Falling Over Flying

Squirrels were, quite possibly, the most important creatures in the world. This is because they have one of the most important jobs in the world.

Entertaining hyperactive dogs when their owners are too tired to run with them.

The squirrel made a chattering sound as it jumped from branch to branch. The black lab, Bear, raced under the outreaching trees, head tilted to follow the path of the furry creature. A few yards behind was a thin figure wrapped in a giant winter coat. Her hands were stuffed in her pockets as she tried to navigate the snow. It was thick and reflected the blinding light of the sun. The trees had a thin layer of powdered snow on them. Every time the squirrel made it to a new branch, a mist of white fell on the ground below.

Bear barked happily as he ran, almost sliding into a tree as the slippery ground got the better of him. The top of the snow crackled because of the layer of frost still intact from the morning dew. As she got to the end of the path, she finally saw her destination.

A beautiful, glittering pond was stretched in the clearing ahead. On the opposite side, trees thickly lined the edge of the now frozen water.

Memories of ice skating filled her mind. There was always a steep learning curve to any sport. A lot of bruises and stress and tears were a part of her ice skating career. The first time she put on skates, she had fallen right back down. Over and over and over. She was ready to give up. She did, in fact, not want to skate ever again for a few days. It was painful and hard and there was little to no pay off that she had seen.

It was her mother that changed her mind. Her mom could always tell when something was wrong. She pulled her aside and asked. Skating was all she had talked about for a long time and she was so excited to try going out on the ice. Why had she shoved the brand new blades into the back of her closet?

She almost wanted to cry because her mother was right. She had been so excited to finally try ice skating. Her brand new skates had been proudly tied on her feet as she held her arms out, trying to steady herself.

Her mother had convinced her to try it again. She had walked her down the beautiful snowy path until they came to her family’s favorite hidden spot. The frozen pond was just big enough to be a comfortable ice skating rink. Bear had been just a puppy then. He hadn’t known that he couldn’t walk on the ice and his legs had slid out from under him like in a cartoon.

Since that second attempt, ice skating had become a normal fixture part of her life. Practices, competitions, and watching professionals online was her favorite way to spend her time. She wanted nothing more than to become as good as the people she watched on TV.

Every so often, it was a good idea to come back to the pond where it all started. This was the place where she fell for the first time, and succeeded for the first time. It was where she practiced every day when the pond was solid enough to be on. It was where she truly started to love not just the sport but the art. She hadn’t wanted to finish learning to ice skate because she had gotten a little hurt when she fell. But if she had stopped, she never would have learned how to fly.