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Two friends go sledding for the first time since they were kids

"Oh come on."

"I think this is a bad idea."

"Then why did you agree to it?"

"..."

"I'm not that pushy."

"And yet here we are."

"It'll be fun!"

"So you say."

Chloe and Jessie stood at the top of what once seemed an impossibly steep hill to them. Now though, it seemed a little more than a speed bump.

"What do you have to lose?" asked Jessie, putting the red plastic sled she'd been holding down on the frozen ground.

Chloe looked around. True, the hill wasn't as steep as her memory had made it out to be, but still. There was ice everywhere. The air was so cold that it hurt when she breathed in. In her childhood memories of this hill you could smell the chocolate waft over from a nearby factory and it mixed somehow pleasantly with the smell of fresh smell of the pine trees. Now though, the factory had closed and the pine trees' scent must've been taken away by the harsh, biting wind.

Then her mind drifted back to the ice.

"We could get hurt," Chloe retorted.

"On this tiny hill?"

"I bet we could still get some speed going."

"I don't think that much."

"Then why are we even here?"

"What?"

"If you don't think we can get speed, Jessie, why are we here?"

Jessie scrunched her lips together partly out of frustration and partly out of needing to move her face to keep it warm. Jessie remembered them coming to the hill as kids. Glimpses of red sled, soaked mittens, and uproarious laughter filled her mind. She just wanted to recapture some of that. This year had been so hard and now they might not even get to go sledding like they used to.

"Because we used to do it," Jessie said quietly.

"We used to do a lot of things."

"Oh you're being impossible."

"I am not. I just don't see why we need to do this."

"We don't need to do this. I want to do this."

"Just tell me why."

"Can't you just give in instead?"

"I could."

"Thank you!" exclaimed Jessie, thinking she'd won.

"I didn't say I would."

"Oh come on."

"That didn't work last time, you know."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"..."

"But seriously why do you want us to go sledding so much?"

"I already said because we used to."

"That doesn't make any sense, Jessie."

"You don't ever get a craving to do something you used to?"

"..."

"Exactly. I thought it'd be nice since we barely see each other to try and recapture something we used to have."

"Oh."

"Sorry but it's the truth. You barely call me anymore."

"Life is busy, Jess."

"So is mine, but I call you."

"So we do talk."

"When you answer my calls."

"I..."

"..."

"I don't know what to say."

"I know, Chloe."

"This year has been really hard on me."

"If you don't talk to me, I can't know that."

"..."

"We've known each other since we were six and I don't even know your address anymore. I used to have your phone number memorized. And in this day and age that means something, right?"

"It does."

"Okay. So...so yeah maybe this was dumb, but I thought we could get something back by going sledding. There. Are you happy now that I've revealed my childish ways?"

"Jessie..."

"What?"

"Jessie, you know I still care, right?"

"..."

"I didn't realize things had gotten so bad between us."

"Well, Chloe, I don't know what you want me to tell you."

"..."

"Sorry, I shouldn't have brought this up. Let's just go back."

"No, wait. This means something for you, right?"

"It's dumb, we can go. You probably want to get back to your parents'."

"Not like this I don't."

"..."

"You know I always look forward to the holidays."

"Sure, you get to see your family."

"And you, Jess. I get to see you. I guess I thought that was enough."

"Well...it's not."

"Okay, I'll call more."

"Thanks. And I know life can get busy, I just miss you."

"Okay, let's do it."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

The two friends climbed together onto the red sled and, for a moment, gravity took them back in time.

(Prompt by Kimisha Cassidy)

"USDFS_Feb2020-17" by U.S. Forest Service- Pacific Northwest Region
 

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