Poems and Tales from Romania | Page 9

that much and this way they all got to actually skate more than they could in the various competitions, where they actually only skated just very little, when it came down to it. . .a little warming up. . .a short skate. . .and a longer skate. . .perhaps totalling 10 minutes, then maybe something at the end, maybe not.
Not much skating.
As for the prizes. . .each of them had more prizes than they really could could ever hope to wear or display. . .most of the time a box under the bed held them all. . .not one day out of a hundred did it get opened. . .other than to put more prizes IN. . .not take any of them OUT. It was like a black hole. . . .
The next week the Wonderlanders returned and faced everyone openly.
The two weeks did NOT balance out well. . . .
The Wonderlanders explained that for one week they had done ALL the things asked of them, perfectly, without complaint, had turned over ALL the prizes and money to their respective families, the vendors, those involved with their particular events, had done very well.
But no one had really thanked them very much, and no one had really noticed whether or not they were enjoying their skating. . .
For the other week, they had simply skated. . .albeit away from the eyes of anyone but themselves and their friends. . .as they had for many days and nights before they had become so famous. They had to say, for the record, that they enjoyed the second week much more.
They offered to skate in public every other week, and not to keep a cent for themselves, just so they could skate alone for themselves.
They offered to skate in public on the weekends, 9 times out of 10, and not to keep a cent for themselves, just so they could be alone, skating for themselves, or just living, the rest of the time.
There was not even a mummer of approval from amongst the vendors or the parents. . .who wanted control virtually all of the time.
And so the Wonderlanders came to a fateful decision. . . .
They would skate as much in public as was expected. . .and lull the parents and vendors into a state of false complacency. . .while the time was spent perfecting their plans for a permanent escape, as it was now a decade since this had all begun, and every one of them in the group should have long since started their own life and family.
They found places to skate that were several times more remote than their most secret places to date. They made arrangements with some people near there for food and housing. . .people so far from their homes that they only knew of them by name. . .and they never, never used their real names.
Their lessons of privacy were learned well. . .and over a period of 10 years. . .yet they practiced the art of privacy even more. . .to spread out their sources of supplies, and the times when they would need them, and how many were being supplied. They masqueraded as a band of wandering gypsies, working hard in the fields in summer and making sure they looked nothing like the pales ice-creatures all of the world knew them as. They pretended to be part of a much larger band of gypsies, who lived even more in secret, then they would buy only from those who would not reveal them, and would only pay extra for the secrecy when they came back for supplies the next time.
Finally. . .the time was right. . . .
At the end of one year's run of Winter Carnivals and Festivals they announced they would give their own event, and invited everyone.
The vendors were invited both to watch AND to profit, and they even hired other outside vendors to work for them so they would watch in even more detail.
And then. . .they gave the performances of their lives. . . .
They made sure EVERYONE was there, and the skated their hearts out.
Moves no one had ever seen, or would ever see again, were made in a manner that showed months or years of heartfelt practice, and every such move was dedicated to a particular friend or loved-one in that audience that day.
Every friend and family member had a move named after them that day . . .a day every one of them remembered all their lives.
Every friend and family member, and even the vendors, were taken on the ice and presented with prizes and money, and told how much they were loved or appreciated by the Wonderlanders.
And finally, when all was said and done, the Wonderlanders went out on the ice and set their candles down,