Sledding

[GameMaker†]

Omar Burton. 13 years old. He's in 8th grade, and it is Winter break. It's 3 days before Christmas, and Minnesota has just had a relatively large snow storm.

Winter. Omar's favorite time of the year. Why was it his favorite? First off, no one was outside, playing sports he was terrible at. Everyone was inside, and when Omar was inside with his friends, he felt comfortable. Most of the stuff you could do inside, like playing video games, was stuff that he was good at.

But the second reason, and one that might be even more important, was that Omar loved sledding. When you were sledding, there was nothing but you, the sled, the hill and the snow. You simply started at the top, and then you led your momentum take you. For a few moments, you were free from everything, just letting yourself enjoy the ride.

The sled wasn't plastic- it was old and wooden, one of those kinds with a better handling and metal legs at the bottom. Omar had laid a blanket on top of the wood to make it more comfortable; the wood was a little different than the other kid's plastic, yes, and not the most comfortable, but it was unique. It was his, and it was his alone.

The hill itself was even unique. Before this, Omar and all the rest of the kids in the neighborhood had gone to a hill that was much bigger, but far more crowded. But when Omar was driving one night with his mother, he noticed this hill. It was much smaller, and a little deeper into some woods, but it was one where Omar could be alone. There was no one to bother him, to go before him, to make fun of him- complete tranquility.

He put the sled in front of him, and looked down. To his right, trees. To his left... some more trees. But in between them was a snowy smooth path, ending with a long flat stretch at the end. Omar could see the marks from where his sled had gone down before, long rectangular paths going down the hill. There were foot prints by then too, from the many times Omar had walked back up the hill that day.

Omar lied down on the sled, and used his back foot to kick off the hill. The sled went down slowly at first, then quickly gained speed. Omar felt the wind rush through his hair, and he grinned. This really was one of his favorite th-- it was over. His sled had hit the flat patch, and gone to a stop. And now, it was time to go back up to the top.

As Omar started to trudge up the hill, he started to hear some other people coming. They were talking amongst each other, and though it didn't seem to be a large group, it was at least a few. He'd ignore them- probably just a family walking through the woods. He'd seen a few today... although he wondered why it snowing had brought them out.

And that was about the time that Omar saw a snowball fly over his head. It had missed him by inches, and Omar grimaced. Someone was throwing snowballs at him? It was a steep hill, and Omar was carrying a sled. You could seriously hurt someone in that situation, even with nothing but a snowball.

"Hey, could you please stop that?" Omar looked down, and saw a group of boys at the bottom of the hill. They appeared to be about his age, and all of them were smiling. "I'm just trying to sled... I'm not looking for a snowball fight."

There was no response, just the kids starting to walk up the hill. Ah, dammit. Hope they got the message... Omar turned around, and kept on walking upwards, dragging the sled with him. As he trudged up, he could feel the boys gaining distance on him. They were walking faster, with no sled to weigh them down.

"Hey!" Omar heard one of them shout, and then felt a snowball hit him in the back. No, not a snowball... more like an iceball. And those kids had thrown it hard. "What school are you from, kid?"

They weren't that far behind him now- only about thirty feet, and they were walking closer and closer. Looking behind them, he could clearly make out the group. The leader of the group was the one talking to him- he was Omar's age, but he was bigger than Omar. Taller, and wider. And with a smirk on his face.

"B-Bayview Middle School." replied Omar. He was starting to get worried- they outnumbered him, and they were bigger than him. He couldn't outrun them, either. Not with the sled weighing him down.

"Bayview? Isn't that way back that way?" The big kid wasn't smiling anymore. "What the hell's a Bayview kid doing out here? You know this hill is our fucking hill, right?"

Omar opened his mouth to respond, and he felt an iceball hit him in the face. It had been one of the kids behind their leader- they were all laughing, he heard it. He brushed the snow off his face, and looked up.

"I... I was just sledding here." said Omar, his voice quivering. He was definitely worried now. "If you want me to leave, I'll leave. You don't have to keep throwing snowballs at me, or anything like that."

"No, no. All I want to do is see you sled..." said the kid, smiling at him. He turned back to the kids behind him, and laughed. "Tim, you ever seen a sled that shitty?"

"Nah, Frank- a sled like that? That shit's fucking older than my grandma." All of them laughed at that, until Frank, the leader, began speaking again.

"Anyone want to see him ride that piece of shit go down the hill?" Cries of "Fuck yeah!" and "Definitely!" rang through the group, and Frank turned around to Omar, grinning again. "Well, you heard them. Get on the sled."

"...Can't I just go?" said Omar, his voice taking a pleading tone. "I'm not going to come back here, I swear!"

The big kid moved pretty fast- his foot went under Omar's leg, and his arm pushed him forward. Omar leaned on the sled his, head facing up. "Coulda just taken the easy way, you know?" And then, he planted a kick on the top of the sled.

"No- you don't understand! I need to steer! I NEED TO FUCKING STEER!" It was, at least then, the most terrifying experience of Omar's life. With his awkward position on the sled, facing backwards instead of forwards, he didn't see the path in front of him. All he saw were the group of kids at the top of the hill, laughing as he went down. The wind rushed through Omar's hair, and he felt a warm fluid running down his leg.

*SNAP*

When Omar looked back at the memory, he wasn't quite sure how it had happened. All he remembered was that loud noise- his sled breaking- and then feeling horrible pain all over his body. He flew off the sled, landing face forward in the snow.

For a few seconds, Omar just kept his eyes closed, trying to deal with the pain. The whole left side of his body was crying out in agony, and he was sure his nose was bleeding. When he finally did open his eyes, the group of kids at the top of the hill were staring down. They were rather far away, but the looks on their face were unmistakably shock and fear.

Omar turned his head to the left, and he saw his sled lying in two pieces in the snow. He had veered off course, he realized now. The sled had tipped to the left- and straight into the trees. His sled was broken- and he didn't think it was the only thing.

Omar tried to stand up, and felt his leg cry out in agony. Looking over at his leg, he noticed the angle it was bent at- it was an unnatural angle. The angle of people in car wrecks. His arm was the same- he felt the pain the most in there. It was like someone had cut him open, put broken glass all along the inside of his arm, and then stitched him back up.

"HELB! SOMEBODY, PLEAD HELB ME!" The kids were gone- Omar thought they'd ran off. But he wasn't going to worry- people would come by. People used this trail. Nevermind that the last time he had seen people before the boys was an hour ago- nevermind that. They would come.

Omar looked down at his shirt, and noticed there was blood all over the top. So... my nose is broken. It wouldn't bleed like that if it wasn't... it must have been the landing. If my face had hit a tree, I'd, I'd-- Have died, instead of just having a broken leg, broken arm, and broken nose? Yeah. That would have been tragic.

And at that thought, Omar began to cry. Not just small tears, either- these were large, shaking sobs. As he did that, another wave of pain lanced through his body, and it made him cry even harder. Omar Burton lay in the snow, crying and waiting for someone to come.

It would be another half hour before someone did, another half hour after that before he got to the hospital, and another twelve weeks before he could walk without a cast.

Omar Burton. 13 years old. He's in 8th grade, and it is Winter break. It's 3 days before Christmas, and Minnesota has just had a relatively large snow storm.