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Ring of Keys
“Hey Dad!” Nick jumped down the stairs skipping every other one until he jumped onto the landing. He slammed his new shoes down and watched them sink into the new rug. “Hey Daaaad!” He turned on the landing and looked down. He had three more steps down to get to the dining room. He crouched and started to build up energy like a rocket for his jump. He began rolling on the balls of his feet and he watched as his toes made creases in his new shoes. He felt the energy building in his legs and he started counting. “Five---Four---Three-”
His dad looked up from his newspaper. “Don’t even think about it.”
Nick aborted his countdown. “Mission control stopping counting.” He continued rolling and containing the energy. “Mission control needs a reason to stop counting.”
“You ask mission control if they hire somebody to clean up after failed rocket launches. Do I need to remind you of the last time mission control cleared you for take-off?” His dad arched his eyebrow and began drumming his fingers on the recliner arm.
Nick looked down the landing and his eyes fell on the radiator, which lay two feet after the dining room landing. He could still see a darkened red stain of blood that his mother hadn’t been able to remove. There was a pinkish hue on the white wall next to the radiator where he had fallen after he had slid into the radiator. “I need the keys to the garage.” Nick stood up. “Clifford and me are going-”
“Keys. What do you need keys to the garage for?” He folded the paper onto his lap and sat back further into the recliner.
“Well, Clifford and me are going to go-”
“Come in the living room. We are not going to yell across the house like our neighbors from Ohio.”
Nick jumped to the middle step. “Aw, Dad. Look, I almost made it down the steps.”
“I know. I heard you. Listen, when are you going to start using all the steps?”
“But if I only use some of the steps you aren’t going to have to buy new carpet for all the steps.”
His dad sighed and arched his eyebrow again as his frown deepened. “Good thinking.”
“So, can I have the keys?”
“I don’t see you in the living room.”
As Nick jumped onto the dining room floor landing, he saw that his shoe was untied. “Hey Dad, can you tie my shoe?”
“You learned to tie your shoes a long time ago.”
“But can you make that cool double knot?”
“I don’t see you in the living room yet.”
Nick skipped into the living room and did a somersault on the carpet. He threw his arms up into the air and clapped once "Ta-duh!”
“How many times have I told you that we use our feet to walk in this house and not our entire bodies?” His dad folded the newspaper onto his lap and sternly looked at Nick.
"I'll have to see if I can remember that. You won't get to see my fancy moves though? Anyway, how about those keys?"
From the front room the doorbell rang. "Saved by the Bell, right?"
Nick got up and ran to the front room. He had been waiting for Clifford to show up all afternoon. They had made plans to go sledding ever since the first snowfall started during first period. It was hard for them to concentrate on most days and today was even more challenging as they watch the big fluffy snowflakes fall outside of their classroom window.
"Hey, took you long enough to get here."
"No, duh!" Clifford pushed his way into the house. "I forgot my gloves then my hat and I even left without the dang sled." He kicked his boots off into the corner and tossed his gloves there as well." So, you're ready to roll?"
"Yeah, just have to get the keys from my dad."
"Well, what's the hold up?"
"Dude, you just don't understand my dad. Those keys are like gold or something. I mean, he never lets them out of his sight."
"Okay, let me go try again." Clifford followed Nick into the living room. "Hey dad, Clifford's here."
"Hey, Mr. D."
"Good evening, Clifford."
"I need the keys so I can get our sled, okay?"
“Keys.” Mr. D. put his paper down for a moment. “You know how important those keys are, correct?”
“Yes, Dad. I-“
“And you know I need them back as soon as you lock the garage.”
“Yeah, um, I-“
“And you need to be sure you don’t drop them. I just put that new metal ring on it and I don’t want it bent.”
“Yea, ok, um-“
“I just don’t know how strong it is yet and I like how it looks.” Mr. D raised his eyebrow quizzically. “What I am saying is not to scratch them, ok?”
“Dad, I won’t. Come on, when’s the last time I dropped something?”
“How about yesterday? Did you ever find your mom’s scarf?”
“Dad, come on. That’s different. I didn’t even want it. She said I had to wear it and it was pink!”
“Nevertheless, these keys are important. You must bring them back in the same condition they are in. Got it?” Mr. D stood up and walked over to his vest that was draped over the recliner.
“Dad, I got it, I mean I get it. Same condition, right back to you. Got it. Really!” Nick walked over to his Dad.
Mr. D pulled the shiny, heavy key ring from out of his vest pocket. “Same condition, right back to this hand!”
“Ok, thanks, Dad. Cliff, let’s head to the garage!”
“Thanks, Mr. D. I’ll make sure he gets them back, ok?”
“Wonderful.”
Cliff and Nick headed out to the front hallway. “Let’s suit up.” They both flopped to the floor and began putting on their boots, jackets and gloves. “That way we can leave as soon as we get the sleds out. I told you I found an old metal sled, right? It’s got this long middle section and a crossbar that you can steer with. You can use the rope or just lay on your belly. It’s the coolest thing I have ever seen.”
“It’s one of those steel ones, right? With red paint?”
“Yeah, how’d you know?”
“Oh, man. My granddad had one of those. We’d take it out whenever we visited him. Dang, it was so fast. I wonder if you found the same one.”
“I bet it’s the same. I mean it’s an old one that I think my mom said was from her uncle or something when he was younger. All that old stuff is the same.” Nick finished pulling on his last boot. “Let’s head outside. We’ll take the gangway. You’ll never believe the snow bank that blew in there last night. I mean, you can’t even see the fence anymore.”
Cliff and Nick pulled the front door open. A gust of wind blew snow in their faces and they stepped into the snow on the front porch.
“Didn’t anyone shovel?” Cliff kicked the nearest snow bank.
“I don’t know.” Nick ran over to the edge of the porch. “Watch this” Nick hurled himself off the porch and crashed through the bushes onto the snow covered lawn. “Wheeeee!” Snow flew in all directions and a huge pile of snow came crashing down from the tops of the nearby bushes. “God, I love snow!’
Clifford came crashing down next to him. He sent a whole new pile of snow crashing down on top of them. Amid laughing, Cliff said, “This snow is great. We can fly down the hill at the park and not get hurt. Remember that snow last week. After it froze I mean. I still have that cut on my knee. It’s just one giant scab, now.”
“Yeah, that was a tough run, but we did go fast, remember?” Nick stood up and started heading to the gangway. “It’s was just a hill of ice. Man, I wish I had found that sled last week. Do you know how fast we could’ve gone?”
Cliff jumped up and caught up with him. “Yeah, sure. We could’ve gone really fast and I probably wouldn’t have the bottom half of my leg. I got banged up enough with that stupid circle sled. I really hate those things. You just can’t steer them. I mean, I spent half the time going down the hills backwards.”
“Yea, but that’s just as much fun. Don’t worry, we won’t bring the
circle one. I was messing with it yesterday. You know, jumping off the porch, crashing down the stairs. It was fun, but I broke the hand-hold off. Now, it would be really dangerous to use.”
Cliff and Nick kicked the back gate a few times. It was covered in snow on both sides and it didn’t budge. “Hey, let’s just jump over it.”
“I’m with you.”
Cliff and Nick took a few steps back and ran full speed up the snow bank next to the gate. Their pounding feet just made them sink into the snow bank. “I’m almost to the top. Do you think we can jump it?”
“Of course.” Nick grabbed the top of the gate. “Here I go.” He jumped as hard as he could and only got his upper half over the gate. His waist crashed into the top of the gate and sent his upper body tumbling down. His waist and legs followed as he tumbled over. “Whoa, I didn’t see that coming.” Nick rolled twice and came to stop just past the gate. “That was AWESOME.”
Cliff’s laughter grew louder. “Not from where I was standing.” Cliff threw his leg over the top of the gate. “All I saw was your huge butt go flying. Man, that was funny.” Cliff balanced on top of the gate and after a brief moment, he threw himself off. “Here I COME.”
Cliff crashed down and rolled next to Nick. “What a rush! These hills are going to rock today.”
“Let me get the sled.” Nick jumped up and frantically searched his coat for the keys. He hit his front pockets, the side pockets and finished by tossing his gloves aside and digging in his jeans. “Oh my God! Where are they?” A horrified look came across Nicks’ face. “Dang it! Where did they go?”
Clifford sat up and said “Are you kidding me? You’ve had them for a total of 5 minutes. Your dad is going to go through the roof.”
Nick reached behind him and pulled out the key set. “Come on, have some faith in me!” Nick flipped the keys in the air as he trudged through the snow toward the garage. “I swear, you people must think I’m an idiot. I mean, geez, they are just keys. I can handle it.”
As Clifford listened, he began rolling a snowball together in hands. “After the speech your dad gave you, I’d glue those things to my hand.”
“Whatever.” Nick put the key in the door and kicked it a few times. “The snow and ice really screw this door up. I don’t even know why we lock it. You can’t open it anyway.” He pushed again as the door make a few creaking noises. “I just need to get that layer of ice to crack.” He put his shoulder against the door and pushed again.
Craaaccck.
The door slammed open just as Clifford threw his snowball. Nick fell forward into the garage on his side. As he was falling to the ground, he watched a snowball come within inches of his nose. The snowball flew into the workbench and smashed into a spray paint can that went flying.
“Holy cow! I didn’t think I was going miss.” Clifford said as he ran into the garage. “Did I break anything? What did I hit?”
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” Nick looked up as Clifford jumped over his body still on the floor of the garage.
“Seriously, I heard something fall over. What did I hit? Did I break it?” Clifford turned and leaned over towards Nick. “Come on, get up you baby.” He extended his hand as Nick got to his feet.
“I think you nailed my spray paint set. I don’t even know where it went.”
“How could you even tell? This place is a mess.” Clifford straightened up a few bottles on the workbench when he saw the sled. “Whoa, that thing is awesome.”
Nick and Clifford ran over to it. “I told you. It was stuck up in the loft and no one has used it for years. It still looks like new, right?”
“Yeah, it sure does. What’s the deal with the oil stain?” Clifford ran his finger across the side of the sled.
“Oh, that’s my fault. I thought it needed some oiling. I should’ve put it against the wall so it didn’t leak onto the floor. Geez, dad’s gonna say something about that one.”
“Really? How can he tell? There’s at least fifteen oil stains around here.”
“Believe me. He can tell and he’ll point it out. Not to mention, he’ll never let me forget about this stain.”
“Your dad is weird, man. Really weird.”
“Tell me something I don’t know. Ok, we’ve got this sled. Let’s bring that blue one, too. We can take turns on the hill. I get first dibs, though.”
“Ok, got it. Now let’s get this party started.”
Clifford and Nick grabbed the sleds and headed out of the garage. Nick put his sled down for a moment and grabbed the garage door. He swung it shut as hard as he could.
“Ok, let’s roll.”
“What? Aren’t you going to lock it?”
“No. Why bother? I have to bring the sleds back anyway.”
“Ok, your call.”
They headed toward the gangway with their sleds. As they got near the gate, they both chucked their sleds over the top and into the gangway.
“Why don’t you go over first?”
Clifford looked at him for a moment before he started climbing over. “Thinking of chucking a snowball my way?”
Nick winked at him. “Thinking about it, no? It’s already ready.” He stooped over and grabbed a huge chunk of snow and ice. Just as Clifford was on the top of the gate, the chunk came crashing down on his back and it sent him tumbling over.
“Ok, I see what you mean. That was pretty funny from this angle.”
Clifford stood up and tossed the broken piece back over the gate. “Dang it. I hit my shoulder on the gate post. Didn’t see it there in the snowbank.”
“Oh crap, sorry. I forget that post was still there.” Nick ran over to the gate. “Are you ok?”
“Yep. Missed it by a mile, but glad to see you care!” Clifford laughed as he grabbed the blue sled and ran down the gangway. “Sucker’s born every minute, right?”
Nick laughed as he hopped down from the gate. “Good one. Real good one. Just wait until we get on that hill. I’m gonna crash right into ya!”
“Hurry up and give that key back.” Clifford tossed the blue sled onto the sidewalk and dove next to it, right into a snowbank. “I’m going to dig my way through this snow pile. I want to make a cool bridge over me.”
“Good luck. The snow’s too new for that.” Nick went up the stairs two-by-two. “I bet your bridge will fall right on top of you. I’ll be back to rescue you.” Nick put the wooden and metal sled against the front porch and opened the front door. He walked into entryway and plopped down on the floor.
“You better not be wearing boots in the house” Nick’s mom yelled from the kitchen. “I just cleaned in there.”
“Geez, mom. I just sat down to take them off.” Nick began kicking his boots off. “I just want to give Dad his keys back.”
“He’s in the bathroom. Why don’t you leave them on the front table and I’ll let him know.”
Nick put on his boots back on, stood back up and pulled the keys out of his pocket. He started walking to the front table when the doorbell buzzed. “I got it.’ He yelled as he dropped the keys back into his pocket. He opened the door and found his other best friend standing there. “Marcus. Holy cow! I didn’t think you could make it.”
“I know, I know. My mom wanted me to finish my homework and I thought there was no way I was going to finish on time. Turns out it was super easy. I guess I have to stop complaining about stuff before I even look at it.”
“Great. Are you ready to hit the hill? I’ve got to show you this new sled I found.” Nick stepped onto the porch and caught the front door before it slammed shut. “Hey, mom. I’m heading to the park. Marcus is here. See you later.”
Nick turned back to Marcus who was already looking over the wooden sled. “I thought you said you found a new one?”
“Well, it’s new to me. Besides, where are you going to find such a great sled like this one? They don’t even sell them anymore unless it’s some piece of plastic made in China.” Nick grabbed the sled and heading down the sidewalk
. “Let’s grab the circular one, too.”
“I thought you said it was broken.” Cliff said to both of them.
“I know, but we can switch off now that there are three of us.”
“Ok, great. Let’s get some sledding done!
Nick ran to the backyard again and grabbed the circular sled. He ran back to the front and tossed it to Marcus. “You’ll get this one first. Don’t worry, we’ll switch before long.”
All three boys picked up their sleds and headed to the park.
10:30pm later that night.
“I told him to give me the keys as soon as he finished with them.”
“I know dear and he did.”
“I told him to bring them right back before he went to the park.”
“I know, but you were in the bathroom.”
“I told him to take care of those keys.”
“I know, but he told me he would put them on the front table.”
They walked toward the front table again. Nick’s dad furiously tossed aside the stack of mail. In his haste, he knocked over the hat rack. “Ok, that’s it. I’m not looking again. Where did he put them? Go wake him up.”
Nick had been awake for the past twenty minutes. He had awoken as soon as his dad started yelling.
“Oh, boy. Where did I put those keys?” Before he could answer he heard footsteps on the stairs. The pounding scared him.
“Nick. Nicholas. Get up!” His dad voiced boomed across the stairwell. “Nick, you need to get up now!”
Nick rolled out of bed and stumbled over a few of his toys before he reached the lamp on his desk. “Yea, dad. I’m awake.”
“Good. Now, would you like to tell me where you put my keys? Remember, the ones I told you to give right back to me before you left for sledding?”
“Yeah, I know dad, but mom didn’t want me walking through the house with boots on, so I left them on the front table.”
“I need to move the car into the garage and that’s awfully hard to do without keys – to the car or the garage door.”
“Yeah, I know dad. I put them on the front table. Right before Marcus showed up.”
“Well, they’re not there. Get up NOW and FIND THEM!”
Dad’s voice got deeper as he got madder and Nick hadn’t heard this deep of a voice before. “Geez, dad. They’re on the table. I’m sure of it.” Nick threw on a t-shirt and started for the stairs. “I’ll grab them right now. Don’t worry, I’m sure they are there.” Nick headed down the stairs. He took them two-at-time until he skidded across the bottom.
“Nicholas. How many times do I have to tell you? One stair one foot.” Nick’s dad pounded down the stairs behind him. “YOU SEE. ONE STAIR, ONE STEP.”
Nick could hear the anger growing in his dad’s voice. “Yeah, dad. I know. I’m sorry.” He stammered as he began moving toward the front table. As he turned the corner, he caught his mom’s eye, a very blood-shot eye. She was crying and couldn’t look at Nick for more than a few seconds. “I better find those keys on the table.” Nick muttered to himself as he picked up the pace.
“So, hotshot. Where are the keys?”
Nick’s dad had walked right up behind him. “I--, I’m--, geez, I mean.”
“DO YOU SEE THIS OPEN HAND? WELL, IT BETTER HAVE KEYS ON IT AND PRONTO.”
Nick felt the sweat start to drip down his neck. He also started to feel sick. His hands were clammy and his throat started drying out. “I--, dad, let me see. Maybe they fell behind.” Nick moved the front table a few inches from the wall. “Oh, boy. Not there.” His t-shirt had begun to feel like a sponge and he began to breathe faster. “I put them...let me think….I locked the garage…came back to the front of the house…keys in my vest pocket…I”
“STILL WAITING.” Nick’s father grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him off the ground as he sent him down the hallway. “Get your vest, NOW!”
Nick stumbled as his dad let of his shirt. “Ok, ok, let me get it.”
“You better HOPE THEY ARE STILL IN THAT POCKET!”
Nick ran to the kitchen and opened the landing door. He found his vest where he had left it: hanging over the rail still sopping wet. He grabbed it and ran back toward the living room.
“I DON’T HEAR KEYS.” Nick’s dad started toward him. “PUT THAT THING ON.” He grabbed a flashlight off the counter. “I can’t believe this.”
“Dear, he’s got school in the morning. Why don’t…”
Nick’s dad stared at his wife. “STAY OUT OF THIS.”
As Nick put the vest over his shoulder, his dad grabbed him again. “LET’S GO!”
They paused long enough for Nick to throw on his boots, which were still wet from sledding.
Epilogue
Nick and his dad retraced his steps from the front of the house to the bottom of the hill. They spent the better half of three hours in the cold as it snowed and, often times, sleeted. Nick’s sweat filled shirt would eventually freeze to his arms and get stuck under his armpits. At one point during the search, his left eyelid would freeze shut. Despite the flashlight, the frozen eyelid, the memory of a child who went sledding and the hours of searching, they never would find those keys. To this day, Nick isn’t allowed to handle his dad’s keys or skip down the stairs two-at-a-time. One possible morale for this story is don’t loan your keys to a child who just wants to go sledding. Another possibility would be to avoid locking up your sleds.
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The Deer, Amanda & other Short Stories Page 6