A Whole Lot of Nothing

"Ma? Ma! Awww, geez, Ma. You totally missed that shot!"

Syl looked up as Faith skated ahead on her roller blades, hockey stick in hand, to collect the orange hockey ball she had hit into the net-sized space between a tree and a garbage can.

"Sorry, love. I was thinking."

"Yeah, I noticed that, Ma." The girl didn't bother hiding the bitter disappointment in her voice.

Syl sighed, disappointed in herself, as she jogged along the path through the park. She should have been paying more attention to her daugther.

Waking up Faith for their morning runs was no longer a challenge since the girl took up hockey, mostly because technically Faith no longer ran in the mornings. She strapped on the roller blades her uncle had bought her and skated alongside her mother instead.

The first week or so had been difficult for Faith. She was still unsteady on her feet and received more than a few scrapes from falling down, but by the third week, she had improved enough to skate faster than her mother could run. That was when she began bringing her stick and ball with her, so she could practice her stick handling as they ran and skated through the park.

Faith impatiently dribbled the ball with her stick, tapping it from side to side, as she waited for her mother to catch up, then effortlessly spun around and paced her skating to match the speed of her mother's running, taking the hockey ball with her as she went without a thought.

Neil was right; she did pick it up quickly. If Syl didn't know better, she would have sworn Faith had taken up hockey years ago rather than just a few weeks before.

There was a long moment of silence as they continued down the path before Faith spoke again. Her voice sounded more like a growl.

"Geez, Ma. What's wrong with you?"

"Excuse me?"

"You've been spaced out the last few days." Her annoyance was evident. "What's going on?"

Syl glanced over at Faith's frown through the loose strands of dark hair that bounced in front of her face as she ran. "It's nothing, love," she said, trying to give a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, right," Faith grunted and skidded to a stop. "It's never just 'nothing' with you, Ma."

Syl stopped beside her, breathing heavily from the run, and silently turned to her daughter with a questioning look.

"If you're going to lie to me, Ma, you can at least say something more convincing than 'Nothing'. Fuck this. I'm going to the ice rink." Disgusted, Faith spun around on her roller blades and began skating back the way they had come, the ball bumping along beside her at the end of her stick.

"Faith! Faith, get back here!" Syl called after the girl, trying to sound stern and authoritative, but only succeeding in sounding tired and resigned. "Faith, I'm sorry!"

Her apology was obviously not accepted as her daughter ignored her and skated on.