22 Frozen Lake

May 3, 2013

12:06 pm

Christine Romulo

The spring sun shines beautifully on this city. The horses pull our carriage ever so gently that I could hear the music of their clattering hooves. We pass through the peaceful part of town where trees soar high like sycamores. I see children playing with their toys around this beautiful park. Some lovers even hold hands as they walk around the pathways of the park we are passing through.

After passing by the parks and trees, we return to the reality of this city of cars and roads. We did not stay that long on the road though. After a few turns here and there, we arrive at a dome-like building with an enormous space all-around.

Quite odd. I have lived in this city all my life, and yet, I have never seen this building before. The building is so grand that it almost looks like a church in its grandeur. Lights pierce through the dome glass and inside this building.

As the carriage stops, Mateo heads out and helps me too. With a short nod from Mateo, the coachman heads off with his two horses at the head. I see cars parked all around with families heading for the building. So, a family-friendly place, but what is this?

"Interesting choice of place," I say to Mateo. "Interesting choice of means of travel, too. Tell me, Mateo. What is it that you have planned for us today?"

"You will see," he replies. "As I said, if I can, I will turn back spring into winter."

*

As we enter the building, I feel a chill within. Something tells me that we should not be here at all. I look at Mateo who seems to be hardly concerned at all. There is nothing here that screams problem, but all I feel is chills. As we walk through the doors, now I understand.

Ice rink.

He took me to an ice rink. The dome glass above the building turns out to be the source of natural light in the middle of this rink. Skaters perform their tricks with some of them leaping and turning with great feats. Some skaters are little children learning their first steps to becoming a skater. Sometimes, this ice rink would release fake snow of ice flakes all around to emulate winter.

This was a part of my childhood. In a time when my family is not the shithole that it is now, I was actually happy with them. One of my happiest memories with them is our winter parties and bonding.

I can remember it all just like it was yesterday. It was the winter of 2001. Snowflakes fell about like little angels from the heavens. The trees that used to bloom flowers and leaves have dried up for the next few months. They held piles of snow on their branches. When spring comes, they will return to life like resurrection itself. In my winter clothes of coats, mittens, and scarves, I still felt the frosts and ice around me.

Even though it is freezing, this family still managed to make the most of it. We found a lake of beauty that, in the summer, is a great spot of fishing. The lake froze into ice in this cold of a time. All I saw around me was the beauty of white and blue.

"Come on, Christine! Aren't you gonna come join me?"

That was the sweet voice of innocent Margaret. She rushes for the frozen lake like a young child. Excited as she is, she put on her skates and danced all over like the Swan Queen. She was like a ballerina from one of Tchaikovsky's Ballets – elegant, beautiful, and graceful. She glided her skates with ease as she makes figures in the air and on the frozen lake. With the help of my gentle father, he put the skates on my feet.

"There you go, my dear," he said after securing the skates on my feet. "Hold on to Margaret. She will guide you around. Remember, don't try the tricks she's doing. Those are far beyond you. Just be careful, alright."

I was too excited to join Margaret that I could hardly hear my father's warnings. I was so giddy with everything that I could practically bounce on my feet had I not been wearing my skates. "I will, papa! I will!"

"Good," he said as he kisses me on the forehead.

He helped me stand on my feet by holding on to my hands. If he had not been holding on to me, I would have immediately fell flat on the ground. The skates are so wobbly for my young ankles that I feel myself almost giving up.

"This feels weird," I said to him. "Do skates really stand on thin slits of blades and not fall off? How is it even possible, papa?"

He chuckled at my young amusement. "You will learn, my dear. You will learn."

He pulled me towards the frozen lake with his gentle guidance. He then hands me to a skating Margaret. "Now, Margaret. Not too much tricks. She's still on her first days. If you try to do any of those, I will – "

"Oh, come on, papa," Margaret interrupted. "Where's your sense of fun with these rules? Of course, I won't teach those to Christine. It's too dangerous. Loosen up. I'm sure that with the basics, she will have fun. No need to tighten up."

His weary face really spoke a lot. He was that worried about me. What a time that he actually cared for his daughters. "Of course," he said as he realized his words. "Maybe I'm too much of a grump. I know you will take care of her." He briefly embraced Margaret. "Just be careful. That's all I ask."

"We will."

She takes me for a walk around the lake with her hands holding on to mine. I can feel my ankles shaking, but I hold on tight on to Margaret.

"You seem a little tense," she said as she glided me around. "Try to balance yourself. Once you learn how to balance, you can go skating on your own."

"It just feels a bit funny. It's like I'm a noodle with all of these."

After an hour of holding on to her, I felt myself gaining the balance of the blades. Of course, there was a lot of falling down in between. I cannot remember how many times I fell down, though. That part of my memory is a bit foggy. I felt myself competent enough to walk on ice with blades as I catch up to her.

"You seem to be getting the hang of this. I wonder what will happen if I let you go!"

And just like that, she lets go of my hand. Suddenly, all the panic returned to me. I feel the chills go up to my spine as I realize that I can fall down at any second. "Margaret, wait!"

But, she refused to hold on to my hand again. In this, I could not help but close my eyes for fears of what is about to happen. Will I fall down? Will I slip? I am not holding on to anyone. What if my skating shoes suddenly slip from my feet, leaving me with one shoe? All of these panics rush through my head.

But then, I realized.

I am standing on ice. I am standing on ice with thin slits of blade beneath my feet. I balanced myself with these slits, and still, I am not slipping off. I open my eyes once more to realize it all. I am doing just fine. I can balance myself. No need to worry.

I could almost laugh at myself. Margaret, who had been a patient teacher in this ordeal, lets out a smile for me as she sees that I can do it. Now that I can do it, all the energy rushed through me like adrenaline on fire. I skated towards her and held on to her hands again. "Don't ever do that again!"

She just let out a smug smile. "Maybe, I will. But you can do it now, so, why not do it again?"

And just like that, she lets go of me and skates off. I saw her taunting me to catch up to her. She did not do her tricks of wonder, but rather, she simply challenged me to join her.

"Why, you trickster!"

I skated my way to join her. So, this is what she wanted. Alright, let's have some fun. We skated together side by side in this frozen lake of ice.

After a while of fun, I felt an urge within me to try something. "Hey, Margaret. Watch this."

I slowly broke away from her. In a spirit of childishness, I moved around on ice while making silly faces here and there. Often times, I did a knock-off version of her elegant moves with me hilariously failing at it. She just laughs at my silliness in all of this. As I feel the winds all around me, I feel myself spinning into spirals of joy and happiness. I did not even notice that I went way too far away from her.

"Alright, that was fun," she said after my tricks. "Now, get back here. It's too dangerous for you to keep skating around on your own."

I did not listen to her. I kept skating all around. Suddenly, my skate got stuck on ice. I tried pulling it away, but cracks beneath me are being formed. The ice was breaking away and I can't move. One slight movement, and there I go down the frozen lake.

"Margaret, I can't move!" I said to her when I realize what's going on. "Help!"

"I'm on my way!" she said.

She skated faster than a figure skater as she tries to take me away. I did not even know what to do. My hands trembled for the fate I was in. Even my ankles began to shake and lose their balance.

"Margaret, I don't think I can hold on much longer. Please, help!"

She did not even say a word. She is gliding the ice as fast as she can. That's when I knew it is going to end. My ankles finally gave in. I fell on my knees on the cracking ice beneath me. Not much longer, the ice cracked all around.

"Margaret, help me!"

It was my hopeless plea. With nothing to stand on, I plunged straight in the freezing cold water beneath me. I could see the light of the winter sun fading away as my weight pulled me down the bottom of the lake. I still raised my hand in hopes that somehow, Margaret would pull me to the surface. I wanted to breathe, but there is no air around me.

So, this will be my end. I will die drowning in a frozen lake. My vision begins to darken all around me. I am losing the winter sun.

Just when I thought it was over, I saw God pulling me up the surface with His mighty hands. In my blurry vision, I was seeing the winter sun again. In my hazy hearing, I could hear Margaret's smooth voice. Little did I know, God's hands rested me on his laps as He pumped the waters out of me. He even put another coat around me.

As I began to see clearly, I see the face of God. It turned out that it was not God who pulled me out of the waters, but a man that I do not know.

My mouth was frozen shut. I cannot even say a thank you. He just smiled when he saw that I am alive and safe.

To this day, I do not know who that man is, but one thing is for sure. I am not skating ever again. I cannot relive the day that I almost died.