The Shoes with the Blades

“Hey Jake!” called Midge and she and Booker-T hurried through the gate at Jake's house. “Hey Jake! What are you doing?”

“Who wants to know?” laughed Jake.

“Booker-T and I do,” sang Midge.

“You are in a good mood this morning,” said Jake. “What are you two up to?”

“We are always in a good mood,” said Booker-T. “Aren't we always in a good mood?”

“Oh,” said Jake. “I guess we are. So what are you two doing?”

“Did you see that new building near the gym?” asked Midge.

“I think they just finished building it last week,” said Jake.

“It opened today,” said Booker-T. “Midge and I saw lot of people going inside. Do you know what it is?”

“Gabby said it was a skating rink,” said Jake.

“What is a skating rink?” asked Midge.

“It is a place where people go skating,” said Jake.

“Oh,” said Booker-T. “Like when Midge tried to use those shoes with wheels on them?”

”You have to wear special shoes,” said Jake. “But this place is a different kind.”

“What kind?” asked Booker-T.

“This one uses special shoes but a different kind of special shoes,” said Jake.

“I want to try,” said Midge. “Maybe this one I can do. Lets go see.”

“Slow down Midge,” said Jake. “Gabby said this one is harder.”

“How is it harder?” asked Midge.

“Remember what happened when you put your feet into those shoes with the wheels?” said Jake.

“I remember,” said Midge. “One foot went one way, the second foot went another and the back feet flew out from under me and I went flat on the ground on my belly.”

“These shoes don't have wheels on them,” said Jake.

“No wheels,” said Midge. “I should be able to stand up in them.”

“The bottom of the shoes have blades on them,” said Jake. “They will be harder to stand in.”

“Why do they have blades on the bottom?” asked Booker-T. “What do they do with those kind of shoes?”

“They skate on them,” said Jake.

“How do they skate on blades?” asked Midge. “Lets go see what they are doing? I want to see.”

“What kind of floor do they use those shoes on?” asked Booker-T.

“Ice,” said Jake. “It's called ice skating.”

“Let's go see Jake,” said Midge.

“Okay,” said Jake. “Lets go.

The three hurried through the gate and walked along the sidewalk to where the gym was. Beside it stood a large building with blue and white snow flakes and ice crystals painted on the building.

“See those shoes that guy is carrying?” asked Jake.

“I see,” said Midge. “They look funny. How do they stand up on them?”

“Lets sneak inside,” said Booker-T. “Come on.”

They got close to the people who were walking in and rushed passed them when they reached the door. “Hurry Midge,” said Jake.

They ran down the short hall and entered a big room with two boys running behind them.

“Here doggie doggie,” said one of the boys. “You can't be in here.”

Midge and Jake turned to look at the two and then turned and ran to the rink. People were sitting along the side of the big floor, putting on their shoes.

“Hey!” said the two boys running toward the three.

Booker-T turned and saw them getting too close and he turned and ran and before he knew it, he was on the ice and sliding across the floor on his backside.

“Hey Booker-T,” laughed Midge. “That was funny. Look at me Jake!”

Midge ran out onto the ice and without warning, her feet went out from under her and she was sliding across the floor on her belly. “Yippee!” laughed Midge. She tried to stand up but her feet kept sliding out from under her.

The two boys tried to grab Jake as he ducked under their arms and ran to the rink where Midge was trying to stand up. As soon as his feet hit the floor, they slid out from under him and he landed on his belly on the cold ice. “This is really cold,” said Jake. “Can you stand up Midge?”

“I get almost on my feet and then one of my feet slide out from under me and I'm back laying on the floor,” said Midge. “How do we get off this floor. It is really cold and slippery.”

“Try to slide to the edge of the floor,” said Jake. “Where is Booker-T?”

“That kid over there is carrying him to the seats,” said Midge. “Do you think they will help us too?”

Jake slowly pulled each foot under himself and tried to stand up. As he turned to walk toward the seats, he started to slide across the floor again. “Midge!” said Jake. “I can't walk on this stuff. How are you doing?”

“I'm almost to the side of the floor,” said Midge. “Here comes the two boys out on the slippery floor. Maybe they will help us get off this floor. I can't stay standing on my feet on this floor.”

“Come on Midge,” called Booker-T from the top of the wall that goes around the floor. “Walk slow.”

Jake slowly walked to the edge of the rink and as he stepped one foot onto the floor, the other three slid out from under him and once again, he went down on his belly. He reached out with his two front paws and pulled himself off the ice. Behind him came Midge, carefully inching her way across the ice to the floor. As they got up and started walking to the front door, some boys came running to chase them out of the building. They stood at the front door and watched the three walk away.

“What do you want to do now Midge?” asked Jake. “I don't think we are good at skating.”

“I think we need to keep all four feet flat on the ground,” said Midge. “How do people stand up on those things?”

“I don't know,” said Jake. “They maybe have to practice it for a long time. Too hard for us.”

“Lets go check out the zoo again,” said Booker-T. “And I'm hungry.”

“We can go beg for some food at the cafe again,” said Midge.

“That's okay,” said Jake. “Lets go to the house and get something to eat. I'm hungry too.”

“Okay,” agreed Midge. “Do you want to go to the zoo tomorrow?”

“Sure,” said Jake. “Now I think I'm ready to go home and rest. Sliding on that slippery floor was hard to do.”

“Okay,” laughed Booker-T.