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| Artwork Copyright: Irena Lazovska 2012 |
Everyone was waiting for her. Kady went and checked herself in the mirror, and dropped her skies in shock. Was she hallucinating? Staring back at her was her seven year old self. Big eyes, rosy cheeks and a look of wonder on her face. Her younger self was wearing a Smurfs top. One she had worn until it fell apart. Maybe it was a prank? But as she moved her younger reflection moved too.
“Dunkin!”
Her cousin came running in. “What is it! We are going to miss the bus at this rate.”
“Do I look different?”
“Just your usual self, why?”
“Nothing,” said Kady.
“Girls,” said Dunkin with a sigh.
“At least I'm not named after a doughnut joint,” said Kady picking up her skies and rushing out the door, not looking at the reflection again. Maybe it was just a lack of sleep.
“Would you cut that out already? It's not my fault my parents can't spell.”
Up on the slopes enjoying the time with friends Kady forgot all about the strange incident that morning. Making the most of their break from college The longest and most difficult ski run of the resort was in front of her.
“Come on Kady, are you chicken?”
“Of course not dough boy.”
Dunkin rolled his eyes. “See you at the bottom, meanie.” Dunkin stuck out his tongue and launched himself down the slope and disappeared within seconds.
“You can do this, Kady,” she whispered to herself.
A guy stopped next to her. He was wearing reflective eye wear. Kady glanced and looked again when saw her younger self reflected in the man's eye goggles. Her younger self was shaking her head and finger, as if saying, no, you can't do it.
“I'll show you!” she said and launched herself down the slope.
Everything seemed fine for the first minute or so, but she soon picked up speed and didn't know how to slow down without hurting herself. Avoiding a stopped skier she found herself going off course. Through trees, amazingly she missed them all. Suddenly a warning sign popped up. Warning: Long drop ahead. Her body stiffened as she panicked. There was orange netting to stop her going off the edge, but would it be enough to stop her?
Just as she thought she was going to smash into the barrier a hand shot out and stopped her. Pulling her to the ground. Her skies went skyward and she landed on her back.
“Kady! What are you playing at?”
“I...I don't know.”
“Here, have some of this,” Dunkin said passing her silver flask. “It will boost your spirits.”
It was her younger reflection again. She looked disappointed. Like she had wanted her to go over the edge. Was her willingness to self-destruct so bad?
“Dunkin, can you hold me, I'm scared.”
Dunkin considered it for a while. “Will you promise to stop making fun of me?”
“I promise.”
*The closest I've been to skiing is going down a slope in a inflated inner tube, so it might not be the most realistic story.
The only (ski-related) implausibility was at the end, and that's a "maybe" not a "definite." When Dunkin stopped Katy short of the mesh, I was under the impression she was going much too fast for Dunkin to just jerk her to the ground. But she might not have been going that fast, just panicked.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that she kept seeing her 7yo self. I wonder what that was about.
The "prank" line in Para1 threw me since the topic had been appearance and clothing. You might tweak that to pull it more strongly into feeling the whole surreal experience is a prank of some kind. And that whole surreal experience? It's quite neat, Craig. Fine work.
ReplyDeleteI know nothing about sking, either. It seemed rather plausible to me. LOL The bit about her seeing her younger self is pretty interesting.
ReplyDeleteDo you think her younger self was really her high self warning her?— Interesting concept.
ReplyDeletePicked up a typo for you. "when saw her younger self reflected in the man's eye goggles" She is missing after when.
opps high should read higher
ReplyDeleteI have no idea about skiing, but you still managed to bring across the tension for me :) Love that her younger self warned her. I am all about connecting with the inner two year old and mine has warned me countless times!
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful day,
Sylvia @ Playful Creative
I like the teasing banter between the siblings. To me, seeing her younger self gives the story a ghost-like quality, a kind of warning from the past.
ReplyDeleteI found the playful way this explored age to be intriguing. She's older, seen her younger self, and there are moments that seem to pull at that younger self. Some of the teasing banter “meanie” seems like the banter of kids rather than college students and her desire to be held at the end also reinforces that impression.
ReplyDelete