A cold January morning, Jacquelin and her father are walking through the snow in the eastern end of the old forest. The sun is gleaming through the big, twisted tree crowns, that are cowered in snow and ice. The air is cold, to a point where it almost bites the skin, but they are both wearing plenty of layers to keep them warm. Jacquelin is playfully jumping back and forth between the trees and playing in the snow, while her father is walking behind her, carrying their skates.
When they get to the forest lake, Jacquelin is just about to run out on the ice, but stops right at the edge, when she remembers that her father has to check if it is safe first. She looks back at him with big anticipating eyes. He laughs through his beard, “Easy now girl. We’ll be on the ice soon enough.” He throws the skates in the snow and picks up a thick, sturdy branch. He slowly moves out on the edge of the iced over lake and pokes it with the branch. He carefully walks with small steps further and further out on the ice, as he checks for weak spots. When he is about ten meters out on the ice, and has found no thin patches on the ice, he turns to face his daughter. He lifts the branch over the ice and stamps it down with great force. The ice immediately responds with a characteristic song, roaring through the forest. Jacquelin is on the lake shore with wide eyes and her jaw almost dropped to the ground. She has heard the song of the ice a few times before, but the astonishing tunes that it produces always fills her with wonder and amazement. Her father joins her back on the shore and they strap on their skates. As soon as her skates are on, she run out on the ice. She quickly gains speed, and before long the cold winter air ruffling her hair and making her eyes water, makes her feel like she is flying, as free as the birds, high above the forest.
Her father is taking a slower and more conservative approach. He was once as young and spirited as his daughter, doing speed laps around the lake, pushing his skills to the limit. But these days he prefers a much smoother and gentler ride over the vast frozen surface. He lets the ice, and the skates guide him, and he goes where it feels natural to go. To him, skating has become meditational, feeling every bump and beautiful imperfection in the ice. Getting to know the surface of the lake like a friend, while being hypnotized by the magical and spiritual songs of the thick, sturdy ice. At the south side of the lake the sun is casting the shadows of the trees over the ice in curious shapes. He decides to follow the edge of the shadow for a while as he soaks in the magic that is the nature around him.
Jacquelin is running across the ice as fast as she can. She has to squint her eyes, to see where she is going, but she doesn’t care. When she cannot possibly build any more speed, she decides to try her stopping skills. She leans back, and forces the skates sideways, cutting long, deep tracks in the top layer of the ice. After just a few feet, she comes to a complete stop and immediately pushes off with all the strength her legs can muster. In a matter of seconds, she is sprinting across the ice in the direction she just came from. She is getting very good at controlling the skates and changing direction. Most of the other kids from town has no chance to keep up when they are skating together.
She slows down a bit to look out over the vast ice plain. Her father is at the other end of the lake, gliding over the ice, entranced by his own thoughts. She smiles and sets off to join him. It doesn’t take her long to get close to him, and she decides to go in a big arch around him before taking his hand and skating alongside him for a while. Neither of them say anything. They just enjoy the songs of the ice below them, the breeze, gently ruffling the trees above them and the odd snowbird chirping away in the distance.
They skate around the lake for hours. Dancing and doing pirouettes. Drawing on the ice with the skates. Trying to skate perfectly synchronously and trying to make the ice sing as beautifully as possible. They race and play games.
Until all of their games are interrupted by the ice making a sound that cannot be described as singing. It is more of a snapping sound, followed by a deep roar. They both stop dead in their tracks and look at each other. Jacquelins eyes are widened with fear, and she can hardly breathe. She is fighting to stand as still as possible and not disturb the ice under her feet anymore. “Dad?” she whispers. Her father is standing a few feet away. He knows he is completely powerless to what happens next. If he tries to go to her, he could disturb the ice. Even reaching for her might shift his weight enough to make the ice open up and eat his beautiful daughter. He doesn’t have a chance to finish his line of thoughts before the ice gives way under the young girl, and she disappears into the cold dark water with a scream. For a second, he waits. She knows how to get out of the water. He taught her this. If only she still has her senses, she will break the surface and crawl on to the ice on her own, and they can go home safely. But she doesn’t come to the surface, and he knows it is a matter of seconds now. He dives into the hole after her. The ice shards hurt as he crashes through them and into the icy water. Every muscle in his body automatically contracts, as the lake closes around him. He forces himself to open his eyes. It is hard to see anything under the ice. Not a lot of light is getting through the thick, frozen surface. Despite the darkness and the water hurting his eyes, he spots his daughter deeper in the water and starts pushing down through the horrifying blackness to get to her.
He fights vigorously to get through the water, but it is hard to swim with all the heavy clothes he is wearing. When he finally reaches her, she is heavier than he had imagined, and pulling her up through the water is even harder than swimming down. He pulls her up to where he can put one arm around her lifeless body, before kicking as hard as he can, trying to gain momentum towards the surface. He is running out of breath. The ice-cold water is burning his eyes and, in his mouth, and nose. It is hurting his skin all over the body like thousand knives cutting away at him. His muscles are trying to cramp, and he can barely get them to function. His lungs are screaming for air, and he has to fight every nerve in his body to not breathe in the icy water.
He feels like it is taking hours to get to the surface, but finally he starts to see the light from the ice more clearly. It never occurred to him just how fast a hole in the ice can freeze over. When they reach the point where they went into the water just minutes ago, the large chunks of ice are already firmly trapped in newly formed ice on top. He tries to push the ice out o the way with no luck. He pulls himself together and with all the force he can conjure he pounds the bottom of the ice. It doesn’t break. He tries again. Still no luck. He attempts one last time, but his arms fail him. He can no longer move, and he slowly loses grip of Jacquelin. He looks at her. She seems to have woken up, and for a few seconds he stares into her beautiful, sad eyes.