Long Islanders

10 - Sledding

The steep, tall hill was covered with a thick blanket of snow as Jimmy threw himself onto his sled and started the long, swift trip down.

His yell of excitement and joy was stolen right from his mouth by the wind whipping past him as his sled screamed down the hill. He was in the center of the hill, safely away from the trees that skirted the fringes and posed a hazard to unwary kids. And Jimmy certainly meant hazard; John had ended up losing his kidney when he had slammed into a tree sledding a couple years ago.

The sledding hill was much more fun on a sled as opposed to riding tied up in a barrel. The snow flying past him, the cold wind in his face, the sheer speed – it was a feeling like no other. The air was filled with the joyful shouts of the other kids as they also threw their sleds into the snow and plummeted down the hill.

The bottom of the hill was coming up fast. Jimmy gripped the edges of the sled and prepared to hit the frozen sump at the end of the ride. Once hitting the somewhat circular sump, he would have to direct his sled out of the way of incoming traffic while avoiding the new road that ran close to the bottom of the hill, on the other side of the sump.

The year before, shortly after the road had been finished, a girl had done the usual trip: down the hill, once around the sump, and then out the other side. In the past, that had been okay; it had been, well, relatively safe.

But then they had the road put in.

And the girl had gone out the other side right underneath a moving car.

Now no one exited the sump after sledding; everyone just circled over the snow covered ice and then rolled off into the snow once out of the way.

Jimmy did his own circle of the sump, after which he tumbled off of his sled into a snowbank. Getting to his feet, he brushed the snow off of his coat and pants. Jimmy grabbed his sled and began the trek back up the hill close to the tree line, keeping a careful eye on the kids coming down to avoid getting in their way.

"Hey, Jimmy!" he heard, and he turned slightly to see Andrew and John racing each other down the hill on their sleds. Andrew was slightly in the lead. Andrew's voice snaked back up the hill as they flew past, "I'm winning!"

Jimmy raised his hand to cheer his friend on when something caught him in the back of the knees and catapulted him off his feet.

Jimmy flew backwards through the air, dimly glimpsing people speeding by below him. He landed on one of them and grabbed frantically at the guy, his mittens grasping at a scarf and a thick coat. He was not going to be left behind on the hill to be roadkill for some other sled, no way.

As Jimmy glanced up, he noticed he was on an eight-man toboggan that was traveling at quite the clip, and he was barely hanging on at the tail end of it. Tightening his grip on the last guy on the toboggan, he gritted his teeth as the wind whipped past them, stinging his face and bringing tears to his eyes.

"Not so tight!" the boy yelled.

"I'm not falling off!" Jimmy yelled.

The toboggan hit the sump and skidded along the surface. Jimmy realized suddenly that they were not circling the sump.

They were heading straight for the road.

His yell was snatched away by the wind as the toboggan went up the small incline and practically flew across the road. They landed safely on the other side, the toboggan still traveling forward.

"Lean!" the boy in the front yelled and all nine boys, Jimmy included, threw their weight to the side. The sled tipped over, toppling all of them into the snow as it continued forward, eventually skidding to a halt.

Jimmy just lay in the snow for a moment, catching his breath. His heart was racing and he stared up at the clear sky, not able to believe what had just happened.

We just went over the road and didn't die.

As if to emphasize his thought, he heard the roar of a car engine as the vehicle passed by them.

One of the guys looked back at Jimmy, still lying in the snow. "Sorry, man. We couldn't really turn to avoid you."

Jimmy waved his hand in the air. "I'm just glad I'm not dead."

The others laughed. "Yeah, same."

Standing, Jimmy winced. His calves were killing him and he knew he was going to be sore tomorrow. "Well, see you," he said lamely, turning to begin the trek over the road and back up the hill to reclaim his sled before heading back to Stanwich Drive.

It was a pretty good time to go home and takes sips from a steaming cup of hot chocolate.