⏱ ~4 min reading
On Sunday, Dad took Sofiyka to the park, where there was a big snow slide. The winter was generous — snow fell all week. The children, together with the adults, rolled the slide so that it became smooth, as if polished.
That hill was high. Very high.
When Sofiyka went up the steps, she felt a little dizzy. The people below seemed small, like tin soldiers. Dad was standing below and waving his hand. He waved - and Sofiyka barely saw the wave.
"I won't," Sofiyka told herself.
She started to go back down the steps. But her dad met her at the bottom.
"What happened, daughter?"
— High.
"I saw that you were scared.".
— Very high.
Dad sat down. His cheeks were red from the frost, but his eyes were warm.
"Shall I come with you?"
— How is that?
— We'll ride together on one tubing ride. I'll be in the back, you'll be in the front. I'll hold you. We'll go down together.
Sofiyka thought. Alone with dad is different. It's not so scary.
"Aren't we going to fall?"
"We won't fall. The tubing is stable. And I'll hold you.".
— What if I cry?
"Then I'll wipe your tears downstairs.".
Sofiyka sighed. She nodded.
They went upstairs again. Dad was carrying a big blue tubing—like a cushion of air. There was already a line up at the top—a girl with a green scarf, two twin boys, and another aunt with a little boy.
When it was Sofiyka's turn, dad put the tubing on the start. He sat in the back. He put Sofiyka between his knees, wrapped one arm around her.
— Ready?
Sofiyka squeezed her father's hand. She closed her eyes. She nodded.
— One, two, three…
They flew away.
The air whistled in her ears. Sofiyka felt the ground sink beneath them—and then level out. As it lifted her up and carried her down. As the cold wind washed her cheeks.
She wanted to scream - from fear or joy, she didn't know. Something that sounded like a scream and laughter at the same time burst from her chest.
And then—once—they were standing below. The tubing came to a smooth stop. Dad laughed.
— You screamed!
— I don't know why!
Sofiyka blinked. She looked up. The hill seemed smaller from here. Completely different.
She suddenly noticed something interesting: the fear that had terrified her for ten minutes at the top lasted only a second during the descent. Maybe two. And then there was only the wind in her ears and the ground.
— Dad.
— What, daughter?
— The fear… was brief!
— Yes?
— Yes. I thought it would be long. And it was a second. And that's it.
Dad smiled as best he could.
— You know, I'll tell you. Fear is often like that. It's only big before you start. And once you've started, it decreases very quickly. Because thinking about something scary is scarier than doing it.
Sophie thought.
— I still want it.
— Do you want it yourself?
— Yes. With my tubing.
Dad handed her a small pink tube—the one that Sofiyka loved.
She climbed up. Her head started spinning a little again. But now Sofiyka knew: this hill was big, but the fear was short.
Sila. Dad waved from below.
Sophie took a deep breath.
She pushed herself with her hands and left.
This time she didn't close her eyes. She watched the white edges of the hill fly by. As her father approached below. Like a fresh, cold wind.
When she stopped, her face was red and her eyes wide.
"Dad! I'm alone!"
— You are alone.
During this walk, Sofiyka went down the slide twelve times. Maybe more. She didn't count.
On the way home, Sofiyka walked alongside her father, holding his mitten and jumping up and down with joy from time to time. The snow crunched under her boots. The winter sun set pink behind the roofs of the houses.
— Dad.
— What, daughter?
"Shall we come again tomorrow?"
— We will come.
"I still want to. Because I know that fear is short-lived.".
Dad squeezed her little gloved hand. And said nothing. He just walked by and smiled into her collar.
💡 Fear passes faster than you can reach the bottom.