Isadora Goes Ice Skating

Isadora Quartaro was delighted to find out one afternoon that she would be going ice skating. She had never been and she was super excited. She had been rollerblading numerous times, and she was sure there wouldn't be that much of difference.

Inez, Isadora's little sister was equally as excited. She could barely keep her feet on the ground and kept bobbing up and down enthusiastically clapping her hands with glee. After a few minutes, and just around the time Isadora was beginning to get a headache from watching all that bouncing, Inez stopped and grumbled "I wish Saturday wasn't so far away." bemoaning the fact that the appointed date for their skating excursion was still so far. After all, today was only Monday.

"Don't worry." replied Isadora with a slightly evil smile. "You'll be busy in school until then."

Inez frowned. She hated school. "You'll be busy in school until then too." she reminded her sister with smile that matched Isadora's own.

Now, it was Isadora's turn to frown. She wasn't that fond of school either, and she had a lot of tests to take this week.

The week passed slowly but finally it was Saturday. Both girls woke up practically at the crack of dawn because they were so excited to get to the rink. That was quite unusual as neither one of them usually wanted to get out of bed in the morning especially on weekends when they could actually sleep a little later.

They quickly dressed and hurried downstairs to finish their breakfast. Then, they piled in the car with Mom and Dad and headed to the ice rink. At the rink, they hurried out of the car and inside the building.

Once they had rented skates and put them on, they headed for the ice. Isadora felt a little wobbly when she stood up. She quickly grabbed onto a chair and sank back into it.

"Oh Isadora, honey." declared their mother."Those laces are much too loose, and they are not supporting your ankles. You''ll never be able to stand up like that" She quickly tightened Isadora's skates.

Isadora stood up again. That was much better. She headed for the ice to join Inez. Isadora had taken to the ice like a duck to water. She was already gliding out toward the middle of the ice. Isadora figured if Inez was doing that well it couldn't be that hard. After all, Inez hadn't even been rollerblading as often as Isadora.

Isadora slowly began gliding across the ice toward her sister. 'This is easy.' she thought. 'I really like this.' Just then a kid about half her age passed her and Isadora felt like a baby. She decided to try to increase her speed. However, instead of going faster her feet ended up getting tangled up and she fell down onto the ice with a big whack. The ice was quite hard, and it kind of hurt although she was not badly injured. Even more than that, it hurt her pride. She quickly glanced around in embarassment to make sure that no one had seen her fall. Nobody seemed to be paying attention to her. She sighed with relief.

Isadora tried to stand but her legs felt a little wobbly. She reached out and luckily she was just close enough to reach the side of the rink. She pulled herself off the ice, found a chair, and quickly collapsed into it.

Freya's Mom and Dad saw her get off the ice. They worriedly skated over, quickly got off the ice, and hurried over to her "Are you alright?" they asked with great concern.

Isadora nodded. She was a little sore but she was so okay.

Mom and Dad began to head back toward the ice, but Isadora stayed seated.

"Aren't you going to go back out there?" Daddy asked her.

Isadora shook her head vigorously indicating that she was not. That ice was hard. She didn't want to risk falling on it again.

"Didn't you ever hear of that old saying?" asked her mother.

"What old saying?" inquired Isadora.

"The one that says if at first you don't succed, try, try again."

Isadora shook her head again. She was convinced that nothing was  ever going to get her back out on that ice again.

"Suit yourself." said her Dad as he headed back out to the ice. Her mother was a little more reluctant to leave her, but she soon joined her Dad and Inez back out on the ice.  Isadora remained seated in chair off the ice watching for what seemed like hours. It was incredibly boring just watching other people skate.

Finally, she decided she might as well try again. She slowly made her way back to the ice and carefully stepped back out on to it. This time, she started slowly and gradually increased her speed, and she was careful not to go faster than she was comfortable with. She didn't worry about how fast or  slow others were skating, she only worried about herself.  This time, she glided gracefully around the ice and didn't fall once.

"I'm proud of you for trying again." her mother admiringly told her as they came off the ice and got ready to head home.

"I'm proud of myself too." announced Isadora happily.