Theme Week # 5
(John, for the record, I dreaded writing this narrative that's why you're getting it now.)
I didn't think it would ever stop raining so I was surprised to wake to the sun in my face. My nightshirt was stuck to my back and the room felt like a sauna. The plans for going hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains dissipated the moment I stepped outside. The sky was hazy and the air was thick. There was no way I was doing anything that didn't involve water. Especially anything that required physical exertion.
I called my friend Joey, a true southern boy with a deep voice and a long drawl. "Hey girl, what's gooiin on?" "Change of plans. Call the guys. I'll get Rene and Beth. Screw sweltering ten miles up a mountain and jumping over snakes every few hundred feet. We're going tubing!" Joey never cared what we did as long as we did something. "You got it honey. See ya'll in thirty."
In Johnson City, Tennessee, tubing is as common as putting gas in your car. You somehow even learned not to fear the water moccasins. We'd been enough times and everyone knew the score; Joey got the tubes, I got the beer, Rene packed the cooler, and everyone met at the Watauga river.
I pulled my car behind Joey's truck. We left mine at the ending point so we had a way back to the truck. Kev, John, and Van were in the back pushing the hot tubes away with their feet. Ten minutes is all it takes to turn that black rubber into steam burn.
I squeezed in the front seat, next to Joey who was already sweating profusely wearing only a pair of cut off jeans. Rene sat on Beth's lap in the passengers seat. She whined the entire twenty minute trip because Beth's sweaty skin was sticking to her; being a former beauty queen, it couldn't be her sweaty skin sticking to Beth.
We pulled along side the river which was also a rafting site so I was surprised we found a parking spot so close. We peeled our legs off the front seat and headed down the bank to the water. Joey and the guys kicked the tubes out of the truck, rolled them into the water then flipped them several times until they cool enough to sit on. We stripped off our clothes down to our bathing suits and dove in the water. We noticed the majority of the rafters were coming out of the water. Crews changed every two hours so we didn't think much about it.
The three-day rain made the water colder than usual but anything was better than the heat bouncing off the pavement. We loaded the cooler on Joey's tube, which is more a raft, and got ourselves situated before pushing off. A man sitting on the bank yelled, "Hey, ya'll better be careful. The rivers pretty rough. You might want life jackets." "Thanks, we'll be Ok, Joey said as he pulled my tube towards him. Joey and I had a unique friendship. We weren't a couple but we did everything couples do so we always found a way to be ten feet behind everyone.
The cliffs along side the river made it look deeper and never-ending. Enjoying the solitude of having the river to ourselves; I closed my eyes, leaned my head back on the tube and kicked my feet in the water while Joey played with my hair. John cracked a beer and toasted the heavens. "Here's to the poor souls sweating their asses off on the mountain!" Van, being the youngest of the group; a former football player turned bouncer, thought it would be funny to flip Rene's tube. Needless to say, we cringed as she came up for air. Getting her hair wet was never a part of her plan. "You son of a bitch!" Her voice echoed against the cliffs. "Shhh", I said. "You shh. You aren't the one with water up her nose!" "No, be quiet. I hear something." It was a sound I will never forget. The bone crushing sound of a force so powerful, I couldn't speak. No one said anything. We just looked at each other, hoping someone would say we weren't hearing what we heard.
The water started to pick up. Rene's tube floated away from her and she was being pulled down river. The closer we got to the bend, the louder the sound. "Everyone off their tubes. Swim! Swim!", Joey screamed. Joey and I looked at each other for a split second then jumped in.
The tubes floated past us. Within seconds, they whipped around the bend. Sucked into the bowels of hell. I knew if I saw what was around the corner, it would be too late. I swam with every bit of strength I had.
Just before the bend, to the left of the river; there was a strip of land. Ten feet off that stood a herd of cows. A strange site for another state. Rene was almost to the bank. Van and John were a few feet behind her. Joey was about ten feet away. I was last. Seeing him in front of me made me swim harder. I didn't want to die, not alone, not without him.
The roaring was so loud and so close; I could barely hear Van yelling, "Swim faster. You've got to swim faster." I wish I could say his cheering helped but all I could picture was getting sucked into the water and being crushed against the jagged rocks. I saw Joey get to the bank. I definitely couldn't die now. I swam so hard, I couldn't feel my arms. When I made it to the bank, everyone collapsed. Joey put his arms around me and cried like a baby. No one cared that we were sitting in piles of cow shit, not even Rene. Once we caught our breaths, we got up and headed down river. The roaring got louder and then we saw it. No one said anything. We didn't have to. The river said it for us.
I didn't think it would ever stop raining so I was surprised to wake to the sun in my face. My nightshirt was stuck to my back and the room felt like a sauna. The plans for going hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains dissipated the moment I stepped outside. The sky was hazy and the air was thick. There was no way I was doing anything that didn't involve water. Especially anything that required physical exertion.
I called my friend Joey, a true southern boy with a deep voice and a long drawl. "Hey girl, what's gooiin on?" "Change of plans. Call the guys. I'll get Rene and Beth. Screw sweltering ten miles up a mountain and jumping over snakes every few hundred feet. We're going tubing!" Joey never cared what we did as long as we did something. "You got it honey. See ya'll in thirty."
In Johnson City, Tennessee, tubing is as common as putting gas in your car. You somehow even learned not to fear the water moccasins. We'd been enough times and everyone knew the score; Joey got the tubes, I got the beer, Rene packed the cooler, and everyone met at the Watauga river.
I pulled my car behind Joey's truck. We left mine at the ending point so we had a way back to the truck. Kev, John, and Van were in the back pushing the hot tubes away with their feet. Ten minutes is all it takes to turn that black rubber into steam burn.
I squeezed in the front seat, next to Joey who was already sweating profusely wearing only a pair of cut off jeans. Rene sat on Beth's lap in the passengers seat. She whined the entire twenty minute trip because Beth's sweaty skin was sticking to her; being a former beauty queen, it couldn't be her sweaty skin sticking to Beth.
We pulled along side the river which was also a rafting site so I was surprised we found a parking spot so close. We peeled our legs off the front seat and headed down the bank to the water. Joey and the guys kicked the tubes out of the truck, rolled them into the water then flipped them several times until they cool enough to sit on. We stripped off our clothes down to our bathing suits and dove in the water. We noticed the majority of the rafters were coming out of the water. Crews changed every two hours so we didn't think much about it.
The three-day rain made the water colder than usual but anything was better than the heat bouncing off the pavement. We loaded the cooler on Joey's tube, which is more a raft, and got ourselves situated before pushing off. A man sitting on the bank yelled, "Hey, ya'll better be careful. The rivers pretty rough. You might want life jackets." "Thanks, we'll be Ok, Joey said as he pulled my tube towards him. Joey and I had a unique friendship. We weren't a couple but we did everything couples do so we always found a way to be ten feet behind everyone.
The cliffs along side the river made it look deeper and never-ending. Enjoying the solitude of having the river to ourselves; I closed my eyes, leaned my head back on the tube and kicked my feet in the water while Joey played with my hair. John cracked a beer and toasted the heavens. "Here's to the poor souls sweating their asses off on the mountain!" Van, being the youngest of the group; a former football player turned bouncer, thought it would be funny to flip Rene's tube. Needless to say, we cringed as she came up for air. Getting her hair wet was never a part of her plan. "You son of a bitch!" Her voice echoed against the cliffs. "Shhh", I said. "You shh. You aren't the one with water up her nose!" "No, be quiet. I hear something." It was a sound I will never forget. The bone crushing sound of a force so powerful, I couldn't speak. No one said anything. We just looked at each other, hoping someone would say we weren't hearing what we heard.
The water started to pick up. Rene's tube floated away from her and she was being pulled down river. The closer we got to the bend, the louder the sound. "Everyone off their tubes. Swim! Swim!", Joey screamed. Joey and I looked at each other for a split second then jumped in.
The tubes floated past us. Within seconds, they whipped around the bend. Sucked into the bowels of hell. I knew if I saw what was around the corner, it would be too late. I swam with every bit of strength I had.
Just before the bend, to the left of the river; there was a strip of land. Ten feet off that stood a herd of cows. A strange site for another state. Rene was almost to the bank. Van and John were a few feet behind her. Joey was about ten feet away. I was last. Seeing him in front of me made me swim harder. I didn't want to die, not alone, not without him.
The roaring was so loud and so close; I could barely hear Van yelling, "Swim faster. You've got to swim faster." I wish I could say his cheering helped but all I could picture was getting sucked into the water and being crushed against the jagged rocks. I saw Joey get to the bank. I definitely couldn't die now. I swam so hard, I couldn't feel my arms. When I made it to the bank, everyone collapsed. Joey put his arms around me and cried like a baby. No one cared that we were sitting in piles of cow shit, not even Rene. Once we caught our breaths, we got up and headed down river. The roaring got louder and then we saw it. No one said anything. We didn't have to. The river said it for us.
posted by Mainer at 4:37 PM
2 Comments:
So, why did you dread writing this?
You've done a nice job with a difficult writer's problem which is creating narrative out of nothing--nothing happened! You're writing a piece which basically ends "and we all lived happily ever after." That's always a challenge and you've handled it very well, creating suspense by simply recounting homely details: things like 'water mocs,' 'beauty queen,' 'ten feet behind' and so on keep the reader tense.
But all that is not why you dreaded it--why dread it? That's a good question for a course in creative nonfiction because one is always mining one's own experience.
I'm not a good story teller. After I read yours (I remembered yours from 101) and Jillian's, I didn't even know where to begin. I kept trying to tell a story then I'd throw it away. I got suffocated by the idea of it so I let it out of my mind and returned when I didn't feel the pressure.
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