The Side Eye

She had just finished several tiring magic carpet runs. Demonstrating her considerable skills in the endeavor known as catch and release. Where, in conjunction with her parents, she performed an intricate three person ballet on the snow. Gravity propelling her down the hill, her mother or father all that was standing between this very small missile and a lesson in supersonic acceleration.

It had been a complete success, but enough was enough. And a most important aspect of this undertaking was next on the agenda.

She trudged, with her almost equally little friend, a few yards to a spot where they seated themselves on a wooden railing, their legs dangling a couple of feet (in several senses) above the snow. These two young women looking as any other skier who was taking a well deserved break, only in miniature version.

And when her mom handed her the snack she patiently awaited, she happily sat, surely contemplating how well she had finished her turns on the mountain. The contents of this small bag just reward for a job well done. Her eyes staring straight ahead, that slightly blank look a certain sign that she was at rest and at peace.

"Do you think you could share your Goldfish with E?"  In an instant, without the smallest change of expression, without turning her head even one degree in the direction of her buddy, she shifted her gaze from directly forward to as far left as humanly possible, both eyes darting towards their intended target but not truly mathematically able to reach that far around. It seemed a silent question/declaration of "you mean, give some of my hard earned trinkets to another sentient being." 

Haven't we all been the unwanted subject of similar demands at various junctures along the way? Where we have internally been vigorously shaking our heads in silent rejection of some mandate to which we really, really would rather not accede? 

This was not the first, and would surely not be the last time something such as this will happen to her. But maybe there would never be another occasion where, without a sound or even a shoulder shrug, she so fully expressed her dismay at the inequity of the request.

In but a blink of an eye, the Goldfish left her tiny hand and entered the palm of her neighbor. Assuredly the recipient of this beneficence was not even aware of the fleeting thought that had filtered through her friend's mind. 

Two young girls, just chillin' together, sharing the wonders of skiing, some Goldfish and a side eye for the ages..