Danger on the Ice

"Whitney!" Sean gasped, staring out at his classmate, who lay unmoving on the ice. "Whitney, don't move. I'll be right there."

Unsure if she heard him or was even conscious, Sean spun around and began to quickly walk back the way he came. I have to get down there now, but how? The other route I chose not to take clearly goes up, and those were likely Whitney's footprints I saw. So I need to head back to the main trail and then find a path that takes me to that beach area. That could take forever, and besides being hurt, Whitney's on the ice, near the area that looks thinner! Nearly slipping on the slick shelf, Sean had to take a moment to regain his balance. That's when he saw a new possibility—a crazy, reckless possibility, but nevertheless a faster chance to reach her.

At the side of the cliff, above where the beach lay, there was another shelf sticking out. It looked to be about eight feet below from his position, but it wasn't very wide at all. Sean estimated that it might be at best two feet wide. That would get him about a third of the way down. Far below, he thought he saw another even smaller ledge that he might be able to use. Looking back toward the lake, but unable to see his imperiled classmate, Sean made his decision.

"Fuck it."

Getting down on his hands and knees, Sean scanned for the best section to climb down from. Luckily for him, but not for his knees, the edge of the shelf had a few spots where rougher rocks could maybe be used as handholds. He quickly wiped away any light snow from one with his now discarded gloves, beginning his descent.

As the rough rock dug into his hands, his arms strained under the effort, and his legs dangled precariously, Sean tried to position his body as close as possible to the cliff wall. With his feet about only a foot or two above the small outcropping, he wished for the best and let go. Landing, he swayed backward for a moment as he clawed at the wall for a grip. Finding his balance, Sean gave a deep sigh of relief.

"That wasn't scary at all," he said sarcastically to himself. Glancing down, he felt butterflies in his stomach as he noticed how far he still had to go to reach the ground. The jumble of rocks at the base of the cliff felt more imposing as he now had to be fully committed to this plan. Glancing around and back up, Sean knew he had no other option but to keep descending. The next outcropping looked to be about ten or eleven feet away and narrower than the one he stood on.

Ever so slowly, though mindful that Whitney might not have much time, Sean again kneeled down. Trying to brush off the snow with his jacket sleeve, he cursed himself for forgetting his gloves up above as there wasn't much room to maneuver. Sitting down, he turned around and began to lower his body over the side.

"Help! Anyone, help me, please!"

Startled at the sound of Whitney's pleas, Sean lost his grip. Falling, he felt pain as his body slide down the side of the cliff. The rough, jagged stone scraped against his body. As he hit the ledge, the one he planned to climb down to, Sean felt a sharp, piercing pain shoot up from his right foot as it landed hard and awkwardly. His fall didn't stop. Instead, he bounced away from the wall, falling backward as he dropped the final half dozen or so feet to the ground.

Landing on his back, Sean felt the air knocked out of him. Moaning from the shooting pain he felt in his foot and the lesser amount down the side of his leg, Sean lifted his head. Looking at the cliff and its base, he realized the last part where he fell away from the wall saved him from a lot more pain. His body landed on the beach with his feet mere inches from the jumble of rocks. Moving his eyes to his right leg, he saw a long rip down the side of his jeans, where blood now appeared.

"Please, anyone, help me!"

Whitney's cry brought him back to the task at hand. Slowly turning his body onto its left side, he moved to stand up. A nearly overwhelming amount of pain from his right foot caused him to grit his teeth while taking a deep breath. Shifting some of his weight onto his left foot, Sean still had the presence of mind to understand that racing onto the ice unprepared would be a stupid thing to do. He might need help in reaching Whitney. And after scanning the back of the beach area, he saw several large branches. Alternating between limping and hopping over to them, Sean picked out the longest, thickest branch.

"Owen! Can you hear me? I need help!"

Turning back to the sound of her voice, Sean began the surreal journey of walking down the snow-covered beach towards the frozen water. Still limping from the hard fall, he used the thick branch only sparingly as a crutch. He didn't want to put too much weight on it, causing it to snap and be useless once he reached the endangered blonde.

Walking as fast as he could on the ice, Sean didn't worry about the thickness here. From his earlier appraisal from up high, he knew the water in the cove to be likely frozen solid. It would be once he left the cove for the deeper lake water that lay the danger. Reaching the edge of the cove, he finally saw Whitney. She sat on her knees, looking frantically at the top of the bluffs for any sign of help.

"Help!" the blonde screamed again, right before she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Turning her head, she saw Sean slowly approaching. "Sean! Oh, thank gawd!"

In her relief, the dazed girl made the worst possible choice; she stood up and started walking toward her classmate.

CRACK

"Stop! Whitney, stop!" Sean screamed. Even roughly twenty yards away, he had heard the sound of the ice cracking.

Whitney abruptly stopped as another crack rang out. "Oh, shit."

"Get down!" Sean ordered at the disorientated girl. "Get down, Whitney. Spread your weight out!"

Nodding, Whitney swore at herself for acting so stupidly. Part of the reason she stayed still and called for help came from knowing not to act rashly on the ice. It was a point her father had frequently reminded her about when she was little. Gingerly, she lowered herself to her hands and knees. The creaking of the ice frightening both of the teenagers.

"Lay on your stomach," Sean commanded as he reached a spot where he noticed a slight change in the opaqueness of the ice.

While the cheerleader captain did that, the blond-haired teen knelt down onto his hand and knees. Barely noticing his pain anymore, he did note that blood covered the right side of his jeans. Estimating the distance to be a little more than fifteen yards, Sean began to crawl toward Whitney.

An eerie silence fell over Wasp Lake. However, as Sean grew closer, the ice cracked again from around the injured girl. The sound caused both teens to flinch.

"Whitney," Sean called out, getting a nod in return. "The ice you were on before might be a little stronger. Maybe try to slide back onto that until I get closer."

"Okay," she replied in a frightened voice.

The suggestion immediately proved useless as another sharp cracking noise rang out, causing Whitney to flinch again. Her lip quivered in fear.

"Stop! Shit, that's not going to work," Sean said. Looking down at the ice just in front of him, Sean knew he reached the thinner ice. Still about ten feet away from Whitney's spot, he laid down on his stomach, gripping the branch in his hand. He proceeded to crawl on his belly, military-style toward Whitney.

"Oh, no," Whitney moaned. She noticed the ice underneath her no longer felt quite so stable. Instead, it began to feel more like a floating sensation. "Sean, it's not going to hold. It's breaking apart!"

"It's going to be alright, Whitney. Don't panic," Sean soothingly reassured her. Meanwhile, inside his head, he was about to panic. "Everything's going to be fine."

Now estimating the distance between them to be about seven or eight feet, Sean swung the branch a little closer to Whitney.

Whitney's eyes focused on the new development. Where did that come from? She thought as she watched it come closer and closer. When the end of the branch was less than two feet from her hand, a new sensation was added to her feeling of floating. Whitney started to feel wet.

"Sean, I can feel the water!"

"Just hold on! I'm almost there," Sean pleaded with her as he watched her make a decision. Her fingertips were ever so close to the tip of the branch. "No, Whitney, don't do it!"

Whitney didn't listen as she lifted herself up onto her hands and knees. A series of soft creaks and cracks accompanied her as she placed her weight down on the ice and leaped forward.