Heres one. I began skating around 7 yrs old. I wrote this in high school. A Skaters Memory Some of my fondest memories occurred at a run-down skating rink in the poorer section of town. Crowds of middle school kids filled the rink to capacity every Friday night. Excitement filled the air as teenagers streamed through the door. The floors were dulled from years of dirty skates gliding over them. The lockers stood at attention next to the entrance. Their chipped paint and dents were visual reminders of past roller rink brawls. You were lucky if you could locate one with a working lock, and even luckier if it didnt stick when you were ready to leave. Girls gossiping and boys betting on pool games drowned out the blaring music. The owners played the latest songs and took requests during the Moonlight Skate, which was always the first and last couples skate of the evening. Id sometimes catch someone staring at me from afar. Or better yet, sometimes a friend of a friend of someone who might be interested would ask me to skate. The rink would go almost completely dark except for hazy shades of red and blue emanating from a silver ball in the middle of the ceiling. Girls wishing they had been chosen would gaze at couples with jealous eyes, whisper something to a friend, and then sink back into the shadows. There never seemed to be more than five or six couples on the rink during the Moonlight Skate, so the concession stand was busy handing out its share of watered-down cokes and taco chips with gooey cheese poured over them. The older teenage boys and girls lit up their cigarettes and blew smoke in the faces of those waiting in line. Sometimes Id spot a regular with smokers breath kissing a bleached blonde. An elderly woman sat at the counter, dulled from years of stains. Slow-moving and somewhat forgetful but most of the kids liked her grandmotherly nature. After the lines had calmed down she stared blankly in the direction of the rink. Was she dreaming of her own by-gone days as a skater... Once the Moonlight Skate was over, the bathrooms released over half the rinks female population. Girls with freshly combed hair and bright lipstick joined the rest of the skaters. The night wore on, bumps and cracks in the floor were avoided, as well as the three and four year olds who were forever underfoot. The smell of perfume and sweat permeated the air and the eyes of the younger skaters grew heavy. Soon skates came off, lockers somehow came unstuck, and parents arrived. Girls gazed longingly into their boyfriends eyes. The owners played the last record of the night and hoped it didnt skip. Children sat on benches as parents untied their shoelaces. Within a matter of minutes silence claimed the rink. A lonely teenager waited nervously by the door hoping his mother remembered the right time to come pick him up. Candy wrappers and spilled cokes were cleaned up and the floor was swept with anticipation of next Friday nights skaters.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 04:50:51 +0000