A Little Further

Osman is learning to skate. Verity is holding the back of his coat. It is a cold Sunday in February, and the car park behind the Co-op on Mill Road is flat and empty.

He skates two metres. Then he stops.

“A little better,” Verity says. “Practise that again.”

He skates four metres. His arms move a lot.

“A little further,” she says. “You’re getting there.”

He skates six metres and sits down on the grass.

“A better fall,” Verity says.

He practises for an hour. He is improving.

Then he skates ten metres, and twenty. The little hill by the trolleys is helping him. He is not stopping.

“Verity!” he shouts. “How do I stop?”

“A little further!” she shouts. “You’re getting there!”