The wheels of my bag zip along as I jog over to the door.  Katherine greets me.  I sit down on the bench and flip open my bag and unzip the skate pouch.  I tie my skates on fast because I’m late.

I rush onto the ice. I stroke around the rink feeling my hair whip across my shoulders.  Katherine catches up to me. We race around the ice laughing.

My lesson is first. I skate over to my coach. I greet her. She tells me to go warm up my Axel, Double Sow and my Loop-loop. After this I glide towards her. She tells me I have too much rotation.

I follow her over to the harness. I lead into the Axel with flow but I don’t land it; I fall smack on my stomach and knock the wind out of me. I twinge as my ankle shoots pain up my leg. “Are you all right?” she asks.

“I am fine,” I say. It hurts but I get up anyways. I go into the jump again.  I land it!

The ice is my favorite place to be. I love it. Everything about it. The smells. The sounds. And yes, even the cold hard ice.