I tested out my skate on the glassy surface of the ice. It was perfect, like usual. Joy rushed through me, as I leaped out onto the ice, skidding across the frozen water. The whips of ice cold wind, grazing my cheeks and sneaking it's way underneath my hair, sending it soaring, like a flag. The rippling sound of brown hair echoed in my ear.
Just then, from the corner of my eye, I spotted Drake. An uncontrollable grin stretched across my face, and I quickly raced over to greet him. Small white flakes of snow were tangled in his warm, hickory-colored hair. His chestnut eyes slightly squinting because of the genuine smile on his face.
"I'm so happy to see you!" I pulled him a bit onto the ice a bit, and snuggled up against his chest. It was warm, just like always. He chuckled, and I could feel the jump of his chest.
Drake unhooked my arms from around him and held me by the shoulders. He gazed at me with his warm chestnut eyes that made me nearly melt, even in the freezing temperature. "Come on, let's go!" I raced past me onto the ice. He began doing turns and all sorts of tricks. Drake has always been much better than me at skating.
"Wait up!" I panted, trying to catch up to him. He was going so fast, and I couldn't keep up with his incredible speed.
He turned his ankles, and skidded to a stop. I finally reached him, my lungs burning for warm air. I took in a few warm breaths in my coat, then looked up. He was gazing at me with an expression I recognized. There was a connection between us, I could feel it. It was a frozen solid tether, that would never melt as long as I was with him.
I laced my hand into his and gently tugged him along. He followed willingly, and gracefully circled across the shimmering ice. He adjusted his hand, and intertwined his fingers with mine. Warmth spread over my body, making me hot and sticky under my coat.
"This is nice," I said with small puff of mist releasing from my mouth. He nodded assuringly, and took a long steady breath. He was nervous, I could tell. Drake was like an open book, and very easy to read most of the time.
It wasn't hard to figure out he liked me ever since we first met. It was freshman year, and he asked to sit with me at lunch. Ever since then we've been friends with a flirtation between the two of us. It was subtle enough for only us to notice it, and everyone in school just assumed we were friends. We kept our attraction mutual, never found an appeal to taking the next step. We liked it the way it was, frozen in place.
"What do you think about traveling? I would love to travel some day..."
"Don't!" I blurted out involuntarily. He stared at me, suddenly confused. I was just as confused as he was. That had come out of nowhere, but at the same time I felt like deep down I knew why I didn't want him to go. "Sorry I just would miss you... that's all." I think.
He smiled warmly, "well then, I would take you with me." I thought I would feel safe with the thought of him taking me along, but there was no safety in it. It made me fearful of the future, I didn't want to travel. I wanted to be here, in this beautiful, snowy wonderland forever. Maybe, if the time came, I could convince him to stay, but deep down I knew I couldn't say anything that would change his mind. He would leave me...
I shook it off, like a bad dream and went back into this dream, with Drake and the lake. Drake quickened his pace, and cut in front of me. I allowed him to pull me along, and suddenly he began to dance with me. I laughed and we glided across doing small turns and dips. I rose from the dip and gripped onto his shoulders. Drake was my stability, this is where I wanted to be.
"Darling, it's time to come home." I searched around, and spotted my mother standing at the edge of the ice, with her beautiful, snow-white hair trailing down her shoulders and back. Her pale skin blending beautifully into the scenery.
I turned and waved to my mother. "Why do I have to go, I like it here," I called back, and she gave a gentle smile. She looked different then normal, more serene with no wrinkles or stress in her face.
"I miss you dear, and so does dad and your brother, come back home. You can come back another day." But, this moment, I wanted to hold onto it longer. I peered at Drake, who seemed to agree with her. "Go on, Ill be waiting for you."
It's okay, I can always come back, see him tomorrow even. Moments are only special because they happen on rare occasion. If moments became reality, then they would lose their special qualities. I decided to go, because I missed my family to.
"Goodbye Drake," I kissed him on the cheek and skated off to go to my mother.
I slowly opened my eyes, everything extremely blurry. My head was pounding and my body, stiff. I tried to move, but couldn't find the energy to. I turned my head over and spotted a small red button on a table. I pressed the button, and quickly realized where I was. I couldn't move, but I heard the heart monitor beeping get louder. I wanted to scream, but I could barely speak, my throat was so dry. The nurse quickly ran into the room telling me to calm down, but I couldn't. Drake?Where's Drake? Drake?!?
Drake... is gone...
I've been trapped in my mind.
