It was the middle of January and snow was everywhere- on top of houses, weighing down trees, and making the whole town look like something out of a postcard. This sleepy New England town didn't have much to it, there were a few small shops and places to get a bite to eat, but not much else. There was, however, a park in town where friends, couples, and families went frequently. The park was rarely- if ever- empty, especially during the peaks of summer and winter. This park was well known for the large pond that sat inside it. In the summer it offered a place to swim, a reprieve from the sticky, sweaty heat, and in the winter when it froze over people would go skating on the ice. It was nothing special, but it was a real quaint place.
This day in particular was when something shook up that sleepy little town. It's the story of two kids (well, they're technically young adults, but for the sake of a story let's call them kids) who really learned what it meant to be on thin ice.
"So, what do you want to do today?" a boy asked, speaking into a cell phone that sat on the opposite side of his paper-covered desk. He was leaning back in a desk chair with his feet up on the desk and a rubber ball in his hands.
"I dunno, whatever you want to, I guess," a female voice replied. Her response made him roll his eyes, tossing the ball over his shoulder and sitting up.
"Well what if what I want to do is hear what you want to do?" he asked with a smug grin on his face.
An audible sigh came from the phone's speaker. "Alright, let's meet at the park by the bench- you know the one, where we always sit- and then we can play it by ear from there on," she said.
"You got it, be there in a few minutes," he replied.
"Don't be late again," she reminded him before hanging up the phone.
"Be late? Geez, I had a good excuse last time..." the boy picked up his phone, shoved it into his pocket, and got up from his desk.
It was cold enough to see your breath outside, especially after walking a few blocks to the park. The boy pulled his hood up out of his eyes, surveying the area. There was snow on the ground, snow on the trees, and snow on the ground. The stuff really was everywhere.
"Hey, glad you actually made it!" the voice from earlier called out. Its owner was a girl clearly in her late teens. She was standing up and waving toward the boy, who was brushing snow off his shoulders.
He walked toward her at a brisk pace, trying to avoid getting cold again. Those New England winters are brutal, no wonder nobody lives here. They sat down on a bench that had all the snow brushed off at a recent point in time.
"It sure is cold today," the boy stated, shivering slightly.
"You say that every day, it's never gonna change," she reminded him again. "Besides, if you'd worn something warmer than just a hoodie you just might not freeze your ass off."
The boy shrugged his shoulders at her advice, looking off at the other parkgoers. There weren't as many people at the park as usual, and it wasn't because of the cold. His attention was quickly brought back to her when she ruffled the mop of brown hair on his head and caused snow to fall down his shirt.
"Hey! That's cold!" he yelled, making a big show out of getting the snow out of his clothes. When it finally fell- or melted- out of his shirt he settled down. "Any ideas for what we should do today?" he asked her?
"Well, sort of. But it's not really something I should say out loud," she answered.
"Then whisper it in my ear, nobody will hear," he suggested.
The girl nodded and leaned in closer, whispering into his ear. Whatever it was she said, it made him turn bright red for a moment or two.
"Th-that? With you? I didn't know you were into that kind of thing, Penny, but alright," he stammered. After the initial shock wore off he grinned and asked "Your place or mine then?"
She punched him in the shoulder playfully and laughed, shaking her head. "Don't make it so cliché, dude." She winked at him before saying "My place, though. Your mom could come home in the middle of it and I don't think she'd be very happy with either of us."
"Right, so your place it is. Let's go," he said.
The two of the stood up from the bench, brushed off their clothes and headed toward the park's gates.
Snow-covered shoes and clothes littered the entrance to Penny's home. Her house wasn't too big, but it wasn't too small either. The entryway led right to the living room, which is where the two kids were sitting.
"So, this is your first time isn't it?" she asked him, adjusting a pillow on the couch behind her.
"Penelope Collins," he said with a certain seriousness in his voice, "of course it isn't, I've done this several times before, just never with you." He looked out the window at the snow-capped trees and shivered. "At least this'll warm us up quickly."
"I've only done it maybe once or twice," she admitted "and the first couple times weren't that great, to be honest." She blushed. "God, my mom would kill me if she knew I was doing this, especially in her home."
He flashed her a warm smile and put a hand on her shoulder gently. "She won't have to find out as long as we do it quickly and clean up afterward."
Penny giggled, pushing his hand off so she could stand up. "You're a good kid, Nathan, even if you do bad things."
She ran upstairs to her bedroom and came back down with a shoebox in her hands several minutes later. She set it down on the coffee table in the center of the room and started to open it up.
"I got these from a friend, since I would have no idea how to go about buying them myself," she said, looking back at him.
"I could've gotten it for you, if I knew you did this kinda stuff, Pen," he told her. "But then again, I guess you didn't know I did either, so it's irrelev-"
She put a finger to his mouth, shushing him. "Don't talk just yet, Nate." The boy nodded, looking at her. Penny turned around to fidget with whatever was in the box, then turned back to him.
Penny held up a small glass device and held it to his lips. "You get to go first, since you're the guest," she smiled as she flicked a lighter and a flame sparked from the tip.
Without a word, Nathan took it into his own hand and held it to his mouth, nodding to his friend. She held the lighter to the end opposite of his lips and the green stuff lit up. He sucked in and it filled with white smoke which quickly disappeared into his lungs a moment later.
He moved the bowl away and blew a cloud in her direction. A big grin inched across the boy's face as he offered Penny the next go. "Your turn, Pen, Make me proud."
The two of them took turns smoking for the next half hour or so, filling the rooms with laughter and the occasional cough. Before they knew it, they were all out of the drug, but that was fine with them. They were having a good time, and that was all that mattered.
Once they sobered up a little, Penny packed it all up and put the shoebox back upstairs, only she brought Nathan upstairs with her this time. Penelope pushed the box under her bed and pushed him on top of it.
"We've been friends for years, and I think you finally deserve to see these," she said. Penny slowly pulled her shirt up and over her head, throwing it on the ground near her bed. She was down to just pants and a bra at this point. Two tattoos sat under her breasts: one was a diamond, like the kind you'd find in a deck of cards, and the other was an M-shaped symbol.
"Whoa, when the hell did you get those, Pen?" he asked, gazing at the tattoos in wonder. He leaned forward to get a closer look at them, his bloodshot eyes wide as they could be.
She giggled, pushing his head back. "I got them a month ago, nobody knows but you, me, and the guy that did 'em. This one's my zodiac sign," she said, pointing to the symbol, "and this one is my favorite suit in a deck."
"Damn, those are really cool, Pen, I never would have guessed you were the kind of girl to get tattoos or smoke weed, and you've already done both of them!" He sat up and smiled. "Got any more secrets to show me today?" he asked.
"Well now that you mention it," she trailed off as she picked up her shirt and put it back on, "I do have one more that I think you'd like. But you'll have to meet me in the park around 11 or so."
Nathan had a confused look on his face. "Doesn't the park close at 9 though?" he questioned. She only smiled for a few seconds, shaking her head at him yet again.
"Yes, but it's not that hard to climb over a fence, is it Nate?"
Outside it was cold and dark, but between the moon reflecting off the snow and the overhead streetlamps, there was plenty of light for Nathan to find his way to the park. He walked around the west gate area a few times, looking for some way to get over the fence. The town hall clock struck eleven times, marking the hour- as well as the curfew.
There was a bunch of footprints and a garbage bin on its side behind some evergreen bushes nearby. That must have been how Penelope got inside. He climbed up onto the garbage can and over the wall, landing in a pile of snow.
"Hey, I'm happy you made it" Penelope whispered from nearby. She offered him a hand and then gestured toward the pond. "Come on, over there," she instructed.
He nodded in response, following her over to the pond's edge. A large portion of the ice that covered its surface had been blown away, leaving the shiny surface to refelct moonlight.
"Watch this, it'll blow your mind!" She giggled as she ran over to a small wooden box that housed a control panel for the most of the park's systems.
"What are you going to do, turn on the sprinklers and freeze me to death?" he joked. She ignored him and flipped a switch. A ring of Christmas lights lit up around the inner edge of the pond, causing the ice to glow in several different colors.
The boy looked on in awe. It really was something to see, all those lights. He stepped closer, taking in the view.
"Wow, this is really pretty. How'd you know about this, Penny?" he asked.
She looked at him and took his hand, leading him slowly onto the ice. "Well, my dad used to work for the town, and he did a lot at the park. One day a few years back, before he passed away, he brought me out late at night and showed me this. It was his little secret, and now it's ours." She sat down on the ice, motioning for Nathan to join her.
The two sat there in the middle of the frozen pond, admiring the lights. Even the moon seemed to think it was a pretty sight, sending even more of its light down on the couple of friends.
In an instant their moment of tranquility became terror as a huge CRACK! broke the silence. The ice beneath them was starting to break! They scrambled to get on their feet, but there was no time. Penny and Nathan plunged into the icy water feet first.
Although it didn't look it, the pond was several feet deep, and the ice only a foot or so thick. Penny frantically jerked side to side, looking for Nathan who was lost in the dark depths of the pond water. She tried swimming up for air and hit her head just hard enough to knock her unconscious.
Out from the bottom of the pond swam Nathan, heading toward Penny's unconscious body. He grabbed onto her, leading her toward the now much larger opening in the pond's surface. Penny went up and out first, then Nathan followed her, gasping for air.
"No, no, no! Don't die on me, Pen, not like this!" He leaned in close to hear whether or not she was breathing, to which he found an unfortunate answer. Not a breath went through her lips.
In a panic, he knelt down at her side and began performing CPR. One, two, three. One, two, three. He breathed air into her, then repeated the process. It wasn't working, it was supposed to save her, but it wasn't doing anything.
"Penelope Leigh Collins, don't you die on me," he sobbed, accidentally beating down on her chest.
It must've been an act of God, because in that very moment she jumped to life, spitting out water and sucking in air. After a couple of coughs she looked up to see Nathan's sopping wet face hovering over hers.
"Wh-what happened?" she asked, her voice weak. Nathan had lifted her in his arms, awkwardly cradling the ice cold girl in his arms.
"I'll explain once we get you home and dry, Pen." He made for the park gates, managing to get both of themselves over the wall without trouble.
Penelope lay in her bed, dry, naked, and alive. A shivering Nathan stood watch nearby, waiting for her to come to. He dropped to his knees next to her, putting his arms around her neck.
"Oh God, you're awake," he said, his face practically shoved into the pillow beneath her head. He was cold and damp.
"What happened, Nate? Why are you so cold?" He sat at her side and took a deep breath, retelling the story of what happened earlier that night. His eyes were red and puffy, but he sounded happier than ever.
She looked over at him, sighing and smiling as she lay back down. "Hey Pen," he said, turning toward her and smiling also.
"Yeah Nate?" she asked in reply. He grabbed one of her hands and held onto it, shaking his head and laughing softly.
"I just wanted to let you know," he said, leaning in and kissing her forehead, "I'm glad you made it."
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