Fantasy On Ice

The water on the lake was frozen smooth and no snow had yet settled on it's surface. Audrey had been waiting for a day like this all year. In the morning, the she had turned her car radio on as she drove to the local newspaper office were she worked in hopes of some good news. The weatherman did not disappoint her, assuring her and his other listeners that the lake was frozen solid enough to go out on it. In a few days, the lake would be dotted with ice-shanties, tip-ups, and snowmobiles, but today it was all hers.

It was Thursday. The local sportsman traditionally never set up their shanties until the weekend, a fact which Audrey took full advantage of. Just like when she was a little girl, she found that even though she enjoyed her work, her mind wasn't in it today and she just couldn't for it to be over so she could go home. And luckily the day had seemed to fly by.

Still single at twenty-nine despite her pretty face and classic girlish figure, the smart and successful brunette lived alone in a rented one bedroom apartment off of down town. After work she went home, packed herself a small tote bag and drove down to Lakeshore Cabin Rental where she could get use of a small cabin with a fireplace and a kitchenette for the rest of the night for just 40 bucks. The winter tourists hadn't started arriving yet, so Audrey got her choice of cabins, and took the best one. The back door opened out to a small deck and then, just a stones throw away was the shoreline.

Audrey changed out of her work clothes- white shirt, blazer and long navy skirt with coordinated mid-length heels, into her new winter outfit. Nothing really fancy, just a soft pink fleece sweatsuit with a white sports stripe down the side. She felt warm and cozy inside, topped off in a white wooly hat and big wooly mittens. She dressed only for her own happiness and to capture the spirit of her youth and the freedom she had felt on the ice from the day she first discovered it's joys.

Now warmly clothed, she sat on the wooden deck and laced up her pink skates, still in good shape after all these years. Her favorite winter ritual was about to begin and she could feel the waves of excitement pass through her. The air was crisp and cool and held the scent of pure cold. Nature seemed in its way to play its symphony just for her as she slid out to the frozen surface and pushed out over the ice. She closed her eyes, and practiced the loops and twirls that she had learned as a child, simple beginners moves that she had never progressed past because they gave her so much joy that she had seen no need. Audrey never skated to compete, she skated only for herself. And as she moved over the lake, the sharpened blades of metal slicing crisply through the crystal surface, she let her mind take her back to winters past. Through the earliest days when she had rolled snow into snowmen with her mom, to schooldays where the snowballs were used to make forts and then to launch air strikes. Snowball fights filled with laughter and friends, and later when their finger tips where pink, warm mugs of hot cocoa and giggling talk of boys and school and holiday plans and Christmas wishes.

Then on to middle school. Skating while holding hands with a boy and later kissing each other on the cheek and sometimes going for a burger and fries. All the while, the flush of young puppy love warming her enough to dress in something cute and trendy. Later, when he walked her home he would offer her his sweater, and just maybe at her door under the sparkling light of the stars and the streetlamps he would kiss her on the lips.

In high school, love got more complicated, but the joys of skating remained pure simple pleasure. Winter sports expanded into ski trips, hockey games, and holiday dances. New Years brought fireworks more spectacular than the Fourth of July over a lake where, bundled in puffy snowsuits, entire families would lay on their backs, gazing up to oooh and ahhh over the scene.

Audrey closed her eyes and twirled on the ice, imagining the pure joy of all the winters past, and reveling in the pleasure she was feeling now. She loved the feeling of the cold air against her cheeks, soft flakes of snow falling to rest on her eyelashes and staying there. She put her arms out as if to embrace the world and winter especially, then drew her self into a ball as she increased her spin.

When she opened her eyes she saw a lone figure standing on the bank. A man, warmly bundled watched her silently. As she skated toward him, he called to her, "I didn't want to disturb you. I hope I'm not intruding."

"Not at all," she said, "I could use a break; someone to talk to."

As she got closer, she saw that the man had a hansom face, and light brown hair peaking out of his orange and brown striped cap. She guessed that he was probably a couple of years older than her.

They talked about many things, as the snow fell around them. She learned that he lived in one of the houses along the shore, and she let him think that she was a tourist. She felt somewhat guilty lying, but what did it matter? They were just sharing a conversation. He had thought that they were equals, and she didn't want to disillusion him in that regard. She wanted to enjoy a wonderful day and a wonderful discussion without feeling that he was thinking less of her because she had less. Today was about feeling free, and she freed herself in her mind from her own financial limitations. Today she was just Audrey.

The man's name was Grant,. She felt so at ease with him, so safe. She wasn't feeling the least bit cold when she told him, "I better get inside before my toes fell off. Would you like to come in for some cocoa?"

His friendly smile warmed her even more. He extended his hand and escorted her in a very gentlemanly fashion back to her cabin. Once inside, he helped her start a fire with the small woodpile next to the fireplace. The atmosphere was like magic. The cocoa, the conversation, the flickering flames all seemed to flow together. Audrey could almost here the soft romantic music playing in the background, to highlight what was bound to happen next.

They sat next to each other, sipping at there hot drinks, laughing congenially, flirting so slightly. She tossed her hair and threw her head back, he touched her shoulder lightly, and later her leg. There eyes met, sparked in the firelight and locked.

The next thing they knew, they were kissing. It felt so warm and innocent and pure. Was it a special magnetism between the two of them, or just the right background for making love? Their clothes quickly fell to the floor, their bodies intertwined with each other. The whole process was smooth and clean, almost as if it had been choreographed. There was no fumbling, no awkwardness. It was as if there two bodies where made to come together like this, on this night, in exactly this way. They didn't speak, or make a sound, there lovemaking was absolutely silent.

At the end, when he thrust into her the final few times, leading to a simultaneous climax, she sighed a perfect sigh of contentment. He let his fluids rush into her, filling her, satisfying her completely. Then they lay in each others arms, feeling as if they had known each other there whole lives.

When at last he spoke, he asked her how long she was staying. "Just for tonight," she answered, thinking that he meant in the cabin.

"I guess I may never see you again after you go home," he said, kissing her hand. "Is it far?"

It dawned on her. He thought that she was a wealthy tourist. Someone like him, someone from out of town. He had only meant it as a one night stand with a woman he would never see again. She felt bittersweet, but would not let it ruin the moment for her. She would not tell him the truth, that she was below his station, that she was a 'townie.' She would not ruin there one perfect night by trying to make it more than it was.

"Yes very far." You'll never know how far apart our worlds really are, she thought to herself. She hadn't meant the deception, but now found that she couldn't correct it. He had taken her for something she was not, and now she could not bear to think of how he might look at her if he saw her for what she was. Although she was not ashamed of her own social position, she was not willing to risk the worst possible reaction of this man in whose warm arms she now lay. And so, she kept up the pretense of what he had assumed.

Grant kept his smile, his look of contentment but felt a small sadness. This woman was nothing like the girls he knew, he could tell from the moment he laid eyes on her. There was a beauty, a passion that flowed through her, as though she were directly connected to the source of energy deep within the earth. He had felt this amazing connection to her that he couldn't fight, even though he knew from the beginning he was going to have to watch her go. He had learned as a boy not to get to attached to vacationers, and yet, he couldn't stop himself this time.

He wished that he could say something that would make her say, but resigned himself to the fact that he could only hold her close for these last few precious moments before she was gone.

And so the two lovers never told each other, but when they parted, they took a piece of the other with them. Alas, they could be nothing more to each other than a memory to cherish.