In the kitchen, glorious rays of golden sun penetrated through the window and caressed Kaylin’s face as she diced some tomatoes for the day’s lunch. It was then when Irina, her younger sister, dashed into the kitchen with her hair windblown, looking utterly flustered. Kaylin failed to notice her distress.

“Lovely morning, isn’t it?” Kaylin merrily greeted, glancing towards the window. Seeing Irina, she asked hastily, “What’s wrong?”

“Are you serious? What’s wrong?” she rolled her eyes, “How can you simply just forget things? Or are you pretending? Hello?” She waved her hand across Kaylin’s nonplussed eyes... “Today is the day of my Skating Contest finals, remember?”

Kaylin was usually forgetful and in this case she had forgotten her sister’s ice skating competition.

“Oh … I mean, I knew about that. What I wanted to ask was that why are you in such a hurry?” Kaylin unsuccessfully tried to cover up her forgetfulness with an absurd question. Not wanting to fight with her elder sister, Irina didn’t press on.

“Can you whip up a coffee really quick? Never mind, there’s no time for that. Oh, and Kaylin, have you seen my white skates?”

“Aren’t you going to wear the blue ones?” Kaylin inquired.

“Nope, white ones this time, found them!” Irina called out as she spotted them in the living room.

“But shouldn’t you take the blue ones in case of emergency ... or luck. Mum gave them to you, you know ...”

“I don’t want my bag getting heavy,” Irina retorted stubbornly.

Kaylin wished her sister good luck, saw her off to the door, finished cooking the lunch, squared away the living room and settled on the couch to watch a brand new series, that she’d been thinking of since day before yesterday.

In the middle of her episode, however, she felt her phone ringing amid the cosy cushions. With an annoyed groan, she groped for her phone. Her irritation seemed to vanish instantly when she saw who the caller was.

She drew on her helmet and bolted away. Being a pro bike rider, Kaylin was certain that she could make it. After a few minutes, she reached a crossing. Waiting for the signal to switch to green, she shifted her weight on the bike and, to her astonishment, there was no sack fastened behind her. It was as if somebody had splashed her with cold water.

“Hey, hey, Kaylin, can you bring me the blue skates, like, right now? The second round is about to begin in 25 minutes!” cried a hysterical Irina.

“What happened to the white ones?” asked Kaylin.

“It’s a long story. Just bring me my blue skates ASAP Kaylin! I’ll send you the location, please!”

And with these words, Kaylin knew she had to act. She seized a spare sack, stuffed in the blue shoes, put on her sneakers, clasped her bike keys and locked the house.

She drew on her helmet and bolted away. Being a pro bike rider, Kaylin was certain that she could make it. After a few minutes, she reached a crossing. She just had to go five minutes further and Irina still had 15 minutes which meant ample time.

Waiting for the signal to switch to green, she shifted her weight on the bike and, to her astonishment, there was no sack fastened behind her. It was as if somebody had splashed her with cold water. But she had it before didn’t she? Did it fall on the way?

Now that she pondered over it, she couldn’t exactly recall tying it on the bike. Heart beating anxiously, she made a sharp U-Turn and went skimming along the road. A swift visit home apprised her that she had sloppily left the sack near the shoe-rack when she was putting on her sneakers.

Startled by her absentmindedness, she once again followed the location sent by her sister. Kaylin knew it was no use going the way she came, so she started on a shortcut. Luckily, she found a familiar path through the bazaar. She hurled her bike into speed as she entered the market.

“Coming through, coming through,” she called out, as she skidded along several fruit stalls, which helped out in making people scatter from her way. Several passersby casted her looks of denouncement, while some were curiously interested, but Kaylin convinced herself that it was all worth it.

Soon she arrived at a dead end. To her right was a constricted alley filled with junk. To her left, however, there was a wider path. Following it, she made another deft right turn, to find herself facing the main road. Her destination was just on the opposite road. Sighing with relief, she sprinted inside with the skates sack in her hand.

There, she spotted Irina, apparently livid with despair. When Irina saw her, some of the colour returned to her face and she darted forward.

“Thank goodness, you made it, Kaylin, honestly, the number of times I’ve called,” Irina burst out. She took her skates and quickly hastened to the changing rooms.

Three hours later, in the living room, Irina was brandishing her trophy, “I still can’t believe it, Kaylin. It’s like a dream. All thanks to you… and you were right, I should’ve taken the blue skates in the first place, the blades of the white ones felt rough and I couldn’t balance,” Irina admitted repentantly.

Kaylin gave her an I-told-you-so look, but appreciated it all the same. She turned towards the TV, hoping to finish watching her show this time.

Published in Dawn, Young World, January 1st, 2022