Bergfors Family Forces

       When ice along the riverbanks grew stronger and wider into the black midstream, mean older bro Jonne didn’t let Johannes and Johanna go to the river. He yelled at them and dragged them by the coat collars and was altogether serious. The twins fought him just in protest, but he was right. It didn’t mean they’d give up. And on the next day, Operation Thin Ice began. At first, they poured water into the snow behind the school. It was Johanna’s idea, but Johannes was the man, so the hard work was his. So he said, and immediately Johanna retorted that she was just as strong as him, and pried the bucket with water from him and, of course, spilled it all. This way, they learnt that snow + water = mush and later a solid lump. They both tried to stomp the lump, but only Johannes slipped and fell. It was unfair, because while he was busy scrambling, Johanna came up with the next idea, that they needed a solid surface. He would have said the same. Now he could only ask where she saw a solid surface outdoors in winter. Johanna smirked and waved a hand at the concrete back porch of their school. And this time she didn’t even grab the bucket to bring more water from the school toilet. Johannes had to go. At least he figured out they didn’t need a full bucket. One third would be enough. It wasn’t. On solid concrete, water froze quickly into thin ice, too thin for their purpose. This time Johannes did grip the handrails before stomping the ice and didn’t slip. An eighth grader sneaking out for a smoke didn’t hold to the handrails and slipped. He was very angry, but the twins had hidden behind the corner a moment before that, when they had heard the inner sluice door squeaking. Now they left the bucket in snow and crept away. They foresaw more people falling and getting angry, and looking for the culprits. “I know what’s wrong,” Johanna declared when they re-entered the school from the front doors. “Yeah, there should be air or water under the ice,” Johannes hurried to show he’s a smart guy, too. “We need a puddle.” “A hole in the solid ground,” she specified. They fell silent while walking to their after-school classes. “A washbasin,” Johannes said, opening the classroom door. “A cooking pot larger than our shoe size,” Johanna caught up with his thought and peeked into the room just to say, “We’re off to the bathroom, Mrs Kurkela.” And the twins ran away before the teacher asked anything about spending too much time in the toilet. A pot was an easy game. Just go to the canteen and say you want to help with dishwashing. Being twins was useful sometimes. While one is distracting the kitchen attendant, the other lends a good soup pot. While one stands on the lookout, the other carries a pot with water from the toilet outdoors. Finally, they were out, behind a fence and the first line of pines, and put the pot down. Soon the water surface matted. Johannes and Johanna had a little and brief quarrel over who’d be the first to try ice, and decided to do it together, with soles and not the whole feet, and holding to each other not to fall again. And the ice cracked beneath them, beneath their boots. The kids laughed and stomped it again and again, listening to the best sound in the world, ice crunching. Once they believed they could enjoy it in autumn and spring, but here they were! Wet feet or angry adults didn’t exist. The Bergfors Duo was happy.