Figure Skating

Zoe was inside with a cold today, and I've been itching to try out my new figure skates, so I decided to head down to the lake near our house. Besides, it was such a gorgeous day that I couldn't stand to stay inside!

I sat down on the dock, carefully slipped off my boots and tied on my figure skates.

I left my skate guards tucked safely away in my boots and set out onto the ice.

I had to clop out quite a ways to find smooth ice. It has been alternately raining and snowing over the past few weeks, which makes for very bumpy, crunchy ice that isn't ideal for skating, especially when one has figure skates with teeth on the edge.

After tripping and stumbling over the bumpy areas, I finally reached a suitable patch and began to push, glide, push, glide, across the ice. Suddenly, I wasn't Charlotte Tate anymore. I was Ainsleigh Adams, the fabulous, two-time Olympic gold-medalist. Ainsleigh never fell, never stumbled, and was beloved by everyone who knew her. I closed my eyes for a moment, and when I opened them, I had suddenly been transported from the frozen lake to a large, glittering stadium packed to the breaking point with my fans.

I looped once around the ice, and the crowd cheered as I passed by the grandstands. I stopped in the middle of the ice and held up a delicate hand for silence. For a moment, all that could be heard was a quickly stifled cough in the audience. Then, in a breathtaking swell of stringed instruments, the music began and I was off. 

I attempted a difficult spin and the crowd roared its approval as I came to a gentle stop with my arms still poised above my head.

I skated, jumped, glided, and spun around the stadium to the cheers of the crowd, and finally the finale approached. I would skate one-legged around the entire circumference of the stadium. I stopped for a moment to prepare myself.

I took a deep breath, pushed off the ice, and slowly raised one leg into the air. The audience nearly lifted the roof with their cheers. I closed my eyes, feeling as if I was soaring.

Then, suddenly, I was brought back rather harshly to reality. In closing my eyes, I had veered off course, and had hit one of the crunchy patches of ice. The teeth on the edge of my skate blade caught, and I went sprawling onto the ice.

I sat up, bewildered. Ainsleigh Adams never fell! The stadium was gone, and my only audience was a crow that happened to be flying over. I closed my eyes, hoping to be transported back to my world of pretend, but when I opened them, I only saw the frozen lake.

I sat there for a moment more, then gave a little laugh and started making my way back to the dock. I could only imagine how Zoe would have laughed if she had seen me!

I tied the laces of my skates together again and slipped on my boots, then headed back up to the house.

Despite my fall, I did have a good time on the ice. Do you like figure skating? Playing hockey? Playing pretend?

That's all for now! Thanks for reading!

Happy (belated) Valentine's Day!

Happy belated Valentine's Day, everyone! I didn't have time to post on the day, but it's the weekend now so I've had time.

Some of the things I've missed most about elementary school this year are the lack of recess, tougher classes and teachers, and more homework. On Thursday, I added something else to that list. No class parties on Valentine's Day! In middle school, they sell carnations that you can have delivered to someone else in the school. Though that might sound like a good idea, it really isn't, at least for people like me. Now the whole day has just turned into an excuse for the popular girls to rub it in everyone else's faces that they're desired by the other gender and we're not.

At least I still got to dress up, like I used to in elementary school. No flowers or teddy bears for me, but my friends and I still exchanged valentines, so the day wasn't a complete letdown.

I ran upstairs as soon as I got home to open my cards.


Ginger came over to investigate the pile.

The first I picked up was the one from Zoe. It was drawn to resemble a soccer ball, and at first I thought Zoe had made it herself. Then the Whitmans logo and the price tag on the back gave it away; it was store-bought, as always.

Underneath that were the cards from my school friends.

Here are all the cards I got, minus Zoe's. Aren't they pretty?

I looked up when I realized Ginger wasn't next to me anymore. She was a few feet away, lifting the lid off of a heart-shaped box of chocolates with her nose.

I shooed her away before she could eat any. She whined and gave me her best puppy eyes, but I wasn't falling for it.
I picked up the box. It wasn't mine - maybe Mom had put it in our room as a surprise?

I turned to ask Zoe if it was hers, and I stopped dead.

In her hands was a huge bouquet of roses. My first reaction was to think that it wasn't hers. Then I caught sight of the card.

Zoe looked disgusted; I was shocked. I opened the card to see who it was from.

The inside and the back were blank!
"Zoe? Who gave this to you?" I asked.
"I have no idea," she responded. "I found them on the floor next to that box of chocolates, and I thought they were yours. Then I saw my name on the card."
I picked up the bouquet. Who could have sent them?

"Who would send flowers to you?" I asked in bewilderment. Zoe frowned, looking hurt, but I was so jealous that I didn't care. How was it that she got flowers and chocolates and I didn't? Zoe still thought that boys were only good for playing sports, and would sooner arm-wrestle one than kiss one. I had the strongest urge to tear them up or throw them in the trash, and might have actually done so had Mom not called up to us:
"Girls! Dinnertime!"
Zoe went downstairs and I slowly followed after. Even the prospect of my mom's special Valentine's Day Mint Fudge Tart wasn't enough to cheer me up. My Valentine's Day had gone from very disappointing to even more so, and there was nothing I could do about it.

How was your Valentine's Day? Do you, like Zoe, have any secret admirers?

That's all for now! Thanks for reading!