She was born in a cave. It was buried deep inside a forest, she discovered the day she left. The trees reached way into the sky, standing tightly side by side. Every now and then she could catch a glimpse of light when she turned her face upward. Mostly she stumbled along the forest ground in darkness, slowly making her way through the thick bush. One time she came across a frozen pond. It wasn’t very big. But the ice was beautiful with frozen patterns and bubbles in the deep blue clearness. She didn’t have skates, but enjoyed her pirouettes across to the other side. The bush on the other side seemed impenetrable. Behind her the pond had melted, she had to go on. No light was let through the trees, and she thought she might be lost forever.
One day she happened upon frozen ice again. This time she couldn’t tell the size of the water, but it seemed as if it streched as far as her imagination could go. She looked around for a while. She knew she needed skates this time. Just her shoes wouldn’t do. Besides they were quite ratty looking from the long, rough forest travel. There! She found not one pair, but two sets of skates. One set was playful hockey skates, the other pair for artistic pirouettes and jumps. There was a hockey stick too, and she could bring that one regardless of which kind of skates she chose.
She was so ready to get started, she couldn’t stand still. Her little feet trembling with joy, excitement and expectations of all the wonders she’d find moving along the big beautful open space, filled with light. She knew the skates were unfamiliar, and would require a bit of practicing before she could run with them. Then she spottet four more skates, and realized she might have to wait for someone else to show up. She wondered which skates to pick for herself. And tried to imagine what kind of skates the other pair would be, dancing across the ice. She waited some more. Felt restless. The urge to get going was strong: while the sun was up. And she was eager to learn how to use her newfound footwear. She knew she wanted to wait for her skating mate. But did she need to wait to choose what kind of skates to use?
