Liam’s Adventures in Ice Hockey - My Submission for the Dollympics 2024 Week 1

        Hey everyone! As some of you in the blogging community know, Reesa from The Dollville Blog is hosting the Dollympics this month! (Here's a link to the rules) I'm super excited to be participating, and I'm proud of the fact that I actually managed to finish a photo story before the first week's deadline! So, please enjoy!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If anyone had ever forgotten that the sun was one great ball of fire, today was certainly a reminder. The air hung so thick and so heavy with sweltering heat that Piney Grove might as well have been on the surface of the sun itself. The world was sticky and silent as Liam raised the garage door and stepped outside, hockey equipment in hand. He was on a mission. His first step was to find someone to play hockey with him. 

Spotting Carmen from across the street, he called out, “Hey! You wanna play hockey?” 

A very curious (and albeit slighting overheated) Carmen walked over to where Liam was standing. “Hockey?” she said, a puzzled expression on her face. 

Liam nodded. “Yeah. Wanna play?”

“I guess so… but where are we supposed to play hockey?” 

“You wouldn’t happen to have roller blades, would you?”

“Nope.”

“Then we’ll just have to find some ice somewhere.” 

“Ice? It’s 100 degrees outside!” 

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll figure something out.” Liam shook his head, ignoring Carmen’s obvious common sense. Liam was determined, his quest for ice being the next part of his mission. 

“Isn’t there an ice rink at the community center?” Carmen asked, once again speaking nothing but common sense. 

“Pffft, yeah, but they’re not going to let us play hockey during free skate! Not while other people are there! We’ll just have to make some ice.” 

Carmen raised an eyebrow, not totally convinced about this idea of a “DIY ice rink.” She usually found, however, that her attempts to talk common sense into people were left unheard, so she decided to go along with it.  “And how are we going to do that?” she asked. 

“I have an idea,” Liam said. “Follow me.”

***

“So… that didn’t work,” Liam said, looking down at the still-warm lake water that he had just dumped a cup full of ice into. 

“No. No it did not.” Carmen panted in the heat. The two of them were at the lake in the middle of the Piney Woods, which had been a very long hike in the sweltering heat of the afternoon. Carmen was absolutely exhausted, and Liam was significantly less enthusiastic about his plan to play hockey. 

“New plan!” Liam announced.

“No, no new plan. I refuse to move from this spot.” Carmen plopped down in the shade of a giant tree. 

“Have fun being stranded in the woods, then.” Liam turned to start walking away.

Carmen scrambled to her feet. “Wait! Wait up! Don’t leave me here!” 

***

The two of them sat in the little shade they could find in Liam’s yard, both now very worn-out. 

“So much for playing hockey.” Liam sighed. “It’s way too hot for that.” 

Carmen stared down at the concrete, thinking. “I think I have a compromise if you still want to play.” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah, come on, I’ll show you.” 

Liam nodded, following Carmen as she walked towards the arcade to play air hockey. It might not have been the regular ice hockey Liam had wanted to play, but in the sweltering heat, the air-conditioned arcade was a welcome change.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This was a fun photostory to make! I enjoyed writing for Liam since it gave me a chance to work on his character. It also gave me something to do at my grandparents' house.

Look at all of these fish!! They were huge!

It was super duper hot when I took these photos, not at all untrue to the photostory. When I went outside, my camera lens actually fogged up, and then I realized that Carmen and Liam's eyes were also fogging up and Carmen's limbs were all wet from condensation. It was awful.

^ In case you needed proof that it was hot, there's a screenshot of the weather app while I was taking photos. The app said with humidity, it felt more like 104. That's hot.

And that's pretty much it! Have a great week, stay cool, and remember to eat your veggies! Bye! <3