It has been almost a week since the end of Wysolice, dear reader, and while the festivities have come to an end, it seems the fun has not. Yesterday at market while I was trying to sell some of my remedies, Elise and Davy came over to talk with me. They said that some of the small ponds near the river had frozen over, and they were going to use their afternoon off to play on the ice. I was a little surprised when they asked me if I would like to go with them, but oh, it sounded like fun, and I had just gotten a pair of ice skates in the package from home which came earlier in the week… so I said yes.
I have only been ice skating a few times before. In the winter time, folks in Larksville would go out to the lake on the edge of town and play on the ice, mostly in their shoes. That’s what my sister Lettie and I used to do. Sometimes there were a few people with real skates, made of wood and metal, which they tied to the bottom of their shoes with ribbons. They would let you borrow them for a few coins, but we never bothered with that. It seems that ice skating has become more popular in the last year or so, because Auntie Ember said they have the wooden skates in all the shops now. This pair seemed a fair price, so she sent them to me as a Wysolice gift.
Oh, and I am so glad she did. We three had a wonderful time on the pond. At first it seemed every tiny bump made my ankles wobble. But after I got a feel for it, oh goodness, it was such a joy: the swift gliding sensation, the wind whipping through my hair and stinging my cheeks. It was so exciting. I let Davy and Elise try the skates too, since they had never used a pair either, and we each took turns trying to cut pretty patterns onto the surface of the pond. We all fell once or twice. Davy, I think did it on purpose to be funny and to make Elise and I feel better. It made us laugh, but to be honest, my rump is still feeling a bit sore.
After our legs were too tired to keep going, we sat down on some nearby stumps for a rest. I remember Davy saying it was unusual to see stumps in Greenwood and guessed that these trees must have been far enough away from the forest for some farmer to have chopped down without trouble. It made me wonder how far the magic of the forest might reach. Elise shivered, and I asked her if she was frightened of the woods. She said no, she “certainly was not, well, maybe just a little”, and wondered at how I was brave enough to live so close to its edge. Davy teased her, but I told her of all the times I have wandered in the forest and how no harm has come to me. She seemed in awe and Davy looked impressed, which made me feel a little embarrassed. I am not brave, well, I guess I did go into the woods at night and meet a real live witch, even if Dorothy was just a sweet old lady. So maybe I am a little brave, but I didn’t tell them that.
Dear reader, it was such fun to play on the ice and to spend time with Davy and Elise. I managed to take several Impressions of the day, of the skating, and the snow, and the laughter. It filled my heart to have fun with my new friends. I hope they’ll be able to feel that when I give them my new remedy of Joy.