Flash Fiction-Thaw

Thaw

A design flaw had left the playground near the lake submerged in its own miniature pond after the thaw of winter. Some designers had the bright idea of sinking the playground area below water level and surrounding it by a three foot high wall of thick concrete bricks. When the snow melted, the water had nowhere to go but to flood the swings, jungle gym and slide, rendering it useless and deserted for several weeks after the warm weather had reappeared. The playground looked like a child’s drawing of a fantastical pirate ship sailing off for yet another adventure, it’s warped and blurry double reflected upside down in the water surrounding it.
Evie stared at the swings thinking of her own childhood, so long ago and unattainable. She remembered her mom pushing her on the swings when she was a child and it seemed fitting that for the moment the swings where still and unused, stuck in a moment of silence. The arms of the merry-go-round poked through the water like the remains of a skeleton. Benches sat ominous and foreboding like tombstones.
Evie walked to the beach and stared out over the icy surface of the lake. She slipped out of her shoes and dug her toes in the cold sand. She could feel the cold numbing her bare toes and she welcomed its icy embrace. She was wearing a knee-length flowing skirt, which seemed out of place in this icy wonderland. Winter had, on a whim, decided to clock out early and left spring to take over the rest of the shift. It was a warm fifty five degrees, though the world remained encased in a shell of ice.
She could hear the thin ice near the shore hissing and tinkling as they crashed against each other, breaking into even smaller pieces. The lake was slowly awakening. It stretched and yawned, welcoming the warmth after a long hibernation. The waves lapped lazily along the shore, leaving behind a soft, lacy froth in their wake. Far off in the distance, Evie could hear the large chunks of ice slamming up against each other. Crashing and groaning in protest as they cracked into a million pieces forcing renewal and life that had remained dormant during the long winter months.
Evie walked to the water’s edge, barefoot, and stood in the frigid water. In her hand she held a stack of paper clutched protectively to her chest. She took one deep, shaky breath as a tear rolled down her cheek. She lifted a single sheet of paper from the stack and released it, floating into the icy waters. The paper floated on the surface of the water as the ink bled and washed away in the waves. Then the paper slowly sunk and disintegrated, the thin scraps washed away with the icy waves. When one piece of paper had fully disappeared she dropped another one, she did this one by one until the entire stack was gone. The lake greedily accepted the soft pink, tissue thin paper. They were letters she had written every day the past few months to her mother, letters that will never reach their recipient, forever remaining unread.
When the lake had claimed the last bit of paper, Evie hugged herself, releasing the anger, the sadness, the feeling of abandonment and whispered, “Goodbye”. She turned away from the lake and the remnants of her mourning and faced the world with renewed strength. She no longer saw the world as a frozen wonderland. She could now see the hints and promise of spring, bright, green grass peaking through the mud, reaching for warmth. Birds flying and singing in the sky, and the sun peeking its head around a gray cloud. In a rush of unexpected energy, Evie sprinted across the cold beach and splashed through the water of the playground. Her skirt clung to her legs, soaking wet from the melted snow as she ran towards the swings. She floated onto the seat and pushed. She pumped her legs furiously as the water droplets rained down on her from all around in wide arches kicked up from her toes. She smiled and feeling free of her burden she soared through the sky in a whirlwind of melted snow and ice.