When I awake the next morning, I am snuggled warmly in Callie's chest. She's still asleep, soft puffs of warm breath coming from her lips. I stand up and creep my way up to her face, splaying myself over her nose.

I fall back asleep on Callie's nose for an hour or so until Cal stirs underneath me, reaching up and cupping her hand around my tiny frame. She scoops me off of her face and sits up sleepily, pushing strands of hair out of her eyes and looking at me.

"Morning, pocket person," she murmurs, rubbing the top of my head with her thumb.

"Morning, giant princess," I reply, tugging my shirt over my head.

"It's really cold out today," she notes, pointing to the fog on the frosted window. "I might go ice skating on the river today."

"I wanna come with!" I say, hopping up and down excitedly. Callie looks at me with a worried expression.

"No, Luke, the last time we went together you almost died. I can't risk that happening again."

I remember all too well what happened. Callie scratches the top of my head gently, and I know she's having a flashback. And even though I don't want to, I find myself reminiscing as well.

* * * * * *

"Are you sure you wanna come?" Callie asks worriedly.

Luke nods, checking out his outfit. A thick sweater Callie has crocheted from woolen yarn, a zip-up jacket, overcoat, pants, and boots from dolls Callie found in the attic, gloves and a beanie also crocheted by Callie, and a scarf made from a strip of thick fabric. "I'll be fine."

"It's really cold out there," Callie frets, looking out the window. The sluggish river is frozen solid, and other kids are frolicking about on it, and it's snowing heavily.

"I'm dressed warmly enough. Don't worry, Cals, I'll be fine. Honest." Luke pulls one glove off and pats Callie's cheek gently before tugging it back on.

Callie still looks like she wants to protest, but she just pulls on her protective clothing and slings her battered ice skates over her shoulder. Then she offers her hand to me, but she hesitates, holding it slightly above my reach.

"No. I have to leave you here. I have this awful premonition that if I do take you, something awful is going to happen and I .... "

"Callie! Calm down. I promise you. I. Will. Be. Fine. Nothing is going to happen to me." Callie still looks skeptical, but finally she allows like to climb onto her hand and heads out the door.

The river is full of kids skating around and having fun. Callie laces up her skates and checks to make sure that Luke is securely on her shoulder.

"You ready?" she asks him. Luke nods and she sets off on the frozen river, with him clinging to her coat.

Everything is going fine until they run into some kids from Callie's school, kids who hate her and pick on her and tease her. Luke burrows himself deep into the folds of the collar of her coat so that they cannot see him.

"Hey, Calypso," one of then sneers. Callie avers her eyes and begins to make her way over to the shore."

"Hey, HEY!" he yells, grabbing her chin and forcing her around. "You don't walk away when I'm talkin' to you, you little whore."

She responds calmly. "I'm not walking anywhere. I'm skating."

He throws a punch to Callie's arm so that the bruise won't be noticeable. Callie winces, and Luke knows that the boy has hit a "sweet spot" - the places on Callie's body where there are self-inflicted scars.

The boy and his two companions laugh, and Callie says, quietly, "Knock it off, Carson."

"No way, freak. We're going to teach you a lesson you never forget," one of the other boys laughs.

"Shut you cakehole, Jeff!" Carson snaps, jamming his elbow into the other boy's side. Jeff yelps and moves away. Luke notices the sharpness of the boy's skates and becomes worried at Carson's next words.

"You know, I feel kind of bad for her, boys," he sneers. "Living in that old dump of a house. She must not have much water to take a bath. I mean, look at those dirty old clothes! What do you say, should we give her a bath?"

The other boys laugh, and then they begin skating in circles around Callie and Luke. Faster, faster, faster, creating a scar in the river's thick coating.

"They're going to cut a hole in the - " Luke whispers frantically. But he is too late. The hole is finished, and Carson reaches out and slams his fists down onto the piece of ice. It overturns, sending both Callie and Luke plunging into the freezing cold water.

Luke manages to take a deep breath before he falls in. But he can't swim, and his clothes are sodden, weighing him down. He clings tightly to Callie's finger as she pounds on the ice, trying. To get up. Whoever is up there is trying to get them out as well. But the cold water is quickly numbing Luke's tiny body, and he passes out as the ice is moved, drifting into unconsciousness.

* * * * * *

"You almost drowned," Callie says, startling me out of my flashback. "And what's worse, after that you had a battle with hypothermia and then pneumonia to survive! I'm not going out on the river anyways, I can see those nasty, foul boys out there again. Ruining our day off."

"Well, maybe I can go skating. By meself, I mean," I say tentatively.

"On what?" Callie asks me dryly. "An ice cube?"

I pinch her skin in retaliation and she squeaks, pushing me lightly so that I fall onto my butt.

"Actually," she muses, "there might be a way. Come on, let's get dressed and have breakfast."

Callie tugs on a T-shirt and a creamy jumper, as well as some sweatpants and thick fuzzy socks. After I have a similar attire, she picks me up and we head downstairs.

Callie fills a large, shallow bowl with water, covers it with Saran wrap, and puts it in the freezer. "I reckon that'll make a good ice rink when it's good and frozen, eh?" she asks. I nod happily, and Callie goes to make breakfast.

She makes herself a big bowl of cereal and sets a few puffs on the table for me, with a doll-sized bowl of milk. Then she brews a pot of lemony tea and reads the note pinned to the fridge while it steeps.

"Callie -

Have gone to work. Will be back later. Stay off the river. We don't need a repeat of The Incident.

Kisses, Mum," Callie reads. She sips her tea quietly and puts a few drops into a tiny mug for me. We eat in silence, and when we're done and the dishes are washed, Callie leaves me on the table and runs upstairs.

She come back with a pair of my boots, a small hammer, some felt, a bottle of crazy glue, and two razor blades. I watch as Callie hammers the razors into the sole of the boots and then superglues a new coating of felt on the inside. "That's a much better use of the blades," I comment. Callie pretends she can't hear me, but she blushes.

When she's done, I pull on the boots and test them. They fit well and I can't feel the hard blades. Callie then pulls the bowl out of the fridge and tests it.

"Completely frozen, totally solid," she grins. I climb over the rim and immediately fall flat on my butt.

Callie giggles madly and helps me up. Then she puts me on the palm of her hand and demonstrates the correct motion. After a few more slip-ups, I finally master it, and skate around entertaining Callie until the "rink" melts and I fall into a small swimming pool.