The Sled

The Sled

Jeff and Danny stood looking down the hill. It was bigger than any hill they had slid down before but they felt ready.

They had been secretly working on their sled for weeks, thinking of every improvement they could make, checking every piece, yet still keeping it quiet because they knew their parents would say no.

“You’re too young!” “It’s too dangerous!” Every time they wanted to try something it was the same thing. They both knew their parents were trying to protect them, but how long did they need protecting? They were twelve now!

As they looked down the hill, Jeff suggested another “trial” run.

“You always say that. Another trial run! We’re never going to find out if it works unless we try it ourselves. We need to be there, feel it ourselves, find out what works and what doesn’t. We need to do this!”

“I guess I’m scared. I think my parents have gotten to me.”

“Well get un-scared! We need to do this, you and me! Let’s go!

They climbed on the sled, and with one last “Let’s go!” they pushed off!

The first thing they found out was the steering didn’t work, then they realized one of the runners was crooked and skewed them off to the left. This aimed them for a small but quite sturdy clump of evergreen bushes, which in turn flipped them back onto their course just in time to barely miss a large oak tree.

As they passed the oak tree, the front caught something hard and stopped short, flipping them both into the air and landing them face first in the snow.

Sitting up, dizzy, spitting out snow and feeling a little woozy, Danny said, “What did you think?

And Jeff smiled, saying, “Let’s try it again.”