Lively chatter was heard as a family of four waltzed down the snowy pathway. Today was the first time that Ezra and Rainier were going ice-skating! Their parents were professionals already as the duo had won many prizes during their pair skating history. The two boys looked up to them very much and were eager to follow in their steps.
"Woah, there are so many people here!" Ezra exclaimed. His older brother ruffled his hair as they headed towards the small booth in front of the lake. The two had their mouths hanging open in awe as they took in the mesmerising white scenery surrounding them. The boys' parents then snapped them out of their trance and urged them to wear their skates quickly. It seemed that they were keen to teach their children the beautiful art of skating as well.
Ezra stared at his reflection in the lake as it stared back at him from below the thick layer of ice. He looked past it and into the dark blue void. He had the feeling that if he accidentally fell, he would never be able to escape from the metal grip of the wicked creature that lived in the depths of the murky waters. The creature was just waiting for a chance to pounce on a naughty, yummy child and to yank him down with it until the child could breathe no more. Ezra shivered at the thought.
"Mummy, I'm scared! I don't want to go ice-skating anymore!" The young one whined as he plopped himself down by the sidelines, snow hitting his back and chilling his bum. His parents and brother looked at him and sent comforting looks.
"It's gonna be alright, little bro. We're the best team in this whole world, remember? Nothing can stop us!" Rainier shouted, punching a fist into the air. His words succeeded in getting to Ezra as he giggled and took his brothers' hand.
Ice-skating was actually not bad. No — that was an absolute understatement in the brothers' opinions. Ice-skating was AWESOME! They had so much fun gliding on the ice, gathering small piles of snow from the lake bank and flinging snowballs at each other and just enjoying the merry atmosphere amidst the small lake.
Rainier slowed down to catch his breath as he saw something sweep across the snowy floor at the corner of his eye. It went from one of the pine trees to another. It looked like a shadow, but when it moved, snow fell off the naked branches of the trees.
"Strange," he thought. The boy just shrugged it off as an animal's huge shadow casting down onto the ground from the trees above. Either that, or he was growing more insane by the day. Rainier chuckled at the thought.
Then, he felt a sickening feeling. Like a whole gallon of water was pooling in his stomach and a black hole was sucking in everything from his body. The worst part was that the black hole felt inside his body.
The poor boy screamed in pain as he fell to the ground and curled into a ball, clutching his stomach and applying pressure to it to numb the pain. Several strangers around him rushed over to his aid, but everything was blurry and dim. It was as if nearly all of the sunlight had dissipated from his vision. Everything sounded muffled, as though someone had plugged earplugs in his ears, but he could hear the pained cries of his family from afar.
He tried to speak, but the feeling in him had drained him of all his energy. He could've put in all the effort he had left and still not be able to mumble his last words. He sobbed. Not because he was weak, but because he had been strong for too long.
The boy coughed as he spat out a puddle of black liquid, it looked just like a blot of ink on damp paper as it spread into every crack of the snow. He choked. What was happening to him?
This had to be the end for him. He'd rather die than have to live with this feeling of suffocation. He stared up and noticed three figures towering above him along with alarmed voices shouting at him. He couldn't hear them, though. Even so, he knew that those people were his family. He only had one last bit of his strength, so he used it for a small gesture. That was the least he could do to say goodbye.
He slowly but surely held up a frail arm and placed his palm onto the cheek of the smallest face he could make out. He hoped that it was Ezra's.
