Have Wheels, Will Tumble

Growing up, some of my favorite books to read were TheAmazing Days of Abby Hayes, written by Anne Mazer, in which ten year old Abby navigates the world and her seemingly perfect family by writing in her journal. Book number five I pulled from my shelf less than five minutes ago, and it is called Have Wheels, Will Travel. In it, Abby decides to save up her money and buy herself a new pair of roller blades, so she can go out with her friends. 

Middle of Nowhere, New England is a place not friendly for roller blading. Rocks cover the driveway to my house, and there are no sidewalks; there was nowhere for me to roller blade. It’s always been a small dream, never fulfilled.

Until few weeks ago, when I sat at the table in my friend's house eating, when he blurted out, "Do you know how to roller blade?" 

Well, I thought, I can roller skate and I can ice skate so it shouldn't be too hard. "Yeah," I replied, the spontaneous offer already making me nervous, "Why?"

"I think my mom's skates will fit you." He dashed away and returned with them in his hands. They fit me perfectly. "Let's go!" I trailed behind him in my socks, making time just to grab my phone. 

Once we arrived, I felt like Abby Hayes. Before she has her own, new pair of roller blades, she has to wear her sister's old pair and the buckles stick. Putting on my pair, I realized I had no idea how to do it.  After some fumbling and help, they were on tight.

My legs were wobbly when I started off. "I'll get the hang of it," I tell him as he glided without effort over the pavement, a walking path near his house. "Once I get going, I'll be fine."

Funny enough, I did do fine. Not good, since he was trying to show me the correct way of skating without breathing like I just ran a marathon, but still, I was steady on my feet. As we reached the hill, I squealed in glee, ready to take on the challenge and climb up it--except I did not account for going down. 

A walking path I saw once that represents what the
walking path near my house looks like--not suitable for
anything with wheels!

The left side of the walking path has a bit of sand, for horses when they walk. For most of the hill, I was swerving a little, not too much, though; however, I was afraid to stop and fall because of my speed. I could see it as it happened. I started drifting to the left, towards the sand. It must have been a spectacular fall to see. At the other end of it, I was laying on the ground with sand sticking to my sweaty skin. Glancing up, I saw my friend had skated far down the hill and did not know I fell; he swerved around as I was standing up to brush myself off. 

"What happened?" he called, grinning like a fool. "You should have stopped yourself." The scrapes on my legs weren't too bad, so we continued on, discussing the story I was writing along the way. 

It wasn't until he stopped to grab his phone that I tried to stop too, flailing my arms around to find what little balance left me long ago. Down I went, on my knee. Sitting on the ground, I saw it was a huge scrape and blood was already starting to drip down. "I have something to tell you," I said, "I don't think I know how to roller blade." (Later, my mom confirmed it with a dumbfounded expression as she said, "You have never roller bladed in your life!") 

"Okay, we'll turn around and go home," he reaching his hand to help me up, grinning again. The trek back was too long; it was a relief to flop into his car and tear the skates from my feet.

Realization spread over me. I asked him why we didn't put on knee pads, and he said it was because I told him I knew how to roller blade.

Next time, I’ll stick to walking.