Skating To A New Dawn

Snowflakes Dancing Towards A New Dawn

Langa had just exited the house where he had been for a job interview. How could Japanese people kneel like that for hours? His knees were still shaking from sitting in such an uncomfortable position, and it felt like pins and needles pricking his skin. Hadn't they heard of chairs and tables at standard heights in Japan?

It was a pity that the job offer was only aimed at adults since the pay had been excellent. Langa was still thinking about other options to get a job to support his mom when someone called out to him.

"Hey, quit spacing out and duck if you want to live."

Langa looked up and suddenly saw a guy racing down the hill on a skateboard at an insane speed heading straight towards him. He realized too late that he was standing in the middle of the road.

"Duck! Now!"

Langa was so shocked that he just did what he was told right before he saw someone jump over him. When he dared to look up, he saw a skateboard flying over his head before landing next to him and finally stopping.

"Do you have a death wish or something? How can you start daydreaming in the middle of the road?" he exclaimed angrily, shaking his head in disbelief. Langa had heard only a part of what he had said because he had been staring at the skateboard the guy was holding. Then, the redhead's eyes lit up as if he had recognized him.

"Hey, you're the new student from Canada, right?"

Langa just stared at him but didn't say anything. He had no clue who that weird guy was, but he looked around his age. So, maybe he had seen him in school? He seemed strangely familiar with his flaming red hair...

"I'm Reki Kyan, and I'm in your class! We shared a textbook in class all day." Reki reminded him, sulking that he hadn't recognized him. Remembering names and faces had never been his strong suit...

"Sorry."

Reki's eyes softened at once, and he grinned at him. Then, he pointed at his skateboard. "You wanna try?"

"No, it's fine." Hesitating for a moment, he finally shook his head. Reki had noticed his hesitation, though.

"Come on; you've been totally staring at it for a while now." Reki beamed at him, his eyes sparkling excitedly.

Langa shrugged. He didn't have anything else to do anyway. He wondered if a skateboard was similar to a snowboard. I mean, the shape was kind of similar, but you couldn't attach your feet. That was kind of scary...

Reki moved into a little side road where the road went straight and not downhill, then put the board on the ground. Langa put one foot on it, moving it to the left and right to get a feel for it. It seemed unsteadier than a snowboard. It made sense since a snowboard was wider and bigger in general, so it gave you more stability. He finally put his second foot on it but lost control at once. He struggled to achieve control over the skateboard by bending forward, then backwards to regain balance, but in the end, he failed and fell from the board, landing with his back on the hard pavement. Snow was much softer and usually softened the blow. The pavement wasn't nearly as forgiving.

Reki burst out laughing, hugging himself and shaking with laughter until tears streamed down his face.

"What was that? You haven't even moved an inch!" he said between fits of laughter.

Langa shot him a death glare from where he had landed, then rubbed the dirt off his jacket and sat up. He shot him another dirty look and pouted at him, stubbornly crossing his arms.

"That thing wasn't made for people to stand on! It's a death trap!"

Reki glared right back, flames of anger raging in his golden eyes while he put one foot on the skateboard to prove his point.