The soft crunch of crisp snow was the only sound that accompanied Dan on his walk along the frozen lakefront. The silence was comforting, he longed for it when he wasn't here. Back in the city things were too stifling; the buildings, the traffic, the noise, his job all bore down on top of him. It's amazing how you can be surrounded front, back, side to side, top and bottom with people and still feel so alone.
He had no one; sure he had a few people he called friends and occasional all too brief relationships with women, but he still felt alone. All his friends were consummate city slickers. They lived, breathed, and fed off the energy of the city, but what energized them smothered Dan. He felt he couldn't even breathe there; his only release was his vacations to his late Aunt and Uncle's lake house.
He stopped walking and just stood enjoying the silence and stillness of the cold morning; the ground was covered in a blanket of snow and a thick fog covered the whole frozen lake. The snow-covered earth and mist blended together to envelope him in purifying white solitude.
He reflected on his life; how had he come to long for nothing more than to be alone on an abandoned frozen lake as far from civilization as possible? The only child of a couple of real salt-of-the-earth small town folk; owned and operated the only grocery in ten miles of his hometown.
He had a happy childhood with them and his friends, but as he got older he became discontent with the simple life. After high school he went off to college to major in business; the plan being to take over the family grocery eventually. But while there he got his first real taste of what the rest of the world had to offer, and suffice it to say, by time he graduated he no longer had any interest in going back to his podunk little town and grocery store; opting instead to seek his fortunes in the big city.
So he lived fast and loose for a few years, losing himself in the fast pace of his job and the city's nightlife; booze, drugs, money, women, he took it all in. But now here he was, barely thirty and tired as hell; just now starting to patch the relationship with his parents after he shattered their world with his decision. They hadn't spoken in nearly six years; it took the sudden death of his favorite Aunt and Uncle in a car accident to even get them in the same room.
At that point they were ready to bury the hatchet; thanks in no small part to the Wal-Mart that had opened and put their grocery out of business. With a greedy corporation to focus their anger on the career choices of their son seemed like small potatoes. Another mixed blessing came out of that tragedy; the lake house. Dan's Aunt and Uncle had no children of their own and so left the cabin to his family; being only a few hours' drive from the city it made it the perfect getaway whenever he needed a vacation.
Dan started walking again along the frozen waterline; as he thought about it he realized it was because of this vacation spot that he felt the way he did about his life. It was the perfect way to get away from the fast paced monotony of the city, and get away is exactly what he needed to do; more and more often it seemed. This place reminded him of a simpler time in his life; reminded him also that he was unhappy with his current life...
A sound snapped Dan out of his musings, he stopped to listen. It was faint but familiar; he started walking again in the general direction of where it was coming from. He thought hard; he knew he recognized it, a light swishing sound, but not being able to see the source through the fog was disorienting.
He came upon an old dock that jutted out into the frozen lake; so thick was the mist that he couldn't see the end of it, but he could tell that the sound he had been hearing was coming from out in the lake. He walked out along the dock, the heavy tread of his boots giving him traction even on the thick ice. As he neared the end of the dock he could faintly see a shadow moving beyond the dock; gliding back and forth. Closer still and the shadow took on a more definite, human shape, and Dan realized what he had been hearing; ice skates.
Dan stood watching as the figure glided about; circles and lazy figure eights. Whoever it was they didn't seem to notice his presence and, feeling suddenly self-conscious for gawking, Dan turned to walk away.
"Hi." Said a young lady's voice.
Dan turned back "Um hi, I didn't mean to startle you." He said,
"You didn't." she replied still skating slowly,
"It's just that I was out here walking and I heard this sound, um... your skating, but I couldn't tell what it was until I saw you there and... uh..." He stammered awkwardly.
"Its ok." was all she said.
"Well uh," he cleared his throat, "I guess I'll leave you to it." He turned again to walk away,
"What's your name?" She asked,
he turned back to her shadowy figure again, "Um Dan, Dan Harris." He said;
she glided out of the mist and stopped right in front of him "Hi Dan," she smiled at him and offered a mittened hand, "I'm Selena."
He stared at her, she was beautiful; she looked to be in her early twenties. She had a cute petite figure; even with her skates on she was still only eyes-to-nose with Dan. She had an adorable round face, big brown eyes, and an inviting smile; all framed perfectly by the chin-length brown curls that poked out from her wool cap. Dan was completely mesmerized, he physically felt warmer standing near her.
She shifted awkwardly as her hand still hovered in the air, "Oh! I'm sorry." He took her hand and gave it a gentle shake, "I uh, was just..." he sputtered embarrassed,
"Don't worry about it." She beamed at him; it felt like sunshine on his face. "So, where were you walking to, Dan?" She asked,
"Nowhere really," he replied "just walking; it helps me clear my head."
She skated backwards slowly "Well, I'm kinda lonely Dan, would you like to keep me company?" she grinned at him again, he felt like he could spend the rest of his life just staring at that smiling face and be happy.
"Sure," he smiled back at her, "I guess I'm a little lonely too." She turned and skated small circles in front of him; he watched her graceful figure glide effortlessly,
"Really?" she looked back at him "tell me about it?" she offered.
He had never really talked to anyone about his feelings, he didn't know why he was feeling so open all of a sudden; but he felt that he wanted to tell her everything. "Well, back home, in the city I mean. There are so many people around, but I don't feel like I can connect with any of them."
She nodded thoughtfully, "I know how that feels... so you're not from around here?" She asked.
"No, well, I grew up about an hour away from here, but I moved down to the city after college." He continued, "I thought I'd be happier there, but now I find myself just trying to get away as much as possible." He walked over to the decrepit dock and sat on its edge "I see." Was all she said. "So that's why I come up here, it reminds me of where I grew up," he chuckled, "makes me wonder why I ever left." He stared off into the fog thinking; she skated up and sat close next to him. He felt tingles on his skin as she rubbed lightly against him.
"So, the big city's not all it's cracked up to be?" she asked.
"No... no," he replied, "a lot of noise and activity; not much substance really." He looked at her; she looked disappointed for some reason. Probably another country girl with big dreams just like he had when he was young; he hated to see that unhappy look on her pretty face so he changed the subject. "But how about you?" he asked, "What brings a girl out in the dead of winter to go ice skating by herself?"
She gave him a sideways look and an ironic smile, "It helps me clear my head." Dan laughed and nodded, "fair enough."
He felt a jolt as she put her hand on his knee and shook it playfully, "It's too bad you didn't bring any, we could be skating together."
She kept her hand on his leg and he put his right on top of it. "Well, I would have had I known I was going to meet you out here." He smiled into her eyes and she beamed back at him. They sat gazing at each other for a few moments; she was truly beautiful, Dan was feeling a real attraction to her. But not just physically, he felt a connection with her that he had longed to feel with someone. Six years in the city he couldn't find it, but less than twenty minutes with Selena was all he needed.
She broke the non-awkward silence they had shared, "well, I guess I could go for a walk with you." She said, "I left my shoes up at the pavilion." She glanced back up the dock toward shore,
"The pavilion?" Dan asked.
"Yeah, it's up the hill from the end of the dock." She pointed her gloved hand, and he followed it looking back.
He realized what beach they were at from his childhood summers at his Aunt and Uncle's house. He remembered exploring the old dilapidated dock and crumbling pavilion of this one beach that was closed off from the public, for what reason he never knew. "Sure," he said, "I'd like that a lot."
He stood up on the dock and helped her up. They giggled and joked as they made their way toward the shore; he held her hand in one of his and steadied her waist with the other as she wobbled on her skates on the uneven planks of the old dock. They finally came to the hill that rose steeply from the water's edge; there was an old staircase that went up from the dock to the top.
"There's no way I'm going to be able to walk up those." She said laughing;
