Slicing for Revenge

~Chapter Two~

"Why don't you try on a pair?" Piper asks me with a slight gleam in her emerald eyes.

"Ummm... Why would you want me to?" I question her slowly.

"Maybe, we could start skating together? It has been forever since I have skated with you, Mum!"

"Okay, okay. Which ones should I test out?" I give in, gesturing toward the wall of colourful ice skates.

"How about..." She starts as her mind wanders, standing in front of the eight foot high wall of skates.

Piper points to a white pair with blue laces and a thin blue whisp up the middle. Admittedly, they're quite dazzling and are a crisp, clean white is gorgeous.

"These ones, in size eight please," she tells the nearby shop assistant.

The assistant scurries over to a locked door, entering in a unique pin before disappearing behind it.

I wonder why Piper really wants me to start skating, for sure I am not
slicing for the life of me. Literally, for the life of me.

There's no telling what Piper's mischievous mind is up to this time. The crazy things she does sometimes, makes me laugh in joy and in fear.

The short woman comes jogging out with two boxes stacked upon each other. She bows her head slightly as she hands me the box with the ice skates that Piper picked for me. The other nearly decorated box is then handed to Piper. As she takes it gratefully, she runs on her toes, as graceful as can be, towards where I am sitting.

The leather of the plush, Chesterfield couch creaks under the almost unnoticeable weight of Piper.

With a toss of the laces and a small bow, my feet are secure inside. I run my fingers along the blade at the bottom.

Marco...

I clip the plastic protector to the sharp edge of the blade and stand up in my place. They are actually quite comfortable.

I watch my daughter as she gracefully places the skates on her freakishly small feet, as she gleams at the sleekness of the skates. I can tell she loves them and I can't blame her. They're almost completely jet black, the solid black is interrupted with a white wisp next to the laces, with a row of almost invisible white rhinestones.

The only thing I don't like is the hole in my pocket that they are going to mindlessly sear. With that thought, I shuffle over to the tiny test rink in the back of the well-lit sports store.

My mind stops me at the rail.

Marco.

Marco died on a thick sheet of ice similar to this... I inhale courage and exhale all my worries. I put one skate on the ice, followed shakily by the next. My skates glide over the ice easily, my feet picking up speed, I feel like no one can stop you.

I feel, almost, alive...

Images of Marco, surge into that cavity of my brain that will not let that night go. I try to burn those images but no matter how hard I try, I just can't.

My whole body throws itself around to the right, my hand running along the ice as I lean in close to the ice. Finally at a halt, I stand up from a crouch and look behind me. A trail cut out from top of the ice where I had slid to a stop.

I hear a giggle from the outside of the rink. I glance around and find Piper's radiant smile. She mouths to me 'I saw that!', so I smile back to her and fake a small bow.

Clambering onto the solid ground I look up at Piper.

"So, what do you think?" She asks me.

"I really don't want to admit it, but I love 'em!"