dad, Bucky, to get there, Emily showed me her cut. She took off her purple mittens and pulled at the rip in her leggings. Blinking my tears away to look, I saw her leg muscles through the torn fabric. The skate made a clean cut straight into her leg. She was so calm, but I was terrified. I never thought something like that could happen. We were just having fun, I wasn’t aware we were in danger of anything. 

A couple minutes later, I could hear the crunching of snow and the ice cracking. I looked up to see Bucky’s black truck slowing to a stop beside us. He got out and picked up Emily from the frozen ground, putting her into the truck. When he saw how frightened I was, he chuckled and told me she will be just fine. Emily was taken to the emergency room. I was on the edge of my seat the entirety of the time we were waiting for Bucky to call with an update. Eventually he did, she was given several stitches inside and outside of the cut. 

Making it back to the house, I was welcomed with the smell of hot chocolate in the air. I talked to my mom about everything that happened, telling her how I was never going to skate again. Before this day, I was just a kid who enjoyed having fun. Then I found out how easily I could be hurt or someone else could be hurt and that scared me. I didn’t want to know what pain was and I surely didn’t want to see my family in pain ever again either. My mom reassured me and told me to drink my hot chocolate. I calmed down with each sip of hot chocolate I took from my blue snowman mug.