Page 109 of All of You

“Great, see you soon.” I respond laughing to myself.

“Hey, Mom?” I yell from my bed.

“What?” she hollers back from the kitchen.

“You wouldn’t happen to know where an old sled is?” I ask and wait in silence.

“Gramps says there’s one in the shed,” she yells up the stairs.

I jump out of bed and tug on Langdon’s sweatpants, cursing how chilly it is in my room. I slide into a sports bra followed by a hooded tee shirt, then pull on the biggest thickest socks I can find before scooting to the bathroom.

“What’re you doing?” Mom asks when I round the corner to the kitchen.

“Miles and Lyra are picking me up to go sledding.”

She beams at me. “That sounds fun. Call if you need anything.”

I kiss her cheek and snag a banana from the counter.

“Oh!” She taps my arm, “Gramps is out in the shed now, he said he’d leave it on the front porch for you.”

“Thanks,” I say on the way to the coat closet. I dig out one of Gramps too-big-for-me parkas and jam my hooded self into it.

I hear the familiar sound of a car inching its way down the drive. I tie a scarf around my neck and grab a pair of gloves and a hat. Sneakers will have to do because I don’t own a pair of snow boots. I stand on the front porch waiting for Miles’s car to pull up to the house. He parks and Lyra wavesme over.

After the sled is in the trunk I hop in the backseat.

“Hey, mind picking up Langdon on the way?”

Lyra laughs. “Sure, why not? You two are so up each other’s butts lately. Can you even breathe without him?”

I smack her playfully on the shoulder. “Rude. We are not.”

Miles holds up his thumb and forefinger an inch apart as he pulls onto the main road. “You sorta are. Little bit.”

I laugh then swat at his hand. “What’s with that mammoth museum-quality sled you put in the trunk though? That thing is definitely not street legal these days.”

Lyra bursts out laughing at my shocked face. “Hey. It might be old but I bet it still works,” I protest as we pull into Langdon’s driveway.

“Yeah, maybe, if you’re looking for a death trap thrill ride. Hurry up and get your man.”

We’re at the top of an enormous hill. Lyra and Miles have small plastic sleds. Easy to handle and carry. Mine is something straight out of what I imagine the 1960’s. A proper toboggan. Wooden and heavy with weird skis on the bottom. It seats two. Langdon sits at the front and looks over his shoulder apprehensively at me.

“You getting on this thing or what?”

I bite my bottom lip. Langdon gives a little groan. “Is it safe? Why would Gramps even give me this thing? How do you steer it? How will we stop? It has skis for fucks sake, it’ll go forever.”

Langdon reaches his hand out. I take it and he yanks medown. “Get on and hold on. It’ll be fine.”

I straddle the sled. Langdon hauls each one of my legs up over his thighs. I scooch closer to him and wrap my arms around his waist, feeling terrified.

“Ready?” Miles asks from behind me.

“N—”

“Yes,” Langdon cuts me off.

Miles’s gloved hands land on my back and he starts shoving us forward. Lyra gets a running start and slides past us, on her belly, whooping and hollering with glee as she crests the hill and starts flying. And then, I feel weightless.