By: Harrison Abbott

A snowstorm came. Snowfall that broke records. And then the government closed the schools. Great. That’s exactly what Robbie, Joel and I wanted. We didn’t have to go to school! 

With our free time, we decided to go out sledging. I didn’t have a sledge, but Robbie and Joel did. So I met up with them and we went out to the park, where there weren’t many people around, and in the park there was a valley with steep sides that led down to the river. So that gave us the valley’s sides to sledge down.  

On the first day there, it was just glorious. You know when snow is fresh – freshly fallen – and has no footprints on it? So it’s kinda like walking on a new planet for the first time; your footprints seem historical when you plant them down.

We sledged down the valley endlessly. Was brilliant fun. Sledging, when you’re a boy, has a nice blend of thrill and danger.

One time Robbie went way too fast down the valley, and he was hurtling towards the river. He tried to stop, by veering the sledge sideways … and the river was getting closer and closer. Robbie screamed girlishly, and then bricked it, and jumped off his sledge. The sledge flumed onwards and flew right into the river. We laughed and laughed.

As I say, it was a happy few days for all of us. And I really liked being with Robbie and Joel.

Because we were at the valley so often, we ‘used up’ a lot of the snow, as it were, with our sledges. As in, we made lots of tracks in the snowfall along the valley. And the motion wasn’t as good when you sledged on ‘used’ snow. So we moved on farther down the valley as time went on.  

At this farther end of the valley, there were little pockets of woodland. It was thicker in this part, with trees protruding from the snow. But we still found direct routes to sledge down. And, actually, in this area, the valley was at its steepest point: so it made the rides faster and more daring.   

One afternoon, we’d been in these parts for most of the day. And it was beginning to get dark.

Robbie and Joel had just taken rides and they were now resting. So there was a free sledge for me. I looked down at this spot where none of us had ridden before. An untouched passage of snow.

There were some trees towards the bottom. But they were quite far away. I was good at ‘stopping’ the sledge if it was going too fast. There were trees either flank of the passage as well. But I was fairly confident I could dodge them if I had to.

“I’m going to do a ride down there,” I said to Robbie and Joel.

“You sure?” Robbie said. “Lots of trees there.”

“I can do it,” I said.

And I mounted the sledge at the top of the hill. Robbie and Joel stood up. I looked around at them. Both seemed uneasy. Robbie blinked rapidly; a habit he did a lot when he was unsure about something. I wanted to show them that I was still the best at sledging: better than they were.  

I shoved off down the hill.

Zoom. Thrust. Cold wind on the hot pink cheeks. Exhilaration.

The sledge bumped under me and I got a thud in the backside … but, that was okay – that’d happened before.

I lost a little control of the sledge following that bump. But this was okay too – I could see what was in front of me.

Just before it happened, I remember wanting to yell out something cocky. That I should shout something celebratory to Robbie and Joel above me. I often yelled, “I’m the greatest rider! And you know it!” Arrogant stuff like that.

A split second after this urge, the sledge whacked into something under the snow. And whatever it was sent the sledge and I flying up in the air.  

The sledge flew straight. Whereas my body flew sideways.

And I splatted face-first into a pine tree.

It burst my nose.

I didn’t realise that my nose was burst for quite some time. Because head injuries daze your wits.

I remember lying on my front, with my face in the snow, totally numbed. Then I heard Robbie and Joel shouting as they came down the hill. I also recollect looking up and around, to see where the sledge was. Bizarrely, I fretted whether the sledge was okay: I didn’t want it to be broken.

Then I saw that there was blood all over the snow in front of me.

Robbie and Joel arrived. I got up and sat on my bum. My lips were all warm and runny. Blood is hot. You don’t often realise this when you see blood in films. In January, after a huge snowstorm, you really notice how much it steams.

My friends, Robbie and Joel, stared at me. They didn’t say anything. No words. Joel shrieked. And he turned around and ran back up the hill.   

Robbie just blinked. He blinked and blinked as if there was something horrible in his eyes. And then he turned around too, and ran up the hill, following Joel. I watched both of them ascend. Until they got to the top. Where they reached Robbie’s sledge. They picked that up and then left with it. Leaving me alone at the bottom of the valley.

I had some tissues in my coat pocket. So I used those to soak up the nosebleed.

You know when you sit on wet ground, and your trousers and underwear get all wet? And it’s quite a miserable sensation? Well, that’s what happened.

I stayed on the floor for quite a while. Must’ve been concussed. The park was totally silent. Oh – and it’d gotten way darker by now. It would be evening soon. And it suddenly felt like I was a long way from home. Didn’t want to freeze to death in the park.

The patch of my gore was right there in the snow. Purplish in the declining light. Indeed, it was like something out of a horror film.

Right. Where was the sledge?

I stood up. And looked around for Joel’s sledge. Crazily, I still worried that his sledge was harmed. Until I found it close by. It had landed a few metres away. There was no mark on it.

Thinking back, I should have just left Joel’s sledge in the park. Instead, I took it home with me.

When I got home, the warmth of the house felt like a furnace. And when I took my wet clothes off, my skin was all grey. I sponged the blood off my face. At least by now the nose had stopped bleeding.

And then I went to sleep.

During the night, I woke up, completely baffled as to where I was. And I didn’t realise why my whole head was sore. There was no memory of what had happened earlier. I stumbled through to the bathroom and when I turned the light on and saw my reflection in the mirror, it was all puffy and purple with bruises.  

Was tricky to get back to sleep that night.

In the morning, I began to think about Robbie and Joel. Not about my sore face. But about them and what they did.  

They abandoned me. When they saw that my nose was all bloodied; that I was seriously hurt: they freaked, and bailed. Instead of asking if I was okay. Or helping me up, to get me home. All they did was leave. Without a word. This was surprising and hard to believe. I had known them for years. I’d thought that they were my friends. If Robbie and Joel were injured, then I would help them out.

In fact, I already had helped them in the past.

There was one time when Robbie got attacked by a dog. This rough dog that had no leash on it. It went up and bit Robbie. That happened in the park, too, during the summer before the snow storm. The dog bit Robbie on the calf. So I ran up and kicked it. And the dog took heed from the force of my kick, and fled right off. Robbie cried. I’d never seen him cry before and it was embarrassing for both of us. But I did my best to cheer him up. The dog had left a mark on his calf, but it wasn’t a serious wound. Robbie never actually thanked me for my intervention. Whilst I was quite proud that I’d defended him.

There was another similar moment with Joel as well.

Joel had a bad allergy for nuts. But a lot of people didn’t know this about him. In the school playground, one of the older kids threw some salted peanuts at him, as a joke – not knowing that he had a severe allergy. After the peanuts struck him in the face, Joel had an allergic attack. Because I knew it was serious: I took him inside the school to the school nurse. So that we could call an ambulance. It was scary to see him pant and sweat and splutter for air … and I was properly afraid for him. Thankfully he was okay in the end. He might not have been if I hadn’t helped.

So, yeah. I was really surprised that Robbie and Joel deserted me like that.

After my accident happened, it didn’t snow all night, nor the next day either. The following two days were clear and sunny. The snow began to thaw. Throughout this entire time, my face began to heal up. The nose was still a bit sore, but the bruising eased down.

Joel’s sledge was still in my garden.

I hadn’t seen or heard from Robbie or Joel since the incident. Nothing. Neither of them had come around to visit.

Until three days later, when I heard the front doorbell ring. I went downstairs and opened up and Joel was standing there.

“Hello,” he said to me.

I watched him. There wasn’t much substance in his expression. He seemed timid. But not much more than usual; Joel was a naturally coy boy. I didn’t respond, because I was still angry with him. All Joel said was:

“Do you know where my sledge is?”

“Yes. It’s in the back garden.”

“Oh, good. I went back to the park, but it wasn’t there. I was hoping that you took it.”

“Yeah it’s in the back garden.”

“Can I come and get it?”

I nodded. Joel followed me around the side of the house.

Joel saw his sledge in the garden, and skipped up to it. He picked it up. And said:

“Thanks. I will see you later.”

And then he shot away from me, to go home. I snapped at him:

“Joel!”

“What?”

“Aren’t you going to say anything else?”

“What do you mean?”

“About what happened in the park. What you and Robbie did.”

“…”

“You just left me there. With my face all fucked up … what was that?”

His face squirmed.

“But you weren’t dead or anything,” he said.

“My nose was bashed up.”

“I’ve had nosebleeds before. You don’t see me crying about it. Jesus, don’t be a wimp.”

Joel sighed. Then left the garden, with his sledge in hand. This was the last time Joel was ever in my back garden.

What about Robbie? Where was he?

I saw Robbie later that week. By chance. On the street. He waved when he saw me. Robbie was a jokey, jumpy boy. And he came up to me cheerfully with these typical traits.

I glared at him. And didn’t respond when he started chatting to me. His face changed, and he said:

“What’s up with you?”

“You and Joel. You abandoned me in the park. After I crashed into that tree … you bailed on me.”

He raised his eyebrows. And looked at me. There was nothing in his irises or pupils – nothing that hinted emotion.

Robbie shrugged. And then walked away from me down the street. Honestly, that’s what he did. Robbie never came back to my garden either. Him and Joel: they stopped coming around to the house to hang out.

I didn’t want to invite them over anyway.

Of course, their betrayal hurt. Loyalty is something that I needed from them. They didn’t have the verve to be loyal. They barely cared that I was wounded, that bizarre day in the park. And had no shame over how they reacted to it. Neither of them ever apologised for that.

It was easier for them to dismiss any part in what had happened, rather than say sorry.

And I was angry with them for a long time. But eventually, I began to think about the story in a different way. Because – why should I want to go back to them? I lost all sentimental feelings for them. They walked away from me; and so I walked away from them. There were other people on the planet who I could befriend.

I haven’t seen Robbie or Joel in over twenty years. Hopefully they’re doing well in life. Aside from that, good riddance.

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Harrison Abbott is a published poet, short fiction writer and novelist from Edinburgh, Scotland. He has various books, available here: Amazon.co.uk: Harrison Abbott: books, biography, latest update