Thriller
3 min
Frozen Consequences
Brooke Broz
They were playing Truth or Dare. He accepted the dare.
The group of boys walked to the small frozen pond around the corner from his house.
"I can't believe you accepted the dare," Michael said, turning to Alden. "Anybody in their right mind would just choose Truth."
"Well I guess I'm not anybody," Alden responded, "Besides, I don't trust anyone with my truths or secrets."
After a short but chilly walk, they arrived at the iced over pond. It was a frigid January evening, snow had fallen a couple nights earlier. All the snow had turned to ice as the temperatures continued to drop.
"Man, it must be like negative 10 degrees out here," One of the boys muttered as he pulled his hood over his head.
"Yeah make this quick Alden, it's freezing out here," Someone else shouted shakily, evidently shivering.
"Ok, I'm going," Alden chuckled as he walked to the edge of the pond.
"Are you sure this is safe?" Michael asked with worry.
"Well, there isn't a flag to tell me it isn't, so yeah it'll be fine." He replied while he lowered his foot until it was just hovering above the ice covered pond. He stomped on the ice repeatedly, it didn't budge. "Seems safe to me."
Before Alden fully stepped onto the ice, Caleb, the person who came up with the dare said, "Don't forget that the dare is to get to the middle of the pond and do 10 jumping jacks."
"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Alden scoffed as he put his other foot down on the ice with his arms out to his side for balance.
Step by step, Alden walked and slid towards the middle of the pond.
Exclamations of shock were coming from the group of boys who were huddled together watching in awe. None of them could believe Alden was actually committing to this crazy game. Not even Caleb thought Alden would have the guts to go through with his dare.
Alden could hear the cheers growing from across the pond as he got closer and closer to the center.
The moon was full and bright, it reflected off the top of the ice and shimmered like the millions of twinkling stars in the crystal clear sky above.
As he took a deep, stinging breath of the cold air, Alden shouted, "I've made it to the middle!"
From the edge of the pond, the guys watched as Alden pumped his fists into the sky, overcome with excitement. The group burst into cheers and applause, their voices ringing through the air.
"Count me on!" He yelled, as he prepared to start his jumping jacks.
"ONE, TWO, THREE!" His friends shouted as Alden carefully jumped making sure he didn't slip and fall, "FOUR, FIVE!"
By the halfway mark Michael, watching from the edge, could tell the ice was starting to shake. He wanted to yell for Alden to stop, but his yells wouldn't be loud enough over the counting of the rest of the boys.
"Six, seven, eight," Alden counted under his breath, not aware the ice was starting to creak and splinter, "Nine, ten!"
"I DID IT!" Alden said, jumping up and down in celebration.
"STOP!" Michael tried yelling over the roar of the boys, "STOP JUMPING! ALDEN STOP!"
"WHAT?" Alden asked, hearing his name.
Before he had time to repeat his question, Alden plunged right through the ice, vanishing into the bitter pit of water below.
"ALDEN!" Michael yelled in shock, not knowing what to do.
"Call for help!" Someone shouts.
Two of the boys ran back to the house to get Alden's parents, while someone else stopped recording the whole ordeal to call 911.
His whole body went numb the second he hit the water, and even though Alden knew how to swim, his limbs just wouldn't cooperate.
"HELP, HELP!" He screamed as he desperately tried to keep his head above the water. He knew if he went under he may get trapped beneath the surface.
"REACH FOR THE EDGE, TRY TO PULL YOURSELF OUT, KEEP SWIMMING!" Random panicked suggestions were being thrown around as nobody knew what to do other than wait for help to arrive.
Gasping for breath, Alden clawed at the edge of the ice, but each time he grasped it, it shattered beneath his fingers.
After just minutes in the water, hypothermia began to set in. Alden's lungs started to burn, allowing him to only take short, shallow breaths each time he surfaced.
"Help me," Alden yelled weakly between gasps of air.
No longer able to keep himself afloat, Alden started to disappear under the dark surface of the water.
"HELP US!" The boys shouted in agony as they watched their friend drown. But no one was around, no firefighters, no police, no ambulance, no help.
"I'm so stupid, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen. This wasn't supposed to be the end," These were Alden's last thoughts as the final breath of air left his lungs. He was consumed by the numbness and depths of the water around him. The world slipped away, swallowing his existence—his truths, his secrets, his regrets—until only the silence of the abyss remained.
A Conant High School student wrote this work.
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