Skating on Thin Ice

His friend warned him not to go onto the frozen surface, especially with such ‘stupid skates’. His shouts echoed across the park, but few were around to notice or even care. It was a chilly day after all. Who would want to walk a dog, or cycle through, or have a picnic, or just wander around a neighbourhood park on such a day? Not to say it wasn’t a nice park, just an unusually quiet one. There were never any animals around anyway. Nothing lived in the waters. The clumps of snow brimmed every edge, dressed every tree and plant and weed in a fine layer of freezing frost, as well as the men’s thick, baggy coats. The taller, braver-looking one ignored him, gazing upon the water, which glistened as though it invited him in.

“Shut up, Kyle!” he moaned, “I’ll only be on for a moment. It’s not that thin-look...” He pressed his glove against the translucent veil with great force, with no apparent signs of instability. No cracks, no flaws, nothing. As he sat on the ice and his friend gave a half-hearted shrug, he slowly covered his socked feet with his neon blue, worn ice skates that grazed the skin of the lake.

Kyle stood there with a concerned look on his face, but he didn’t move a muscle. Perhaps he was frozen with fear, in both a figurative and literal sense. It was hard to tell from where he stood. His seemingly older friend, with clearly more confidence, gripped the railings circling the lake and pushed himself off, slowly gliding across the ice. His assumptions were seemingly correct; the man would fall, and not break through. He was likely well-aware of the dangers, much like his friend, that were typical for thin ice. He didn’t drift too far from Kyle and he didn’t stay in one place for too long. That is, until he dared to circle the centre.

For Kyle’s friend didn’t realise the immediate danger he was in. He laughed and teased Kyle for being too cowardly to join in with his own skates. He was distracted. He didn’t see the subtle cracks that seemed to follow him, but Kyle did. “Jamie, look, I told you! Behind you-” “What did I say? Kyle, what did I say? The ice isn’t thin-”

And then there was a cracking sound. Followed by another, and another, and another, reverberating from the edges of the ice towards Jamie with sudden snaps that grew louder and louder, nearer and nearer.

''CRACK. SNAP. CRACK. SNAP.''

Kyle screamed and screamed for his friend to get away, reaching over the railings with an outstretched, gloved hand. Jamie panicked and slipped as he attempted to run from the cracking and snapping of the surface.

''SNAP. CRACK. SNAP.''

He glanced down to his feet, terrified. He had looked as though he saw things moving beneath the ice. He caught a glimpse of a hand, an eyeball, a foot, and several teeth. An ear-splitting shriek launched from his mouth. The ice had then suddenly felt lighter and more delicate beneath his skates, causing him to stumble once more as he felt water sink into his soles while he cried out for help from Kyle, who tried to edge closer without touching the ice.

CRACK.

The breaking ice had caught up with Jamie, and in the blink of an eye, he gave an anxious expression to Kyle, and fell beneath the frost into an eternal abyss...

His struggle to escape was admirable-he lasted longer than I expected. I was so cold and hungry, since I hadn’t eaten in a while. His friend had ran away, probably to seek help. His attempt was pointless, for when he returned, I had already feasted, and sealed the wound in my icy epidermis. I never leave a trace and I’m not a fussy eater, so I always appreciate the food offered to me every year. I’m adept at adapting, especially to the cold, though it only worsens my limited mobility. It’s so difficult to draw in prey, you see, when you’re, well, a lake.