"Choppy Waters" Excerpt
The wind was chilly and fierce, manifesting in the furious whitecaps offshore. The sky was an angry painting of insipid grays, the large looming clouds moving quickly overhead. A few icy droplets of water stung our foreheads and fingers. But it was only a few, and it was the last day. I had to get one more ride in before we drove back to Seattle and wouldn’t return for another year.
I turned to David. I had taught him to water ski a few days earlier. Me. I reflected back on that momentous moment—I was no expert, but I was the one who stood by his side, waist-deep in the water as he clumsily bobbed and twisted and turned, trying to keep upright as he waited for the boat to take off. He was half sitting, half floating with the aid of his life jacket as his skis shot vertical to the sky, crossing and uncrossing. He wriggled his fingers around the handle as water sloshed into his face in mini waves created by the other boats that were driving by.
“Now keep your knees slightly bent and your skis straight as the boat takes off,” I coached. “Also, lock your arms and lock your body. Once you’re up, you’re up! It’s like riding a bicycle. You can always do it once you’ve done it once!” I felt like I knew what I was talking about. After all, I’d done it twice before myself.
The crew was finally ready to get going and the engine let out a low hum as the boat slowly left shore. The rope attached to the handle uncoiled, became slack and then suddenly taut. David gripped the handle with all his might. I could see his determined arms lock. Ever so slowly he was pulled forward, and was rewarded with a face full off water... but he made it!
Like a tulip ripping through the topsoil, his face re-emerged victorious and he was up! His skis were straight and he was on top of the water, gliding along in the wake. I felt like a proud parent at that moment, and I was beaming as I made sure to let everyone on shore know that I helped him get there.
Today, David and I were going to face the waters together on the inner tubes. We had done it a million times before, but everything hurts more when you are freezing.
“Good day to die?” I asked in my best Wild West accent. He laughed nervously and we made our way down to the water just as Scott was bringing the most recent victims to shore. I gave my life vest a trusting pat and dipped my big toe into the water anxiously lapping at my feet.
“Ghhaaaa,” I gasped and turned to run up the hill, but David grabbed my arm, his fingers piercing my skin with cold. I turned back around and we both started in to the lake. Breathing short, quick breaths, I allowed my legs to get used to the icy water, but each time I lifted my foot to take another step, the wind would so generously dry off my wet leg, leaving me with a solid, frostbitten stump.
“Briiiinnnggg iiittt heeerrreee…” I called to Alida, who was jumping off the tube I wanted. I was going to stay as dry as possible for as long as possible, so she was going to have to drag the tube to me. I stiffly hopped on to the tube and let out another gasp, reeling from the water that Alida had left on it.
“Stomach?” David called out to me. I thought about my options for a moment and considered the water conditions. I nodded as he plopped onto his tube and rearranged himself, his feet dragging behind him in the water.
The engine started and my knuckles turned white as I gripped the plastic handles and pulled myself up higher on my tube. We were off, and our slow lag quickly began picking up speed as we got farther and farther away from shore.
“Oh dang!” I yelled as I caught the first lashing of rolling waves. Bumping from side to side, I vainly squeezed my thighs against the tube and looked over just in time to see David’s tube in the air, turning 360 degrees, and David’s face slamming into the water, followed by his flailing arms, his twisted torso, and eventually his limp legs. Brutal. The boat came to a crawl as we circled around and David's head rose from the water, teeth chattering, a smile spread across his lips.
“Whoa,” was all he said, and without a second’s hesitation he pulled himself back up on the tube. “You guys ready?” they called out from the boat, and I let David give the thumbs up because I couldn’t move my hands. Once again we were off, and all I could do was wait for my turn to crash.
It wasn’t long before the churning water began calling my name and no matter how hard I tried, I could not stay inside the safety of the wake. I surrendered my effort to save energy for the vicious turbulence that awaited me, and without breaking a sweat the dividing wave swooped me down to the deceptively smooth lake. The bottom of my tube slapped the dark surface in fast, foreboding echoes. David was long forgotten at this point. Now it was just me versus the wind and water and I was terrified.
After what felt like cruel delay, the storm broke loose. Wave after wave, bump after bump, I could no longer feel my face and the numbness was creeping throughout my limbs. Wump, WUMP, WUMP! And my body was five feet in the air. My fingers were still attached to the handles and I miraculously landed back on the tube, my right leg dragging lamely in the Sea of Death as I wiggled back into position and began to pray.
“Dear God, please don’t let me die…” I was yelling the words as I was jolted back and forth, up and down, my neck as secure to my head as a bobble-head doll.
Suddenly I felt peace and a warm kiss of air across my face as my body skimmed the surface of the water, free of the tube. I was breathing and it was peaceful and…
PLOOSH! It was all over. All I could hear was the muffled gurgle of water rushing out of my nose, and I raised my arms and let my life jacket bring me back to the surface as I was enveloped in blackness. My wipeout had been completely anticlimactic.
