Title: Dreams of Ice
Author: Marianya
Part: Prologue
Rate: PG
Date develop: 18 February 2002
Date revised: 11 March 2002
Prologue - Once Upon a Time...
Winter of 1986...
Music filled the home of a young dreamer one winter afternoon while she sat a few feet away from the television screen as her parents had always told her to do. Her younger sister, only two at the time, waddled around the room with no real intention of doing anything more than bothering her older sister.
The older sister, at this time five, watched the screen intently as classical notes from within the television show fills the home and mesmerizes the young girl. There was something about this show that interests her so much, perhaps it was the flow of the figure skaters, perhaps it was the soft, soothing music, but more than likely it was the skaters gliding across the ice that made then seem like they were flying.
"Mommy? I want to learn how to ice skate..."
Few weeks later....
"Mommy, mommy look! People are flying on the ice! Lookie mommy!" A young girl enthused as she half-pulled and half-dragged her mother up to the platform of the ice skating rink in their neighborhood. She looked up at the ice rink attendant with stars in her eyes and happily took the skates from the counter.
Walking away confidant she suddenly turned around and looked at the attendant with a little caution in her voice, "Could you help me, please?"
"Sure," the young man smiled, the child was young but full of dreams. She had hair that was a mix of the darkest brown and jet black; her brown eyes were round with anticipation and excitement. He helped her get fitted into her skates and laced them up as well, "You know there is a young boy here that is just starting to learn how to skate, in fact he is right over there with his teacher." The attendant told the young girl, he pointed over to a young boy about a year older than the girl, his eyes were of the lightest blues and his hair was a curly brown color.
"Oh mommy can't I have lessons please?" The young girl pleaded, she wanted so much to become the skaters she saw on television. To be able to fly across the ice... that was her dream.
"I don't know Michelle, you need to make sure that this is what you want to do..." The mother was skeptical of her daughter's insistent need to skate, but all the same she wanted her elder daughter to be happy.
"I do mommy... I do I do," the young girl pleaded. She looked at the young boy again as his teacher helped him lace his skates properly.
Smiling the mother asked the attendant for the instructor's name and phone number. However the attendant motioned the instructor to come over and greet the new hopeful.
After a small introduction the girl saw the young boy and smiled shyly, the young boy smiled back as the girl's mother asked, "and who is this young boy that you are teaching?"
"This is Timothy Goebel, he just started with me not too long ago. I could take on another student." The instructor smiled, leaning down she asked the girl, "and what is your name sweetheart?"
The girl hid herself against her mother as if suddenly afraid to say anything, the mother simply smiled, "This is my daughter Michelle Ho. She is only five years old."
"Ah then she would be a good classmate with Timothy here, he is only a year older."
Michelle uncovered her eyes and looked at the little boy that stood rather close to the strange woman, he seemed like a good playmate to have fun with... "Tag," she tapped him on the shoulder, "you're it."
Suddenly the young girl flew out of her mother's arms and headed for the ice, slipping, but giggling as her new playmate followed her into the ice soon afterwards.
Two years later...
"I can't do it," a girl's voice cried out in the empty arena, she had been skating in the Rolling Meadows Arena for only a year and she had learned a lot. Sometimes, and there really weren't very many of them, there was a move that she simply could not master.
She got off the ice and looked to her practice partner, he could get all the moves right, and here she can't even do a double axel (even though she could double every other jump). She looked at her two left feet, and believed that she was a failure.
Her practice partner moved to the edge of the rink where Michelle was sulking, "Come on Michelle, it really isn't that hard, just don't think about it."
"Easy for you to say, they come easy to you."
"It takes a lot of practice and time, this rink is closer to Timothy than it is to you, Michelle." Another voice echoed through the empty arena. Timothy and Michelle recognized it to be their figure skating coach. "Timothy and you have individual strengths and weaknesses, Tim could do the jumps and spins, and you could do the artistry.
"Now we have a competition in two weeks... let's see if we could make that axel perfect. Maybe I will have a talk with your mother, see if she would allow you to sleepover at Timothy's house from now on. That way you could practice your skills more."
Five years after the competition...
Michelle and walked with her best friend towards the airline gate, they were following their mothers who were talking and chatting about the past four years they have known each other.
Timothy and Michelle however didn't really have much to talk about, they were losing a playmate and a friend and they weren't really happy with that. Although Timothy and Michelle both wanted to skate more, he and his parents thought his prospects were better off in Ohio, where he was planning to train with Carol Heiss Jenkins, per recommendation by their summer trainer, Don Laws.
Michelle on the other hand couldn't bear to leave her family behind, her parents worked all day and then there was her little sister. She was comfortable with staying with their Rolling Meadows instructor for at least another year, while spending the summer in Colorado with Laws.
Unlike Timothy, her mother couldn't relocate elsewhere due to her career. That didn't stop the Goebel's from inviting Michelle to join them to train with Ms. Jenkins, for she was also recommended to Michelle and her family.
Michelle looked out the window and saw the plane at the gate; "Michelle, you know this would happen someday..." she turned around and saw Timothy looking at her with his blue eyes.
"But it still isn't fair. I want to go too, but I don't want to leave my family yet," she spent the whole month crying herself to sleep when she found out that he was leaving for Ohio. She had thought that they would always work together.
Timothy sighed, she could be so stubborn "Remember what we said in our first competition? That maybe we would work together as a pairs team someday. Well I meant it when I said it, and I still do."
Michelle's brown eyes lit up for the first time in weeks, "I want to do that too."
Timothy took something out of his pocket, "Here Michelle you should have this." He handed her a small envelope.
Michelle opened the envelope and peered inside. "Tim this is a picture of us, when we were first kids at that rink..." Michelle said in barely a whisper, "Where did you get this..."
He shrugged, "From Mom, she said that I should think of something to give you so you could remember me."
Michelle grasped on the picture and pulled out one from her pocket, "Here..."
Timothy looked at it and smiled, on the picture was the two of them holding up their first place medals at the first competition.
"Timothy, Michelle, its time for us to go..." Timothy's mother called out to her son and surrogate daughter.
"One minute," Timothy called back; looking at Michelle he took the envelope from her hands and tipped the opening into his open palm. Out rolled a jade raindrop-shaped pendant on a golden chain.
Michelle gasped in astonishment, "Where did you get that?" Her mind was not believing what her eyes were seeing, that this pendant, the one that she loved when they were following his mom to a jewelry store one day.
Timothy went up behind Michelle and clasped the necklace around her neck. "Don't worry about it, I just really wanted to get you something special before you forget me."
Michelle was overcome with emotion; impulsively she hugged her friend, "Thank you Timothy, thank you so much."
"Timothy Richard Goebel, we have to go now!"
Obediently the two young friends walked over to their parents and hugged each other goodbyes. Michelle and her mother stood back as Timothy and his mother boarded the plane headed for Cleveland, Ohio.
Suddenly Michelle ran to the glass and strained to see if she could find Timothy with all the passengers on board. As the plane reversed in preparation for takeoff Michelle's face was already in tears as she saw her only true friend leave her life forever.
While within the plane Timothy saw the sad face of the young girl that he would forever remember in his mind's eye.
Days turn into weeks, while weeks turn into years... The two young friends rode through the ranks of the junior competitions remembering their childhood friendship.
Timothy learned the quad salchow and started working on perfecting it more in practice before using it in competition, while Michelle strengthened her technical skills and excelled in her artistry. Although both skaters were excelling in the sport of figure skating, Michelle's jumps were not as strong as her artistry and Timothy's artistry left much to be desired.
For another two years Michelle stayed in Illinois, until she finally made the decision to move to Connecticut to live and train with a different coach: Tatiana Tarasova. It was there that she met another ice skater that shared the passion of skating with a difficulty in artistry...