The Black Hole

The younger students, with their whining and their unzipped jackets, were driving him crazy. Petey had never been one for younger children and at times, he doubted he ever was such a petulant creature. No, Peter Berkowski was a serious child at the age of six whom, rather than play with others and make mud pies, would prefer to read books of a scientific nature in his own solitude. And although he never truly outgrew his interests and idiosyncrasies 8 years later, he did learn to act more his age. ‘And perhaps that’s the reason why I’m stuck here,’ Petey thought. This was his punishments.

It was earlier that day when he and his buddies decided to skip the useless class, History. And as they hung behind the post office, smoking cigarettes and having snowball fights, when a truant officer happened to be passing by and brought the boys to school. Punishment wise, The Vice went easy on Petey. While his friends received strappings and a weeks detention, Petey just had to help out at the school’s after school program for a few cycles.

Petey bundled up for the outside world. He pulled a knitted hat over his neat, mousy brown hair and wrapped a matching scarf around his already rosy cheeks. He stepped outside and the wind kindly greeted him. Light snow was falling and with the sky darkening, the weather seemed to fit a cliche ‘winter scene’.

He walked for a bit until he got to the frozen river, and sat himself down beside it, readying to tie his skate-laces. Ice skating on the rivers and canals was one of his favourite modes of transportation as his family lacked a vehicle.

“Hey Pete!” A voice cried in the wind. Petey’s head whirled in its direction and saw his good friend, Eddie, all clad in a light jacket and toque. It was a wonder why he hadn’t frozen to death in the forty below weather.

“Hello Ed.” Petey greeted. “Are the others coming?” (The others referring to his two other friends, Rob and Al.)

“Nah,” he shook his head, plopping down beside him. “They got a ride from their mom. Boy, are they in trouble.” He began to tie his laces quickly.

Petey was a single child and like all single children, he desired a sibling, preferably a brother, he can get close to like Rob and Al. But it didn’t matter much, he had Ed.

Eddie had finished tying both his skates before Petey had finished one. He took in Pete’s skates between his legs and began tying them quickly and tightly. It wasn’t long before he finished and asked, “That too tight?” The skates felt like they were cutting off the circulation to his feet but since he didn’t know how tight was too tight, he shook his head.

The pair skated off. Normally they skated side by side, conversing over various topics ranging from algebra tests, parents, and on the awkward occasion, girls. But today, with the freezing weather and all, they skating in a line, Edward first and Petey second. Ed, being far more athletic than Pete, made sure he didn’t skate too fast and leave poor Petey by himself.

The two skated quietly together, their pace quickening whenever the wind did and before long, the two were racing against the blistering wind to keep warm. And as the wind grew colder and quicker, so did the boys. They had gotten so fast, Petey could no longer feel his legs, that or he ignored the pain and he was unsure of the last time he skated as fast, if ever.

Petey looked up and thought he saw holes in the ice scattered around but with the wind burning holes into his face, he looked down again. It didn’t bother him much as there were many ice fishers in the area and the ice, he estimated, was a good 8 inches thick. But with his head down, Petey didn’t see that he and Ed were heading for a large, black hole in the ice ahead of them.

They got closer and closer and before it was too late, Ed looked up and gasp. He was just far enough from it to jump over it safely but an unaware Pete was not as fortunate. At the high speed he was skating at, Petey flew into the hole and underneath the ice.

A feeling of a thousand knives hit his body when he crashed into the water. Air bubbles from his lungs crept up to the surface and he sank. Instinctively, he kicked his small legs as hard as he could, hoping for some lift off but it was unescapable and nor could his skates slip off; they were on too tight. A stabbing pain arose in his open eyes and they became blurry.

His heart racing, he tried to remember something his teacher had told him if such a situation should occur. Look for the black hole. As he sank lower and lower, he desperately tried to look around for something, anything. He saw nothing.

And as a white light began to spring to his eyes and he was losing hope, a hand reached down for him and he was saved.