Big Fish Big River

Why are there five girls walking in the snow gear along Wayne Road on a snow day? This question probably popped in the minds of more than a few passing cars and it might have passed through mine once or twice. Out of these two sources only I knew the answer, the five girls, Holly, Nicole, Rachel, Lauren and I were going to the woods by Lauren’s house. We had traveled these woods hundreds of times each summer but we had never ventured in on the middle of a snowy winter day.
“This is definitely farther in the winter.” A ten year old version of Nicole commented. Nicole’s hair was a mix of brown, blonde and red hues. She had freckles covering her light-skinned face and true - blue eyes. Today she had a purple jacket with dark blue snow pants. With a hat and a pair of boots she looked ready for any weather Michigan could bring.
Nicole’s sister, Rachel was also on our journey. Her hair was unarguably red; her face spotted with freckles and her eyes the bluest I’ve ever seen. Her jacket was lime green, and her snow pants were a dark blue. A hat hid her hair and big boots hid the feet. Even though Rachel was two years younger than Nicole and I she was the same height.
“Lauren, will you carry me?” An annoying voice rang. Who else could it be but my sister Holly. Even though Holly was the same age as Rachel, eight she acted much younger. It didn’t help that Holly was a foot shorter than Rachel and had a round chubby face which resembled a baby’s face. Her pink jacket and hat matched perfectly and somehow her purple snow pants and black boots complimented each other.
“We’re almost there; I think you can make it.” Lauren answered using a ginger voice like you would use for a new born. Lauren was supposed to be the baby-sitter but in actuality she was only two years older than Nicole and I. Although she was always put in a place with responsibility so she acted older. She had on a brown Hollister coat with only jeans. Her boots were brown with fur on the top and instead of a hat she wore earmuffs. Although she had on less covering she wasn’t complaining about the cold the way we were.
Lauren was right; we had just turned the corner to a small street and at the end was the forest. “I see it!” Rachel exclaimed proudly.
“No duh Rachie, we all see it.” Nicole said as the automatically smarter big sister.
“It looks so pretty!” I noticed and as we approached we realized how true the statement was. The tall trees had snow all over them. It looked like each leaf was separately smeared with the exact amount of snow like a cook covering toast with butter. The forest floor was a foot deep with snow and only a few animal tracks appeared. As we stepped closer we saw the river looked completely frozen over even though it had only been below freezing for a night. This seemed so unusual because usually the river was raging through on its way to the great lakes or some other large lake.
“Where should we go first?” I asked ready to start the day.
“I want to go to the cement area by the river.” Holly said. This spot had cement that covered the river bottom and the surrounding area. I don’t know why it was there but it was always a nice spot to just sit.
I was first to disagree, “But I want to go see what the tree fort looks like. I like going farther back in the forest than that.”
This didn’t make Holly too happy so Lauren quickly resolved the argument, “Okay than Rachel, Holly and I will go to the left side of the wood and Nicole and Katie can go to the right.”
Nicole and I happy to be rid of our sisters for once jumped right on this. “Okay that’ll work; you guys have lots of fun with Lauren.” Nicole quickly said right before we dashed off.
With just enough space between us Nicole and I stopped, panting we began to laugh. We knew we would take this freedom wisely. We wouldn’t have to slow down for the little ones, nor would we have to listen to their every need. “So, you want to go to the fort?”
“Well….” I stalled for a couple of seconds. Nicole wasn’t the most adventurous, I knew she would probably want to return to the others in about fifteen minutes but I had other plans, “I’ve always wondered what’s on the other side of the woods, but Holly always gets tired half-way in. Maybe without her we could…”
Nicole cut me off, “No, we will go to the fort like we said we would so if anything happens they can find us.”
Quickly I thought of a way to reach them, and in the stillness of the forest the simple answer hit me, “Listen,” I paused, “No one is here, everyone’s at work or something it’s silent if they needed us all they would have to do is yell and we’d hear them, and plus we don’t have to go too far, just far enough that you’re comfortable with.”
Nicole tried to think of a reason we shouldn’t, but couldn’t. I happily forgot the fact that we are only ten and ten year olds aren’t as smart as they think they are.
For about twenty minutes we walked and talked about how much fun recess is, what teacher we want next year, and how brave Lauren is for being in Middle School. Suddenly Nicole tugs me back. I look down to what she stopped me from. It was the river. There was a two feet drop on each side and below was what seemed like a completely frozen river. “Mmkay let’s go.”
I carefully descend down the two foot drop when Nicole tugs me back up again. “No, we are not going across that. No questions. We are going back to Lauren and the sisters and sit by the cement.”
I rolled my eyes, “You sound like my mom. Look nothing’s going to happen.” I tap my foot down on the ice and bring it back up completely fine. “See, we’ll be fine. I’ll go first.”
For the third time I start to walk across the river and for the third time Nicole tugged me back. “Fine we can but on one condition.”
“What is it?” I asked open to anything at this point.
“I go first, you’re stronger so if I fall in or something you can pull me out.”
I admit I was truly surprised at this generous offer, “Are you sure? I mean I don’t care and I think it’s safe enough we’ll be fine.”
“I’m sure, no excuse me.” Nicole said lightly pushing me aside. She gingerly tiptoed across the brook. Like I knew it to be, everything was fine.
“See, I told you nothin’s gonna happen.” I finally made my descent down the step. Suddenly I was worried, what if it’s not completely frozen? I erased this thought from my mind but still my first step was incredibly careful for someone who sounded so sure of herself. I slowly stepped along and on what should have been my second to last step the ice cracked, and then my foot fell through.
I screamed, Nicole screamed, I think everyone around the world screamed. For at least ten seconds we stood there not realizing what had happened. I looked down, the water rose to my navel. My first leg was completely submerged in the water, and my second leg’s knee was in but my foot was stuck on the ice. At first the shock blocked out the cold, and then I felt it. Piercing needles seemed to be coming at me from every angle. Suddenly my clothes weighed a ton and were dragging me down. I looked up at Nicole who looked white as the snow. I tried to remain calm and think clearly, what should we do? Scream, “Holly! Lauren! Rachel! Come here!” I listened for a reply, none came.
“Okay, umm,” Nicole stuttered worrying, “Well, here, take my hand.” She held out one hand and the other held to a nearby tree. She tried to pull me but we were the same weight plus my wet clothes were too heavy. “I can’t! I can’t!” She exclaimed letting go of me.
I tried to lift myself up but I wasn’t that strong. With my leg stuck to the ice I was in an awkward position to expel too much force. I had to just come up with an idea. Thinking got me only one true statement: It is incredibly hard to think while in freezing cold water.
Suddenly Nicole began to pace back and forth looking paler and paler, “What are we going to do? What are we going to do? You know I love you Katie, and nothing could happen to you, right?”
“Gosh Nicole, stop talking to me like I’m about to die, I’m fine we just need a plan.” I pushed away all the physical pain and thought. I turned to Nicole, “Is there a long stick anywhere?”
Confused Nicole looked around. She nodded and ran away. For a split second I had the fear she wasn’t coming back but I realized Nicole wouldn’t do that. She came back through the trees with a really really long stick. “Here, give me one end and you pull me out.” Nicole’s confusion disappeared but she still didn’t say anything she just started pulling. I gripped the stick with my life, and even pushed a little with my foot. I slowly rose above the ice. Finally I was out and I climbed up to where Nicole was. I laid in the snow panting. I could barely feel my legs but I could move them completely. “Ok, I’m a bit chilly now.” Nicole laughed like it was the funniest thing ever.
We both got up and I saw color return to her face. At first I was a little wobbly but I became stable quickly. “Are you ok?” The worry-wart asked.
“Yes, I’m fine; I just want to go home.” I answered honestly.
“Well, lucky for you when I picked up the stick I found the edge of the forest. It ends behind those people across the street from you with the really big dogs.”
Instantly, I knew who she was talking about, “Cocoa and Candy?”
“Yep, so we could just go through there yard and we’ll be home.” These words were music to my ears.
“Yeah, lets go.” I replied quickly. I walked slower than before towards the way Nicole was leading, because my legs were so numb. It was only about three yards away from their yard. We ducked down, knowing we weren’t supposed to be in other people’s back yards. “Woah, I can’t believe we were this close that whole time.”
“Yeah I know.” Nicole agreed.
After crossing an empty street we were at the most beautiful place in the entire world: home. I walked right in not caring I was getting snow everywhere. I stripped off my wet snow gear. Realizing some water had even got on to my sweat pants I ran upstairs to change those too. Nicole went into the kitchen. I heard her yell, “There’s a call on your answering machine, should I listen to it?”
“Wait I’ll be down in a minute!” I yelled back pulling on my other pair of sweat pants. They were so warm I just stood for a second baking in them before I realized Nicole was waiting for me. I rushed back down stairs wondering who the mystery caller was the entire time, “Okay, let’s hear it.” Nicole pushed the button.
“Hey this is Lauren, we were cold so we went back to my house for hot chocolate. We didn’t want to stop you since it looked like you were so excited to be on your own, but we didn’t know where you’d go when you got cold so just call us back when you get this so we know you’re nice and warm.”
“So that’s why they didn’t hear us.” Everything seemed to connect know.
“I can’t believe they were ‘nice and warm’ the entire time you were freezing to death!” Nicole exclaimed.
I just laughed at her, “I wasn’t freezing to death I was fine. How about you call them and tell them we’re having our own hot chocolate party without them.”
Nicole laughed, “Okay as long as you have whip cream.”
“Of course,” I replied as though offended she would even think of such a thing as not having whip cream.
Later we told Lauren, Holly and Rachel the story. Nicole and I couldn’t agree on how much danger I was ever really in but we did agree on one thing, this would be one snow day we would never forget.