#5 (6) - The Cold & The Ice

Nathaniel stepped out from Winthrop Place, a deep, black color enveloping the sky. The starts prickled throughout the darkness, shining dots in the night. The air was a deep, striking cold, even in Nathaniel's thick black coat made by Le'Huzanna. Taking a sigh, a small smile crept on Nathaniel's lips. 

Past along Redwood Avenue, there is a circular pond. Once of crystal clear water, it was now thick ice that would sometimes shimmer from the light of the full moon. Nathaniel reached the pond, a family out on one end and the visiting inmates on another end. While the police department was taking a risk having the inmates out there in the open, they kept keen eyes on the people in orange. Or black and white striped outfits. 

Nathaniel stood on one end of the pond, his eyes now looking into the frozen pond. It seemed to him that the turquoise ice shined brightly on his face. 

I was thinkin' about turquoise, 

I was thinkin' about gold,
I was thinkin' about dragons...

"Howdy," a police officer came up to stand next to Nathaniel, taking his eyes off of the inmates. "You enjoyin' the cold still?"
"No, not much," he chuckled. "How 'bout you?"

"Eh, well, I've been everywhere. Been in the devilish cold, and sat through an endless desert. I'm used to it." Nathaniel nodded.

"Say, you from Cabiness? Your voice seems to have a hint of it in there."

"Yeah, right out of town," Nathaniel said looking at the man. 

"Ah, yeah, thought so. I've a son from there. Visited him last spring and he had that accent, ha! Real pleasure to hear it, I suppose." The officer put his eyes back on the inmates, hands hanging by his sides. "Least he ain't sounding like he speaks pig or somethin'." 

Nathaniel let out a small chuckle. 

"Ya know, it's always nice to see the inmates smile. I mean, yeah, they did break the law- at least according to the jury- but they're still human, you know? Still got a brain and a heart. And when they're out here, they've got a smile too." 

The officer looked at Nathaniel's feet. "Ya know that you need skates to go on there, right? There's plenty of pairs by a small box with 'Little Free Library of Ice Skates' on it. Sure that you'll find a size to fit you."

Nathaniel looked at the inmates, locking his eyes as they whizzed by and by on the ice. The sky was missing the starts and was filled of clouds, and snow began to slowly drizzle down. 

Wore a white garb at the hospital for that whole year.

It was always clean, smooth. The blood still showed though... I could still see it and it wouldn't wash away.

The Doc was nice and all- his terminology was real boring. 

One day, The Nurse took me out to the fields. The sky was orange from the dawn, and the grass was dead as the trees. The air was freezing, and ice sickles hang from the branches.
"C'mon," she told me in her voice, "go and play on the ice with the skates."

Taking my feet on there, her holding me, I just barely didn't fall. She gave me a second to stand, and right afterwards told me to push forward. 

I did and fell. With her telling me to, I got right back up and tried again. And again. And again. And again.

Until I wasn't falling anymore and just sliding on the ice in circles. Endless circles and time that was ending. We went back into Amity Mental Hospital, both of us laughing and giggling the whole trip back to Room 222.

"Where'd you say I can get a pair of skates?"