It didn't really seem possible. They had spent hours together repeating the same moves. Her saddled across this weird unstable structure, him running alongside with one hand on the seat post. They must have worn tracks in that two block stretch by the house going back and forth.
Back and forth. Over and over again.
She tried as hard as she could to learn this new skill, but it just didn't make any sense. How was it supposed to stay upright without those two extra wheels? Sure, every now and then he'd let go, and she would glide along for a foot or two, but then she fell over. Every time.
Oh, and she hated falling. Falling was the most painful reminder that you failed. That you can't do this. That you suck. Then, if that's not enough, sometimes you actually get hurt!
Well, that's it. She had made up her mind. She wasn't going to fall anymore. Not if I have anything to say about it.
So, this particular day they set out to do it. With a change of scenery in mind, she grabbed her bike, and he shouldered a pair of roller skates. They climbed the hill to the local elementary school. Quietly they cut a diagonal across the soccer fields. Then, there they were. This particular school had a small banked inline skating track. It seemed perfect for learning to ride your bike. Or so he told her.
They immediately got to work, going about the same motions they had repeated for the last few weeks. Only this time it was different. He was on skates, right beside her, and she...She wasn't falling as much.
Slowly, she began to glide further and further. Eventually she gained the confidence to pedal a few strokes. Before she even knew it, she could ride one whole stretch without veering to the grassy infield to tip over. Am I actually doing this? She thought.Then came the rain. And this wasn't the type that creeps up on you; slowly trickling a few drops before the downpour. It was like a giant bully in the sky suddenly sped in on his black-cloudmobile and began pelting them, rapid-fire, with giant icy water balloons. They had to go, and fast.
He told her it would be faster if he left his skates on, and that she would have to ride the bike home. Downhill the whole way? She hadn't even mastered the banked corners of the track yet, but it had only been 60 seconds and they were already soaked to their cores. Her bones were getting cold.
She mounted the bike for the last time that day, and went back across the now marshy soccer fields.
It's just like the straight part of the track. Only the ground is softer now, she told herself.
They passed through the opening in the fence, and that's where it began. The road was shiny with rainwater, and the hill seemed so much steeper atop her precarious little contraption. She looked to her right. He offered some encouragement; then snaked down the road like a professional.
Here it comes, she thought, the big one. She anticipated this fall would hurt worse than all the others, but her arms were cold, the bully in his dark cloud was hitting her so hard it made her skin sting, and her dad...Her dad was just ahead, gaining speed, and zig-zagging recklessly down the road. She had no choice but to keep up, and brace herself for the fail she knew was coming.
It was halfway down the second (and biggest) decline just after the plateau with the blind intersection that she began to realize it. She wasn't falling, and she wasn't going to. She was in control, and she could do this.
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