Winter's Progression

well intended frostbite

Michael was still wiggling into snowpants that were too small a year ago when he heard the squeak of his old front door open. His mom was painting in the basement and even if she cared? It was Jeremy. He hadn't shit talked him just yet to her..

"Upstairs, Jer!" he yelled, top of his voice. Mikey clipped the suspenders of his snow pants over his chest. They fit! Even if he had to suck in his gut..he threw on a Christmas sweater with the words 'Hoe Hoe Hoe' blazing across the front, then his winter coat. The cool water proof he'd had through his sticker emo phase when he was a freshman so it was covered in half peeled off sticker junk. The nirvana smiley face, the black parade, BVB, any punk rock band that was mainstream? It had been represented on the black face of his coat.

Jeremy, true to his word, waddled up the steps to Michael's room and slammed his gloved hand against the door frame in place of a knock.

"Weaty?" Jer asked, talking through a scarf he'd tied too tight. "Packin snoo". He shot Michael a thumbs up and took the stairs downstairs to his front door.

Michael couldn't help but smile at him. Jeremy was such a fucking dork. It wasn't even that cold out. He carefully stepped down the stairs like a normal person and met Jeremy in the snow. Mikey opened his mouth to say that the cold sucks when he got slammed with a snowball. That fucker..

"Jeremy!" He shouted and knelt to pack snow into his hand, getting ready to hurl it at his buddy. "Pussyyyyy! Don't be a bitch! Come out and face me, coward!" Michael didn't care about his neighbors hearing. They were probably stoned anyway. Jeremy had dove into a snowbank, graciously pushed up into the road by a snow pusher truck guy (cant remember the name lol). He knew what was coming for him, he knew Michael would be relentlessly seeking revenge after the snow melted on his burning cheeks. But for now? He'd hide like the bitch Mikey said he was. On all fours he crawled around the snow bank, looking for a place to hide. He'd just started building a tunnel when the familiar, handsome, rasped voice filled his head. 

'70% chance Michael is going to smash through the snow here, thereby crushing you. Go back behind those trees instead and I'll help you find a better spot' his squip rattled off. That was so Michael..make him come out to his freezing, hard packed snow by ruining the good hiding spots. 

"Try to find me, fucker!" Jeremy shot over his shoulder as he took off running with the squip at his side. Once again, he admired at how good a team they made. He took its advice like it was law, adding his own little spin on it to keep his personality. It was a good system, honestly..he wasn't surprised Rich had started repping them for awhile. With a quick scold from the computer for shouting one of the worst curse words, it told him to duck under a big tree branch into a thatch of spikey brambles. 

Without a protest, Jeremy did it. 

He heard Michael's labored breaths behind him, then a shout in protest,

ut he didn't stop. Didn't stop. Didn't stop. Couldn't stop. Jeremy realized he'd been running too fast a moment before he began to fall. He heard the squip's panicked voice behind him, but his mind was moving too fast for him to process. His foot hit something and his knee buckled hard. If he hadn't been wearing a million layers he'd have really fucked up his legs. 

Jeremy looked up, his eyes thin as a pinprick as he started sliding. It was..a pond  a really really big pond. Wowza..Jer didn't move until he had stopped, ending up somewhere near the middle. Michael came out breathless, the snowball having been dropped at the beginning of his frantic chase. 

"Yeah, Jeremy. There's a fucking pond here." He walked onto the frozen bank, pinching the bridge of his nose..It was cold enough to hold Jeremy, but would it hold him walking back?

He took a deep breath and looked at his pathetic best friend on all fours, his face getting paler and paler as he realized just where the hell he was. The squip though was there with a response. 

'Jeremy!' He called to get his attention. 'Listen.  Turn onto your back and scoot yourself to the bank. Distribute your weight over all of you. If you stand you'll break the ice' Jeremy though was in panic mode. He was too heavy. Too big. Too much and the ice was too thin. He scrambled up to his feet and started trying to skate his way to the side to the protesting outbursts of both Michael and his squip. Everyone froze when they heard a low snap, a sound that made Jeremy's heart jump into his throat. He looked down slowly at the ice under his rain boot and saw a spiderweb of cracks expanding out from his heel. shit. shit! Shit!

"Michael! Jesus.." Jeremy got out as he watched the breaks shoot through the thin sheet of ice. "What do I d-" he got out before the ice beneath him broke. He looked up at his squip as he lost his footing and dropped into the freezing water.

 It wasn't too deep..not really. Maybe four and a half? Five feet? Jeremy wasn't prepared for it in any case and he didn't lock his knees. When he hit the soft ground below him, his boots sank deep into the half frozen mud and kicked up silt as they got stuck. His head went under for a few scary seconds until he popped back up, gasping for air as the water shocked him and started seeping through his clothes. In a minute he was soaked through. 

The squip's voice came through fuzzy and he looked..pixelated. Like he was fuzzy. 'Cl11mb uP ab00ve the 1ce, Jerem-m-m-m-m-y' But Jeremy couldn't hear him. He knew that he had to get out, but he needed a second to get his head back in the game. He tried pulling his foot up but instead, his sock got caught in the stuck boot and pulled free, same with his other foot so now? He was wet and shocked and barefoot. 

"Michael-" jeremy shouted through the thicket. He searched for his friend along the bank but didn't see him. Would he honestly fucking leave? And Michael had the fucking nerve to get pissed at him? His teeth started chattering as he broke out in shivers, goosebumps running across his body as he tried to find purchase in the mud. The dirt squished between his toes as he kicked up, something getting stuck between his big and second toe..something big. He jumped, desperately hoping to grab onto something he could use to pull himself out. The squip wasn't anywhere and Michael was gone. 

Jeremy was cold and wet and alone in a freezing pond. When did life get hard?

A/N I had fun writing this. I'm gonna get a new laptop soon so hopefully I'll be able to be on here more. Until then, enjoy my shitty cliffhanger :)