My mom would never see me again. My life was over. I remember the day I almost died like it happened a century ago; which is silly since dying is kind of a big deal. I was probably over exaggerating; maybe I was just being overly dramatic. Or maybe I was not; maybe he really was going to kill all of my friends and me.

I loved sledding when I was a kid. My favorite part about sledding was definitely building a ramp at the bottom of the Delwood Elementary sledding hill, and sledding down it on my bright yellow-green in color saucer. I received that saucer as a gift for Christmas; just days before the incident. I always hated that saucer. I wanted so badly an inflatable saucer, not that plastic piece of junk; however I was thankful to have a sled in the first place. My friends and I would take turns with each other’s sleds and I was so happy when it was my turn to use someone else’s other than my own. I never would have told my parents I didn’t like it though because I didn’t want to complain; I had received too many gifts to count that Christmas.

Days after Christmas, inches of new snow had fallen onto the numb ground. The snowflakes always looked majestic as they danced from the sky to the floor of the earth. It was one of those things that shaped wonder into your mind; where did the snowflakes come from? How did they form? From the kitchen my friends yelled that the deep brown, scolding drink that’s made from cocoa & milk they were all consuming made them want to go play in the snow. I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to go out into the freezing cold weather, but I succumbed to the idea with little hesitation. I hated getting dressed in snow clothes. From the floor, I stared at the snow pants and violet colored coat hanging from the laundry room hook. I needed to get up and put them on. I strongly disliked wearing my Carhartt; I was at least 4 sizes too small to fit into it properly. At least I would be warm, I thought. I put the large jacket on and watched as my friends; Kayla and Katelyn, put on their snow wear. We were ready to go. We rushed outside and gathered our sleds. I watched as the white puffs of my breath turned to thin nothing. As we walked from my house to the school we enjoyed breaking down the frozen snow… the crunching sound was music to my ears.

Even though it was cold, I took off my second layer of gloves due to the snow making them soaked. It was only making things worse. Instead of sledding we decided to play in the fort that was built by other children who came to the school park to play in the snow. We paraded into the forts entrance. “Let’s make it bigger and better,” said Kayla. “Yeah, we can make it more spacious,” Katelyn replied as her teeth chattered like a cup of scattered dice. We spent the day tearing down the walls of the frozen fort and extending it. I envisioned what the original builders would think when they saw their fort bigger and better than their inventive creation. The sun smiled at us as it slowly started to fade into the other side of the horizon. Time flies when you are having fun. As we were smoothing things up, a few warm bodies appeared atop of the hill. They looked good for nothing; all dressed in inky colors with their dew rags tied around their heads to keep their ears warm from the bitter temperatures. One thing everyone needed to know was that Katelyn was always so full of herself. She thought she was better. We walked up the hill to find the boys standing around smoking. To this day I still believe that smoking is like paying to kill yourself. What a waste of time and money. Although they didn’t say out loud, “Let’s all go ride our bikes over top of that fort and ruin it for no reason” I knew as soon as I saw them eyeing the fort that something was going to happen. Of course I was about 10 and sassy so I most likely was over exaggerating. “You better not mess with our fort,” Katelyn stated. “My uncle is the sheriff, you will get in big trouble,” she shouted. She always loved confrontation and the drama. She was the neighborhood brat. Thinking back I don’t know why I was ever friends with her. The boys were not having it, especially not the leader of the pack. He pulled out a knife. What just happened, I thought in my head. My face was turning numb, and I was beginning to pick at my nails, biting into them like a lion does into its prey. I stood still. My palms were sweaty and my pulse began to quicken, I had no control over how I felt. I just didn’t understand why the teen would pull out his knife. What was going to happen to me? The wind began to howl. I wanted to go home. I was scared and needed the comfort of my mom. “What are you gonna’ do, stab us?” exclaimed Katelyn. “Katelyn stop,” I yelled. Kayla remained quiet. She was just as scared as I was, if not more. I didn’t know what would happen next, but on impulse and without thinking clearly, I ran. I sprinted. I got the hell out of there! The snow crunched like crackers as I ran through the parking lot. I was running from death, I thought it my head. As I am running for my life, I spot the mayor. I felt like a survivor on “I Can’t Believe I Survived” when they are found after being isolated on a vacant island for two weeks. So dramatic I was. My breath couldn’t catch up with me as I told her the situation. We dashed back to the school and the “killers” that were once their disappeared into thin air. My friends explained that they left in a flash after I ran to get help.

The door yawned as it opened. “Mom, you will not believe what just happened to me,” I told her. “I almost died today.”