Free Sliding on the Snow Stone by Andy Szpuk

We’d meet in the square. Then we’d walk to the nearby woods to find a secluded spot. I’d bring along my copy of Kobzar * by Taras Shevchenko and I’d read aloud to her. Her favourite was always Why Should I Have Black Eyebrows? She’d laugh out loud and say, ‘Stefan, that’s just like you. Your eyebrows are black as coal.’ I loved being next to her. She was a year older than me and a little bit taller, so I always preferred it when we were sitting down together rather than standing up. I suppose you could say she was my first girlfriend. Well, Volodimir, Miron and all the other boys never tired of reminding me of that. They’d often disturb us, just when we’d found somewhere quiet to be together and talk. They’d sneak up on us just when we’d got close and were about to kiss, ‘Stefan!! The boys are here! It’s good to see you two lovebirds. You always find the best places. Can we join you?’ Volodimir grinned mischievously. There was no point in trying to get away from them. Anyhow, we were a band of brothers, I could never turn these Kozaks away. We had a code, to stand together on our land and carry the fight as best we could. We would never surrender who we were to anyone.
    Easter came and the whole village celebrated, as usual. I didn’t see Natasha for over a week because she lived on the other side of the village. At home, Mother and Father arranged for our traditional offering of painted eggs, ham, soft cheese, bread and paska * to be blessed by the local priest. Then, after prayers we’d all sit down and Mother would slice up some bread and the paska , we’d butter them well and partake of our Holy meal.
    All around nature bloomed, the grass, the greenery and the spring flowers returned with all their fragile, delicate beauty. Our winter coats were put away and we left our boots indoors, we wore our summer shoes in the spring. It sounds silly I know, but in the really hot days of summer we’d go barefoot to save on shoe leather. Father forever scolded us for scuffing up our footwear and, every few weeks, we’d see him at his workbench in a corner of the barn repairing someone’s boots or shoes.
    I hadn’t seen Natasha for two or three weeks. I wouldn’t have admitted it to anyone but I was missing her. Even though I liked to hang around with the boys, at times I walked around the village on my own, hoping to see her. I even went to her house one day and knocked on the door. Her mother answered and said that Natasha wasn’t home.
    Anyway, I hung around with Volodimir, Miron and the other boys and I can’t say I didn’t have fun. Summer was approaching and the glorious sunshine bathed us in its glow, but some days the weather was bad and the rain was often heavy. On those occasions I’d play indoors with Volodimir. We had the wooden aeroplanes and the soldiers. In our bedroom we’d mark out a battleground. Ukraine always emerged victorious with piles of tin soldiers flattened along its borders.
    There was still no sign of Natasha. Until one day in June when we boys were walking through the village. There was a big gang of us, maybe about eight or nine. We turned a corner and there she was. There was no mistaking her. She was with another boy and they were kissing with some passion. My heart twisted around and turned somersaults inside me. I wanted to reach out to her but I couldn’t move my arms. I wanted to run up to her, get hold of her and hold her tight, and tell the other boy she was mine, but my legs wouldn’t move. I thought about calling out to her but my throat was too dry and when I opened my mouth nothing came out. The next thing I knew Volodimir was beside me, with his arm around my shoulders.
    ‘ Come on Stefan, let’s go home.’
    Thinking back now, she wasn’t right for me anyhow. She was too old, and too tall. It was just a teenage infatuation, but at the time it was as if my whole world had collapsed around me. It was getting late, close to supper time, so we made