A Cold Treat

Submitted by covenant6452 on Thu, 12/17/2009 - 03:45

These aren't my characters but I love them enough to write about them.

"A Cold Treat "

The time is mid-October 1983
The place is a public park near in Norway.

Eli was a silent shadow among shadows. Creeping slowly along a thick horizontal branch high above a tarmac path she stopped and looked about and down, then stretched out wrapping her arms and legs around the limb.
The low ululation of an animals purr rumbled in the back of her throat with every exhalation as she scanned the area, a claw absently-mindedly peeling a curling strip of bark from the underside of the tree branch.
Looking through the brittle October leaves, her night eyes could see the path where it emerged from a dark tunnel of trees at the top of the hill to the left and from the higher right coming together in a "Y" shape a short distance up the hill from her. The snaking trail led through the parks sculptured greenery, grasses and trees below her, then on and over an arched stone bridge with a single lamp at the near end that cast a yellow orange glow that created more shadow than it created light.
The bridge crossed a slowly flowing creek at the bottom of the slope. It's waters looked black and mysterious in the night, she had watched the moon in them earlier as it passed overhead, wavering and rippling white swirls moving with the current as it flowed by.
Eli looked up at the colourful leaves overhead, watching them move and listening to them as they forever hiss and scratch each other in the cool night breeze. She listened harder to the night around her, picking out sounds; the hum of traffic along the distant highway, someone playing music outdoors, vehicles blowing their horns and car doors slamming here and there. Thumps, bangs, shouting, laughter and voices was the constant backdrop to it all. If near a town or city, the constant din was annoyingly chaotic though easy enough to tune out. She preferred the symphony nature provided, though just as chaotic the sounds were gentle, pleasing, and so she tuned everything else out and listened to the park around her.
The sigh of the wind in the trees and the gurgling trickle of the moving water of the creek was punctuated by the sound of laughter. A few teenagers were standing in the darkened tennis courts, she could hear them leaning on the chain links of the fence. They were talking about a girl at a party they had been to last night and how she was so drunk. One of them threw something and she heard the smash of glass breaking. A busker at the edge of the park was playing a guitar, singing about love and a girl named Maggie, doing a good job of it judging by the number of times she heard coins clinking together. Eli didn't think the words made any sense but the guitar sounded wonderful.
Eli sighed then, inhaling a great lung full of night air. Wood smoke, leaves rotting, pine tar and the smell of coldness to come.
Eli had begun to remember things lately. Not often, but every now and then a smell, a shape or a sound would catch her attention. Something the other night, the wood smoke smell of fall, had brought a smile to her face from nowhere and she knew she had loved the fall months more than any other part of the year. Somewhere along the way she had forgotten that. But it had come back to her now.
Thank you Oskar!
A new sound was growing closer now, feet slapping rhythmically on the tarmac path. The sound was accompanied by a frenzied ticking and Eli perked her head up, sniffing the air.
A woman...and a dog.
Dogs. I don't hate them. I had a dog once didn't I?
They came from the bottom of the slope over the bridge. A woman in a sweatshirt, trainers, tights and a pair of pink leg warmers ran with a collie dog on a leash beside her. Eli heard the music from the woman's oversized headphones as they crossed the bridge, ABBA. Oskar had played a few of their songs for her before, but didn't really like them, she felt the same way.
Eli heard a quizzical whimper from the hound as they approached her hiding spot and tensed on the branch.
As the woman ran beneath her the dog slowed and stopped, growling and pulling at the leash, jerking the woman by the arm. It looked right up at Eli turning in circles whimpering then barking at her.
"What the hell?!" the woman exclaimed off balance.
Eli rumbled low in her throat then raised the rumble to a dangerous growl.
The dog's ears fell at once and it whimpered, it's tail dropping between it's legs.
Eli barked at the dog once, smiling as it squeaked then took off up the path pulling the woman around again the leash tearing from her hand as it streaked away yelping up the path.
"Lasse! Come back here!"
The woman raised a hesitant hand to her headphones, pulling them down around her neck as she looked nervously about.
"Lasse! Come back! Stop! Sit! Stay, damn you"
The woman ran off after her dog glancing nervously behind her as she sped off.
A quick smug grin flashed over Eli's face and she hung loosely from the branch with her hands and feet, swinging gently.
A short time later a metallic rattling approached from the higher path. An old man and woman walked slowly down the pathway with all the time in the world, their inner arms entwined lovingly. The man pulled a basket on wheels behind him filled with their shopping.
Eli watched them as they walked their heads darting about like birds, taking in everything of interest around them. The old woman looked up into the trees where she lay on the branch but saw nothing but shadows.
It would be hard to surprise a couple of wise old owls like them.
She then noticed that they never looked behind them only ahead.
Maybe not so hard.
Eli sighed, resting her cheek on her hand and followed the old couple with her eyes as they shuffled down to the bridge, stopping to look down on the water.
They look like they've been in love for a long time. Probably have.
A whizzing sound came from the hill and Eli snapped her head around rising to crouch on the branch again. A boy on a bicycle sped quickly down the hill and zipped past below her.
The old couple were oblivious and apparently done with perusing the dark waters of the creek the woman turned to move when the old man spoke her name.
"Karin?"
She hesitated and turned back and the old man leant in with perfect timing to plant a peck on her cheek.
"Give it to her, old man! Whoo hoo!" the youth cried out as he sped by startling the couple.
Eli frowned and rose up, angry at the callous rudeness thrown at the old couple, even entertaining the idea of going after the teen. She calmed down though as the old man chuckled first shaking his head. He raised a mock fist shaking it after the youth and Karin joined in with a lovely lilting laugh as they turned away, arm in arm again, both of them shaking their heads at the youth of today as they walked into the darkness of the park.
Her gaze drifted, her eyes unfocused as she imagined herself and Oskar being together that long, picturing herself walking next to an old man who looked like Oskar yet taller and greyer with a lined and weathered face. They would walk one day, sixty or seventy years from now, down onto that very same bridge over this very same creek and they would stare out over this same creek and stare for a while up at the moon. Oskar would reach a hand down to enfold one of hers in it's warm grasp and she would see the same beautiful smile, only older and wiser, that had captured her heart forever less than a year ago as she pulled him from the pool.
Please yes! I would give anything for that! To have Oskar that long, even if it's only for a lifetime!

A new sound catches Eli's attention now. Whistling echoes from the forest up the hill growing louder as a teenager emerges from the dark tunnel of the pathway.
Now is the time.
She rises up to a crouch on the branch, silently watching as the boy walks happily down the pathway whistling a tune without a care in the world. He clutches something in both of his hands holding them close to his chest.
Gliding sideways along the branch Eli's face narrows and her eyes grow, her hands and feet flow quickly into claw-like form once again.
I know that song!
She slows her breathing, quieting the animal in her throat in preparation for the killing leap.
As the teen approaches Eli's ambush she adjusts her position slightly on the branch and tensing her muscles, coils tightly into herself.
The timing is perfect and Eli launches herself off the branch toward her prey loosing a sharp bark as she falls.
The teen lets out a surprised squawk and turning quickly while looking up at the same time throws him off balance.
Eli lands on the paved path with a clattering of claws, letting loose with another sharp bark as Oskar stumbles backward tripping over his own feet, landing on his butt with a loud clack as his teeth snap together.
He kept both his hands and what was in them in front of himself the whole time. A look of surprised, pained, and frightened astonishment was frozen on his face for a few seconds before he realized what had happened as Eli collapsed onto the ground at his feet rolling onto her back and erupting with laughter and giggles as she covered her mouth with one hand, pointed at him with the other.
"You should see your face!"
"EELIIiiiii!" Oskar's voice rose, mock anger on his face. His shoulders hunched and his fists tightened around what he was carrying causing a few crisp crackling sounds. Some flakes of whatever was there concealed under a pair of napkins fell onto his thighs until he quickly relaxed his hands.
As she continued to giggle while laying on her back Eli tried to copy what she thought had been Oskar's facial expressions and that nearly sent him into a fit of giggles himself. She really needed to work on her mimicry.
"Do you smell that?!" he asked her, trying for a serious tone.
Eli giggled as she sniffed the air. She smelled something familiar and the image of a woman's hands pulling green leaves apart flickered briefly in the back of her mind.
"Hmmm, is it mint?" she asked, genuinely intrigued.
"Yes, there's mint. Anything else?"
She sniffed again.
"Ohhh, there is something else. I don't recognize it though."
"Really?! Because I was sure I just CRAPPED MY PANTS!"
Eli laughed out loud again and Oskar grinned wide as he always did when hearing her happy laughter.
She sniffed the air again then shook her head no.
"Nope, no crap."
"Good! Help me up, please. My hands are full."
"OK, clumsy."
Stepping behind him she grabbed him under his arms easily lifting him to his feet.
"What have you got for me this time, Oskar?!" Eli made a point of looking around his hands, trying to look under but he turned away hiding the surprise.
"You'll find out soon enough! Let's go down to the creek where we hid our packs."
"OK." Eli replied again eagerly with a smile and turned with a twirl, leaping straight though the bushes that bordered the path.
"Hey wait for me!" Oskar yelled and hurrying to the bushes where she had disappeared he backed in to protect his precious surprise. He yelped as Eli grabbed him by the back of his belt yanking him through the bushes.
"Careful!" he yelped but Eli had him caught in her arms on the other side and then she lifted him and ran across the grass toward their spot. Oskar laughed out loud at the way it must look.
Oskar knew he had nothing to worry about when he was with her. He thought back to the spring when they sat staring at the stars from a hilltop near Trondheim. He had shyly asked her just how strong she was and Eli had shown him with a demonstration of strength and skill that would put a few of the super-heroes he had read of to shame.
Coming to a stop at a shrubbery that sat next to the creek Eli set Oskar onto his feet and dropped cross-legged to the ground patting a spot on the ground before her.
"Hurry! Oskar, what is it?!"
Oskar grinned as he sat before her.
"OK, close your eyes."
She raised a brow at him.
"Go on, close them."
She did.
"Take this." he said and he placed something in her hands and she felt him pull the napkin off the top.
"OK, you're going to keep your eyes closed?"
"Alright."
"I've got one just like yours, OK?"
"Yes."
"Do you trust me?"
The smile on her face fell slightly.
"I've never trusted anyone like I trust you, Oskar. With all my heart!"
"I know, Eli. Now when I count to three, we are both going to eat what's in our hands as fast as we can, OK?"
Eli's eyebrows went up again but she kept her eyes closed.
"Okaaay..."
"It will be cold. But it won't hurt you, and you'll thank me for it later. We know what will happen after but I'll be here, OK? Ready?"
"OK."
"Remember! Keep your eyes closed! 3, 2, 1, GO!"
Oskar sat back and watched smiling as Eli dove into the double ice cream cone face first. He laughed out loud at the surprised look that came over her face as her nose pushed into the cold treat. She started in taking small bites then more and faster!
He uncovered his own mint chocolate chip cone and licked at it slowly, relishing the astonished look that came over her face as Eli really tasted the flavour pouring into her mouth.
She went to town, taking big bites and swallowing them down. She made animal-like sounds of pleasure, growls and groans that anyone would recognize as pure human enjoyment though magnified by two hundred and twenty years of abstinence.
Ice cream melted down to fall off of her chin and soon Oskar was surprised to hear the crunching of cone as it disintegrated in her hand bringing another laugh as he licked the melting bits from his come.
Eli opened her eyes as she pushed her hand against her mouth getting the last bits of cone in then she stopped seeing Oskar laying back and grinning as he licked at his own double cone.
She pointed at him and her jaw dropped, a tiny piece of cone falling from her chin.
"Heeeeyyyy!!!" she wailed at him with a mouthful realizing he had tricked her.
Then it happened.
Eli's eyes widened in her head, her mouth dropped open and her hands went to her throat, then she clasped them to either side of her head.
"AAaaaoooowwww!!! My head! Oskar what's wrong with me?!"
"It's OK! It's OK! It will pass!" he said with a laugh as he got up and sat beside her.
"OOOOwwwwww! What did you do to me?!" she asked as she rocked back and forth.
Oskar dropped his cone to the grass and grabbed Eli in a hug as he laughed again.
"It's alright, it's just an ice cream headache. It will go away soon."
The pain was already fading from Eli's head and she smacked Oskar across the back.
"That wasn't very nice of you, Oskar!"
He sat back from her pulling one of her hands into one of his.
"What, and scaring the crap out of me was nice?"
"But you planned that whole thing!"
Eli's stomach rumbled.
"Oh, and you didn't plan on scaring me, laying in wait up in a tree?"
A sheepish grin stole across her face.
"Well, yeah. Alright I did."
Eli's stomach rumbled again, louder this time and she put a hand over it.
"Uh oh! Here it comes." Eli said.
She moved quickly to the nearby bushes and Oskar followed her. He gathered her hair into one hand pulling it back from her face and rubbed her back gently as she rejected the ice cream violently into the undergrowth.
When she was finished Eli sat back leaning against Oskar's chest while he spread her hair out over her shoulders. She began to raise an arm to wipe her face on her sleeve but Oskar quickly stopped her and reached into his back pocket pulling out a wad of napkins, slapping them into her hand.
After she had wiped her face and washed her mouth out at the creek Eli came back and sat next to him again laying her back onto his chest once more.
"So that was ice cream?" she asked.
"Actually it was orange sherbet. Second best flavour ever made."
"It tasted better going down."
Oskar laughed.
"What's the first best flavour then?"
"Mint chocolate-chip of course."
"Of course. Thank you, Oskar." she whispered.
"Anything...for you." he whispered back.
Oskar lay back to the grass with Eli held to his chest under one arm and they stared up at the stars for a long time without moving.
"Where's your star, Eli?" Oskar asked her and without looking her arm raised up and immediately pointed out the star he had named after her months ago now.
A while later Eli sat up and looked down at him.
"Let's go."
"Alright. Where to now?" he said as he stretched.
Eli reached into the dark bushes and pulled out her backpack. Shrugging it onto her shoulder she pointed to her star again.
Let's go that way.

To Be Continued...