Written for NaNoWriMo 2007
“You know, someday they’re going to break that flying camel’s back!”

The wind rushed past Alena's face as she spun endlessly through the air. She pulled her arms in tight, causing her body to rotate even faster. She concentrated all her efforts on centering her balance, and when she finally completed her rotations, she landed on a clean outside edge. Alena stretched her left leg out behind her and straightened herself, holding her head high in the air.

"Well done, Alena!" called a mellow voice from the stands. She whipped around to see her coach, Orlando Griggins, smiling at her from the other end of the rink. She quickly skated over to the boards behind which he stood. "Your triple loop has improved a lot over the past few days, Allie. Keep it up, and you'll be beating out the best of the skaters at the regionals."

"Thanks," Allie smiled.

"Anyway, keep up the good work. I've got to go check on Emma and Rhapsody on the other rink."

As she watched Griggins' figure slowly shrinking into the depths of the twin arena, Allie sighed and thought of what her coach had just said. You'll be beating out the best of the skaters at the regionals.

The mere thought of the regional championships made Allie's stomach fill with butterflies. She had competed in numerous competitions since she began skating when she was seven, but now that she was at Junior Level, everything seemed so much more real.

The regionals weren't just any competition – they were the first step in the competitive road of figure skating. If a skater competed well at the regionals, where they were up against all the other skaters from their area, they would qualify for the sectionals. Qualifying at the sectionals meant they were on their way to the nationals, and - if a skater was good enough to place there - well, anything was possible. The Junior World Championships and numerous other international events were on the to-do list for whoever was lucky enough to win the name of national champion.

Competing at Novice Level the previous year, Allie had placed first at the regionals, moving up and up to the nationals, where she had been ranked fifth overall.

But since then, Alena had undergone a change of coach and a serious upgrade in training. She was training six times a week, and working out for hours. Her jumps had improved by miles since the nationals last year, as had numerous other aspects of her skating including her flexibility, speed, grace and edges.

Griggins seemed sure that Alena was going to go all the way this season, but Allie herself wasn't so sure. Though she was a top-notch skater, there were other great competitors ready to beat her and when it came to competitions, Allie was a victim of nerves. As this affected her skating, she often didn't place as high as was possible.

Strangely enough, a smile came to Allie’s lips as she thought of the two skaters who had every chance of beating her out of gold this year. Her two closest friends, Emma Kyrel and Rhapsody-Anne Williams (who, for good reason, preferred to be addressed as Rhea) were fierce competitors. Emma, although small and a little younger than the others, was superb when it came to spinning, and her flexibility was astounding. Rhea was a skater with her own unique style – making up moves was her strong point, but all of her required elements were of high standard as well - especiall her jumps. Allie herself excelled in spins and edges – her flying sit spin was the talk of the arena, and her footwork always scored enormously well.

As if prompted by her thoughts, the very two people that Allie had just been contemplating appeared at the boards. Allie waved and skated over to them.

“Hey guys! Where have you been?” she said cheerfully.

“Griggins was having a look at our programs over on the other rink,” said Emma, stepping onto the ice. “But we figured it would be much less crowded over here, so we decided to join you,” She placed her water bottle on the boards and stood next to Allie. Rhea said nothing.

“What’s up with her?” Allie asked Emma, raising her eyebrows.

“She claims she’s lost her triple flip,” Emma said disbelievingly, placing a hand on her hip like an angry mother. “But I don’t believe her.”

“What’s not to believe?” said Rhea sulkily. “One minute I had it perfect, the next minute, it’s completely gone.”

“Oh, cheer up!” said Allie sympathetically. “I’m sure you’ll get it back in no time.”

“Yeah, well I guess that’s exactly how much time we have before the regionals – just about none,” Rhea said, folding her arms with a rather exaggerated pout on her face.

“Well if you weren’t such a slacker and stopped missing the morning sessions, you’d be whipped into shape before you could say Axel.” Emma said teasingly.

“Would you stop it with your corny skating jokes?” Rhea said, hitting her friend playfully on the back with her skate guard. “You know, someday they’re going to break that flying camel’s back!”

There was a long pause.

“And you’re calling her jokes corny?” Allie burst out in laughter. “That doesn’t even make sense!”

And so the three of them spent the next two hours practicing their programs over and over again. Within less than an hour, Rhea had managed to perfect her triple flip again, confirming Emma’s theory that she was making it up in the first place. Of course, Rhea still denied it, simply saying “I swear it was gone! I don’t know how it came back so suddenly!” with a mischievous smile plastered across her face.

As the Zamboni backed out onto the ice, the girls got off and sat down to remove their skates. As they did, they chatted about the upcoming competition.

“Have you two got your dresses yet?” Emma asked curiously. “My seamstress says she’ll have mine both finished by Friday.”

“I got mine last Monday,” Rhea replied, then added bitterly, “But mom’s not happy with the one I got for my free program. She says the skirt’s too short.”

“I don’t blame her, Rhea,” Emma pulled a face somewhere between a disapproving frown and a mocking smirk. “I saw the design; the skirt on that thing was less than too inches long!”

“Well I don’t want it getting in the way of my jumps now, do I?” Rhea shot back defensively.

“Oh please, Rhea, like that’s what you had in mind! You only want to impress the boys in the audience! Namely… Jordan, perhaps?”

“Shut up!”

“Would you two cool it?” Allie was on the verge of laughing at the ridiculous matter her friends were getting so worked up about.

“I’m sorry, Allie, but I don’t think it could get any cooler in this arena!” Rhea burst out before she had even finished her sentence. Emma joined in and exchanged a high five with her friend. Allie shook her head, laughing quietly.

“You two will never stop, will you?”

It was eight o’clock and Allie was draped across her bed, being absorbed into her green comforter. She was growing tired and yet she could not sleep. She kept on thinking about the regionals, and the thought overwhelmed her.

Nerves were a huge deal for Allie. Her father claimed that she had inherited this trait from her mother.

Another blow hit Allie in the chest as she thought of her mother’s pretty face. It seemed like only yesterday that she had been here, sitting with Allie on her bed, smiling with her delicate lips and her glowing, emerald eyes.

Of course, it seemed like only yesterday that she had left for that hiking trip - never to return - as well.

That was a chapter of Allie’s life that she would never forget. It had all happened three years ago, when Allie was about to go to the sectionals for the first time in her life. She had desperately wanted her mother at her side, but she had already agreed to go on a hiking trip with a close friend, and could not cancel. So, the day before the competition, Allie’s mother had set out with all her gear, destined for the forest.

The next day, Allie had skated, keeping her mother’s smile in her mind all the time, and being cheered on by her supportive father. After all, Allie had taken second place. She was so proud that she wanted to tell her mother straight away, but as she was out of phone range, she had to wait until she returned. She was due back in only a few days; Allie did not have long to wait.

But the days passed, and so did the day of her mother's scheduled return. After a week, Allie and her father really began to worry. So they telephoned all the people they could think of. However, these efforts were fruitless. They waited on, but received no news until a whole month later, when they got a call.

Watching her father pick up the phone, Allie had stood by, excited that she might finally be hearing from her mother. But as her dad had listened to the words on the other end of the line, his eyes had grown wet and his face turned solemn.

Then came the darkest words Allie had ever heard in her life.

“Darling,” her father had said, holding her hand tenderly. He paused for long enough to let Allie know that the next words would be devastating. “Your mother isn’t coming back from her hiking trip. She had an unfortunate accident on a cliff in the forest. I’m so sorry.”

And without mentioning the exact words, Allie’s father had managed to give her the entire message. As expected, Allie had burst into tears, the moment her father had finished speaking. She had, of course, run off to her bedroom, and stayed there for several days until her father finally convinced her to come out.

As she pulled herself out of the somber reverie, Allie was a little bit surprised to find that there were tears in her eyes. The ghost of her mother’s death had haunted her long after, especially because of the circumstances. Allie didn’t know whether it was the pain of loss or self-pity for the fact that her mother had not been there for the happiest moment of her life, but either way, she could not shake the memories, and they pained her every time they came rushing back.

Allie shook her head as if to rid herself of the terrible memories. She had important things ahead of her to worry about, and she could not let the past drag her down. Besides, if she wanted to make her mother proud, she was going to have to put everything she had into her skating. She couldn’t be distracted, even by the person she missed most dearly in the world.

The next chapter will be up fairly soon. Tomorrow, probably. I've already written up to chapter twenty-four, so editing's the only issue. Please review to tell me what you think!
Bear in mind I wrote this last year, and my writing has improved dramatically since then. This is the only decently-sized piece of writing I've produced, so I figured I should upload it and get peoples' opinions on it. Any kind of criticism is appreciated, because I can use your tips to improve my more recent stories.

- Sam :)