Here, Have A Turn On Mine
Here, Have A Turn On Mine
"Here, have a turn on mine...." sleds flew down the hill, and were dragged back up, in an endlessly moving parade. Cassie had just moved to Pennsylvania from Florida, and was loving winter-time more every day. Sledding, snowball fights, sliding on the frozen pond....
The kids in her neighborhood all seemed pretty nice, happily introducing Cassie to the fun of a cold-weather winter.
So Cassie was surprised that none of the kids would play with the small girl who showed up, quietly standing at the edge of the group with her sled.
"It's Maria! Don't talk to her, just pretend she's not there...."
"She'll go away, as long as nobody talks to her....."
They all seemed almost nervous, and shortly after little Maria's arrival, they all left, hurriedly tripping through the snow to get back to their warm houses.
Cassie stared indignantly after them. She hated to see anyone being picked on. She tried a smile, and Maria smiled back, pointing to her sled.
"Do you want me to sled with you?" Cassie asked.
Maria nodded, and they dragged the sled uphill. Cassie squeezed on in front, and away they went.
The sled was breathtakingly fast. Cassie squealed in delight....
It was terrifyingly fast. Almost unnaturally so....Cassie couldn't get enough breath to squeal, and through streaming eyes, she saw that the sled was heading towards the pond.
The ice, which had been so solidly strong all week cracked treacherously as the sled careened onto the pond. It seemed to open like a great mouth, and Cassie felt icy water swallow her....
Maria wasn't in the water. Cassie could see, hazily, a small, lone figure, watching from the pond's bank, but she was too numb to even call or struggle.....
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The neighborhood kids looked solemnly out at the pond the next day. It's surface was clean, unbroken, and fresh snow covered all the previous day's tracks.
"Maria got another one", one of them whispered.
"We tried to tell her...."
"Come on, try to forget about it. Here, you can have a turn on my sled....."