The Phantom of Ice

The game

Christine sighed as she pressed her back against the door causing it to, in one fluid motion, to close while allowing her angry, throbbing muscles a moment's rest.

"Your home a little late Christine, I was getting a little worried." Mumma Val called out to her from the kitchen. Christine pulled her phone from her pocket and clicked a button, illuminating the screen immediately. The clear block numbers of her screen displayed 9:38, allowing Christine to understand both mumma's concern as well as the pain coming from her own body.

"Sorry Mumma, I'll let him know not to go so long next time for both our sakes." Christine almost grunted as she wobbled to the kitchen, ploping herself down to her spot at the table, where a small stir-fry dinner had be placed for her.

"So, did you ask if he was an angel?" Mumma gently interrogated as Christine began to eat.

"Yes." Christine answered simply.

"And" Mumma swayed her hand back and forth, clearly prompting. 

"The voice said yes." Christine revealed nonchalantly. Mumma's eyes began to water and her hand held her chest.

"You've been visited by angel." She whispered "my Christine has seen an angel!"

"I haven't seen him." Christine corrected "and I don't even know if he is truly an angel, he just says he is one."

"How did he teach you if you couldn't see him?" Mumma questioned, confused.

"He was still just a voice, and he just instructed me with his voice." Christine explained. 

"Was it helpful? I mean, it must have been hard if you could see him "

"Actually, he was better than most coaches. I've never had such an intense lesson before. I don't think I've improved so much in a single lesson since my father, even-" she stopped herself. 

"Even better maybe?" Mumma finished her sentence.

"No one is better than papa." Christine firmly stated before distracting herself with her dinner.

"This "voice" sounds an awful lot like an angel to me." Mumma pointed out, but Christine ignored and continued eating her dinner. "Oh, I can't wait to tell Agnes on Sunday that your being taught by an angel!"

Christine choked on her food." You can't tell anyone! Firstly it's really embarrassing and makes me seem delusional, plus he told me to make sure that no one else finds out except for you "

"Fine," Mumma Val conceded "I'll keep this blessing of yours to myself, but I want you to work very hard. Very few receive the gift of being visited by an angel, I don't want you throwing it away." 

"Yes Mumma." Christine promised.

***

Christine searched for an free seat amongst the sea of busy bleachers. Seeing the familiar face of Mrs Giry on the far right, Christine headed towards the free space beside her.

"Hello Mrs Giry." Christine politely greeted as she took a seat beside the middle aged woman. "Ah Christine! How have you been dear?" Mrs Giry said, striking up conversation. 

"I've been keeping well." 

"Have you managed to convince my Meg to restart ice skating yet?" 

"No, she's actually been quite convincing in trying to get me to join her hockey team." Christine lightly laughed. 

"Oh I remember when both of you were in my classes, learning how to skate, back when you were little. It was much easier to keep track of you both back then." She sighed, before picking her spirits up again "Can't be stuck in the past, can we? I haven't talk to you much about your ice skating since you started up again, have I? How is it?"

"Well, it's a lot." Christine confessed "Brian can't coach me anymore so I've had to look for someone else."

"I heard about that. Don't worry I gave him a piece of my mind about that." Her words caused Christine to smile, knowing that she had least Mrs Giry's support in the skating world. "Have you found a new coach yet? If not I'm sure I could help you find one."

"Thanks Mrs Giry, but I've already found another coach." Christine tried to answer vaguely.

"Oh that's wonderful! Who is it?" Mrs Giry asked the question that Christine was hoping to avoid.

 "Sorry but I'm sworn to secrecy. They didn't want anyone to know that they were giving lessons." Christine replied truthfully, hoping Mrs Giry wouldn't push her to answer further. Mrs Giry looked intently at Christine, not skeptically as Christine had expected, but almost knowingly and even a little cautiously. 

"Mum! Mum!" I bright voice nagged, interrupting Mrs Giry's and Christine's conversation before Mrs Giry had a chance to say anything. "We need you to do the score board for our team."

"Please?" Madame Giry prompted. 

"Please?" Meg repeated, almost a little mockingly. 

"Fine." Mrs Giry sighed as she stood up.

"Oh hi Chris!" Meg greeted after noticing that Christine had been sitting next to her mum. "Why are you here?" 

"I couldn't miss your Semis." Christine replied as she hugged Meg, which was possible by the fact that Meg was still in leggings and a tight tank top.

"I'm so glad your here. I'll talk more after the game because its about to start and I haven't even got my skates on!" She quickly giggled as she pulled out of the hug. Christine watched a the short,  petite blonde almost skipped back to the other side where her team had set up camp.

Christine didn't have to fiddle with her phone for long before a loud voice boomed over the old sound system. "Toady we have the Semi finals for the Under 18s Summer Championship, where we have our home team, The Artic Blazers taking on the South Scorpions. The winner of this weeks competition will compete next week in the grand final."  As this was announced, the two teams entered the ice, one dressed in a dark blue while the other in a contrasting maroon. Christine searched amongst the blue players, quickly finding number 15, where Meg had been transformed to almost double her size due to the protective gear she had put on and her face had become obscured by a cage being placed over it, making recognition impossible unless one knew her number.

The game began, and despite Christine having watched many of Meg's games before, she was shocked and overwhelmed by the intensity and speed of the game. It was almost impossible for Christine to keep up with the game, the small puck constantly being exchanged from the twelve players on ice. Christine had only ever had to keep track of one, maximum two skaters at a time in figure skating, making the barrage impossible to navigate. Christine was also constantly taken aback whenever Meg was on the rink, as along with the physical change, the small, giggling girl became a rough, aggressive player not afraid of fouling and definitely didn't mind hurting others to get to the puck. From what Christine could tell from the scoreboard, the game was tight, While the other team had held a one point lead in the first half, Meg's team, particularly Meg herself, had come back strong and were now leading themselves in the beginning of the second half. In the last five minutes of the game, it was clear to Christine that Meg's team were becoming incredibly tired, allowing the opposing team to score a goal, evening the score. Both the crowd and the players in the rink became chaotic, with so many fouls that not even twenty referees could have called them all. Christine even found herself swept up in the furry of the crowd, standing and screaming her support for Meg and her team. As if a miracle had been bestowed, Meg's team became rejuvenated and fought with a renewed energy, and dominated the field, managing to score one final goal in the last minute. The grandstand went wild, even those supporting the opposing side who seemed to be unable to deny the skill that the Artic Blazes displayed. 

The clock ticked over, and a blearing horn resounded in the rink, indicating that the game was over and revealing that the Artic Blazes had won. Christine Cheered along with Meg and her teammates, as they hugged and congratulated each other. Christine found herself smiling, even after the cheering died down and people had begun to leave. Despite the foreignness of the sport, Christine found herself admiring it. The thrill of the strange sport inspired her, and she knew that somehow it would change how she skated. This thought filled her with both fear and delight, but she was sure that whatever happened, her Angel would be there to guide her and sanctify it.