“I have seen you travelers coming to this place, welcome to the lake of ice cream of this region!” Said the man guiding the sleigh. “It will be two cents for each passenger, and an extra cent for the baggage the lad has in his hands”
“You see, Zach? It will be a safe ride! Trust me! Come with me!” Said Adelaide, still hopeful that Zach would join her.
“No, Adelaide! Sir, the lady will be the only on the sleigh.”
“Zach, there’s nothing to be afraid about!” Said Adelaide, now whispering to Zach, afraid that the expression of fear could make the man of the sleigh offended.
“If there’s nothing to be afraid about, why do you insist so much of me coming with you?”
“I’m your guider, for crying out loud! If you get lost, what will happen to you?!”
“You’re treating me as if I was a child! We’ll be fine! You go on the sleigh, I’ll go on my own!”
“Well, with all due respect, you’re being as stubborn as a child, mister, but well, that is none of my business, I’m here to help you no matter what. If you don’t want to ride the sleigh, don’t come then.”
Adelaide payed the man and started her crossing, the sleigh was fast and diligent. Zach saw the direction they were going and quickly putted his ice-skating shoes on, and started the crossing. He was fast and agile, though was far away from the fast sleigh. He didn’t mind, as he was trying not to be distracted by his thoughts. Suddenly everything was so silent on the lake, which turned out to be quite big. The wind was blowing on his face, a cold wind like he never experienced before, but he kept on going. He would see the distant houses, the ice cream on the shore, the forest of Christmas trees next to the houses of the small town he was in, he could see the wall of the bigger city as well, still he wondered how the place of socks would be, the place of his dreams. And he wondered how life would be when he reached that sacred place. Wind was blowing on his face, and yet his hat was on place. Wind was blowing on his face, and yet he was going, the sleigh was far away, but still he could see it, and would guide himself through it. And so it went, as fast as he could be.
Adelaide was seeing all his effort sitting on the sleigh and eating the chocolate the man offered her as a curtesy, just a part of his service. She was worried about Zach. She wondered if the wounds inside of him could be cured. She knew Zach was unhappy, lost and afraid. He was a boy who missed his grandparents so much, who missed life as it used to be, a boy who spent so much time and energy doing something to connect himself to his previous life with his grandparents. She wondered about the family of Zach. Adelaide cared for him, she was like that, always caring too much about people, caring about the doctors she would work to, caring about the people from the tavern, and it took so many years for her to finally made a move on leaving her abusive house. Still, she knew she could hope for Zach, and she herself was starting to get curious to see that land of socks he would talk about so much.
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