“Mama said we have to wait”

The crisp fall colors coated the land as the remaining leaves fluttered to the ground, the fall harvest had long ago been plucked and the sound of bright voices filled the air as everyone was outdoors completing their daily chores, all except one little boy. Little Alex, a young boy of 6 and a half years old, was inside, his eyes bright with excitement as he headed upstairs to his room, humming a cheery song as he went.

“Mama said we have to wait, but I just want to make sure I have everything!” at the top of the stairs he turned right, heading into his room where all his drawings and some stickers covered the walls. He stopped to pick up a stuffed bunny, who he’d proudly named Snowy, and grinned as he told his furry friend “You can help me check everything!” He tucked Snowy by his side, “Now what was it mama said we’d need?” he tilted his head slightly, trying to recall the items his mother had told him they would need to bring to the pond once winter came and it was frozen enough to skate on. “Skates of course” he said with a smile, heading towards his closet “and my helmet, I’m still only learning!” he grabbed the handle and slid open the closet door, then sitting down and placing Snowy beside him, he started digging through the items on the floor.

He wasn’t sure of how much time had passed, but by the time he heard footsteps on the stairs he had managed to find his helmet and some knee and elbow pads, but no skates. “Look at all this stuff!” his mothers voice called out, Alex turned around with a slight pout on his face “mama, I can’t find my skates” his mother moved into the room, bending to pick up a few items as she went. In his determination to find the items he needed to skate, little Alex had been oblivious to the mess that had accumulated around him. “oops” he squeaked, glancing around him. “We still have a while before the pond will be ready to skate on, why don’t we clean this up?” she put the items she had picked up on her way back into the closet, and sat down beside him, picking up a few more. “How long is awhile? Will it be after lunch?” his mother shook her head, “after supper?” he asked again, his little voice pleading. His mother could only smile as she shook her head once again, “it wont be today, we may have to wait another week or two before it’s frozen enough to skate on” Alex let out a little whine, “I hope it doesn’t take a week, I might forget everything you and papa taught me” his mother could only chuckle, “you’ll do fine, you’re a fast learner” Hearing this brought a big smile to little Alex’s face as he nodded in agreement. He began humming his cheery little song again as he and his mother continued tidying up.

It didn’t take long before the toys were all put away and little Alex and his mother were heading back down the stairs to get lunch ready. “What should we make for lunch today? What sounds good?” his mother asked as they reached the doorway to the kitchen. Little Alex made his way over to the small island in the middle of the room, pulled himself up onto one of the stools with a little hop, and then with a big smile said “CHIPS!” earning a smile and chuckle from his mother “Chips do sound good, how about some sandwiches with them to fill us up even more?” Alex nodded as his mother made her way to the pantry to take out the bread, pausing as she asked, “what kind of sandwiches do you think would be good?” Alex looked at the bags of chips his mother sat on the counter beside the bread; cheezies and plain chips, he thought hard about which one to pick since he loved both kinds. A sudden loud grumbling came from his belly as he was deciding, causing him and his mother to giggle, “how about a classic tuna sandwich with chips?” Alex nodded, and his mother brought the plates and a couple cans of tuna over to the counter and set them down, as she went to the fridge to get a few more ingredients Alex set to work opening the cans and placing 2 slices of bread onto each plate, stating who each was for. “This plate is for papa, and this one for you mom, then sissy” he named off until he got to his own plate “and then me!” Once he was finished, he sat back as his mother made the sandwiches, and then he finished off the plates with the chips just in time for his father and sister to enter the kitchen. “Papa! We just finished making lunch for everyone” he said to his father with a smile, and in return his father gave him a hug as his sister climbed onto one of the stools beside him, both thanking little Alex and his mother as they did.

It was about an hour after lunch when little Alex found himself outside with his father after convincing him that they needed to check the pond. “Slow down or you’re gonna fall in” he heard his father call, Alex slowed his steps, mainly because he was already near enough to the pond that he could see the water still moving. “I wish it would freeze already” his father came to stand beside him, attempting to cheer him up by saying, “I know, but if we keep getting cold days like this with some snow, then it won’t be too long before you’ll be out on the ice” His little eyes lit up with excitement as he said “then I hope it snows a whole lot over night!” he stepped a bit closer to the pond and placed his hand into the water “brrr!!!” he pulled his hand away quickly, “it’s already so cold!” his father chuckled, “let’s head back in and wait for supper, we’ll check it again in a few days.”

It was about 2 weeks later when Alex woke up and saw that it was still snowing, “that’s 6 days now! I should ask papa to check the pond” he hurried out of bed and got ready as quick as he could, and then made his way downstairs to find his father. He checked the living room first since papa loved watching the morning news with his coffee, but he wasn’t there, so Alex headed into the kitchen to see if he was still waiting for his coffee to finish, but the only people in the kitchen were his mother and sister who were getting breakfast ready. “Mama, where’s papa?” He watched as his mother cracked another egg into the pan before she answered, “I think he stepped outside for bit” Alex’s eyes took on a bright look at this, and before he knew it, he was asking “is he checking the pond? Is it ready yet?” “I’m not sure, why don’t we wait for him to come back in and ask” Little Alex didn’t waste anytime before heading into the hall, he was just reaching for his coat when the front door opened and his father came in, brushing off a bit of snow that had settled on his shoulders. “aww, I was just coming out to help you!” His father chuckled as he took in the sight of Alex with his coat half on and only wearing one boot, “I appreciate it, but I think we should wait for the snow to stop” Alex hung his head and quietly said “okay.” His father patted his head and began taking his coat and boots off before heading into the kitchen to check on breakfast, Alex following slowly.

With an armful of snow, Alex threw it up into the air and watched with his sister as some of it came down in chunks and the rest fluttered down slowly, covering them both. Their cheeks and noses were tinted a light red from the cold, but neither one paid any mind as they watched their father sweeping the snow off the now frozen pond. Alex looked over at the tools that lay by the edge; a drill, spare broom and some pylons in case they needed to block off a part. He couldn’t help but grin as his father had declared the pond would be ready for skating once the snow was cleared, and as much as little Alex would love to help his father sweep away the rest of the snow covering it, he was just too excited. He fell back into the snow behind him, arms and legs stretched out, and began swinging them back and forth in the snow, giggling. “Someone seems to be having fun” his father’s voice called out, Alex’s arms and legs kept moving, wanting to make the perfect snow angel “yeah! I can’t wait until it’s cleared off” he called back, the excitement clear in his voice, his sister fell back into the snow beside him, copying his movements to make a snow angel of her own, “from the looks of it, I don’t think you’ll have much longer to wait” Alex tilted his head back to see his mother who had come up behind them, carrying a few pairs of skates, beside him his sister rolled over “mommy!” she stood up and rushed over to her to receive a hug. Alex sat up as well, looking towards the pond to see that his father was just brushing the last bit of snow from it before making his way over to the edge “there doesn’t seem to be any week spots, so we won’t need the pylons” Alex hopped up, and as he made his way over to his mother asked, “so we can skate now?” both of his parents chuckled, and his mother replied “yes Alex, we can skate now.”

After some help getting his skates on and tying them up, his mother helped him onto the ice, he called out to his father who paused in the middle of the pond and turned towards them, a smile on his face. Alex focused on remembering everything his parents had taught him last year, and slowly made his way out to where his father waited.

EPILOGUE

The dark frame surrounding the picture on the mantel came into view as he heard a voice calling him. “Papa! Mama said we have to wait until after lunch!” Alex glanced at the photo, it was his younger self on the frozen pond at his parent’s home, his father stood beside him as he balanced on his skates, both grinning. He turned to face his daughter, who had come in after asking her mother when they could go skating, and smiled, “I think skating on a full belly is a good idea, that way you can stay longer since we won’t get hungry!” He watched as her little pout slowly turned into a small smile “I guess...” her voice trailed off “but I wish we could go now” he shook his head, chuckling slightly “mama said we have to wait, but why don’t we make sure we have everything ready?” her small smile turned into a bright grin as she nodded and turned to head into the hallway to check their bags. He paused by the big bay window in the living room to look out at the familiar snow covered ground he’d grown up on, and at the little frozen pond that sat nestled on the property where many memories had been made, and still many more left to make. With a warm smile, he turned away from the window and followed his daughter into the hall.