My mother enters the ice rink and I immediately tense up a little. My mother is a wonderful person and an amazing mother, but she gets serious when it comes to coaching my skating.
"Hi Mama," I greet her sweetly as I skate smoothly over to her. I feel my nerves starting to go haywire.
"I saw you fall. What was that about?" She asks me, her voice full of business. I cower at the thought of her being disappointed.
"I-I don't know. I was trying to land the Loop and my legs buckled.." I explain not meeting her eyes.
"I see. Well, don't let that happen again. Run the routine again." She says sternly and exits the ice.
I reply with a "yes ma'am" and push off, starting my routine over again. I let my body flow with the rhythm of my song, my feet automatically knowing how to move. I get lost in the feeling of gliding over the ice momentarily before coming back to reality.
As I glide through the various twirls and loops of my routine, I build up my grace and speed in order to prepare for the triple Loop sequence I know is coming up. I turn myself around, skating backwards and ready myself for the first push off. I land the first two jumps but when I go to land the third, I stumble when I touch the ice.
"Stop, stop! Do it again! From the beginning!" My mother shouts from the rink's sidelines.
"Seriously?!" I say loudly coming to a halt, waiting for the music to start over.
"Yes, seriously." My mother says using her stern coaching voice.
I sigh and start moving my legs, each pump giving me more speed. I'm getting into my zone when suddenly my mother's voice crashes through my focus, causing me to falter.
"More grace, Ellanora. You're getting lazy. Speed is not the only component you're dealing with out there." She tells me and I mentally roll my eyes. Maybe I'd have more grace if this wasn't the 10th time I'd done this today. I think to myself, losing focus on my skating.
As a result of my lost focus, I stumble halfway through a twirl and end up on the ice yet again. This time though, I feel a good deal of pain in my left ankle. I clench my eyes shut and hold my ankle, hoping it's nothing serious. When I open my eyes, I see my mother rushing over to me.
"Are you okay hunny?? That didn't look good! Should we go to the doctor?!" She asks worriedly, her motherly instincts showing greatly. She helps me up and I try to put pressure on my ankle, but pain shoots up my leg.
"Yeah, I think we should go see a doctor.." I huff out through bouts of pain. We get me to the sidelines where my mother helps me undo my skates. My right skate comes off easily but my left skate...
YOU ARE READING
Just. Keep. Skating.
Historia Corta"Just. Keep. Breathing." That's what people tell themselves when they're nervous or they're trying to push themselves, right? Well, I'm different. I don't have time to breathe; not if I want to be the best. I can't impress anyone if I pause for bre...
