The Face by R.L. Stine, Bill Schmidt Read Free Book Online Page A

beautiful day of the winter!”
    â€œIt’s perfect sledding,” Adriana chimed in excitedly. “The snow sort of froze. There’s an icy crust on top. You’ve got to come to Miller Hill with us, Martha!”
    I gaped at both of them. They were acting like ten-year-olds!
    â€œYou mean—you want to go sledding?”
    They both laughed at me. I know I sounded like a moron. But I was so surprised.
    â€œWhy can’t we have fun?” Laura demanded. “You know. Like we used to. Before we got old. Before we were supposed to start acting
cool
all the time?”
    â€œCome on, Martha.” Adriana tugged me off the chair. “Get your coat. It’s not even that cold out. Come on. We’ve got an extra sled.”
    â€œWe’ll have races,” Laura suggested. She helped Adriana push me to the door. “We’ll push all the eight-year-old kids off the hill and have it all to ourselves!”
    â€œHey—why not?” I said finally. We pushed each other down the stairs, singing along with Dad’s opera, singing so loud he shouted for us to shut up. Which made us laugh, and sing even louder.
    Why
shouldn’t
I have some fun? I asked myself.
    Why should I sit up in my room staring at that creepy drawing?
    I realized I hadn’t had any fun … any
real
fun … since the accident. Since I lost my memory.
    I grabbed my snow parka and a pair of woolly gloves and followed my two friends out the front door. They were right. It was a beautiful afternoon. The air felt cold and crisp. The bright sunlight made the snow sparkle like gold.
    We walked to Miller Hill, carrying our round sleds, rolling them like hoops, sending them crashing into each other.
    Nearly to the top of the street, Adriana slipped and fell. Laura and I pounced on her and pushed her face into the snow.
    She sputtered. Came up laughing. And started a wild wrestling match that got all three of us wet and snow-covered.
    Laughing, breathing hard from our strenuous battle, we brushed each other off. We gathered up our disks, which had slid halfway down the street. And continued on our way.
    Miller Hill is the favorite sledding place in Shadyside. It’s steep and bumpy and stretches into a wide, empty field. The snow always seems deeper and slicker on Miller Hill. It’s a steep climb up. But the ride down is long, fast, and totally thrilling.
    Today the hill glowed like a silvery mountain. Laura, Adriana, and I stopped at the bottom and gazed up. Dozens of kids, kids of all ages, were sledding down. On every kind of sled! Garbage can lids and inflated snow doughnuts competed with old-fashioned wood-and-steel Flexible Flyers.
    What a scene!
    In their red, and blue, and purple jackets, their snow hats and ski caps, the kids looked like Christmas ornaments on a huge, white tree.
    I know. I know. I’m starting to sound like a poet or something.
    But it was just such a thrilling sight. Such an
innocent
scene. I guess it made me think of being younger. It made me think of happier times.
    â€œHow come the hill looks so much bigger than it used to?” Laura asked, ducking out of the way as two little boys came sliding down on plastic garbage bags.
    â€œDon’t wimp out,” Adriana scolded her. “The hill is the same as it always was. Let’s go.”
    Slipping and sliding, we leaned into the wind and made our way up to the top of the hill. Halfway up, the wind from the top blew the plastic sled from my hand, and I had to go chase it.
    I finally made it to the top.
    Where were Laura and Adriana?
    I shielded my eyes from the bright sunlight with one gloved hand and searched for them.
    They were already preparing to slide down. They had found an open spot on one side, just past a group of serious-faced boys. Now they were lowering themselves onto their sleds.
    Laura was sitting on hers. Adriana had plopped down on her belly.
    I darted over, planning to surprise Adriana and give her a