Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: CHALLENGE (08/17/17)
-
TITLE: Almost Down But Not Out | Previous Challenge Entry
By Jack Taylor
08/23/17 -
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES
“We’ve got you scheduled for some time in our blue canoe this evening. The water will be perfect. The temperature will be just right. It’ll be so romantic. You want to go in our blue canoe, right?”
MY wife, Lizzy and I had never canoed together before and my friends didn’t remember to tell us that the canoe ride would come right between dinner and the evening meeting when 1000+ kids had nothing better to do than to hang out near the water. We hadn’t laughed together in years and this wasn’t the venue to begin.
We hiked down to the shore listening to instructions. “Just paddle out to the middle of the lake where all the ducks are. See if you can get to that far side where the big rocks are. Take your time. Of course, if you take on too much water then you might want to come back early. Ha, ha. “
“What about life jackets?”
“You don’t need life jackets,” they say… “no one else uses them – you’ll be fine – unless of course you get sucked into the dam. Ha ha.”
Lizzy delicately plopped herself into the front on a four-inch cushion that our friends provided for comfort. We pushed the canoe in a bit and then as I stepped into the canoe my wife noticed a trickle of water coming from the front. “There’s a leak,” she says.
“No, no,” our friends say. “We had friends here last week who went out for a wonderful paddle and there was nothing wrong with the blue canoe. It’s probably water from being tipped over. You’ll be fine.”
So we pushed off.
“What great friends we have,” I say. “Who would put up with us for two weeks and let us use their blue canoe, their mountain bikes, and their Frisbee golf?”
The clouds spun across the sky like pink cotton floss. The campers were well behind us. A few picnickers along the shore line ogled us but we were a good ways out. I tried to relax, take in the cool evening breeze, revel in God’s creation, feel the peace. The paddling was slow and easy - apart from the reeds we got sucked toward and apart from the dam drainage current, we tried to fight against.
We tried to jump start a discussion about where we stood with each other. It was easier to focus on the hundreds of dead pine trees lining the thinning forest around us. I worked up the courage to apologize for our last conversation.
About that time I felt a little dampness on the seat of my pants. I looked down and 6 inches of water sloshed in the bottom. My running shoes were submerged up to the ankles. My jeans sucked up water like a vacuum.
“Honey,” I say. “There’s water everywhere back here. We’re sinking. We need to paddle back to shore.” My wife, the love of my life, who I’m sacrificing for to go on this romantic ride in the blue canoe – this very woman begins to laugh and laugh.
All I can say is this was no longer a romantic cruise.
Sitting in the middle of a lake with no life jackets in a sinking canoe can give you adrenaline.
I set down my paddle and began to use my hands to scoop water out as fast as I could and all Lizzy did is complain that I’m splashing her. I finally pick up the paddle and say. “We’ve got to get back to shore fast.” So we paddled like we’re the Titanic going down. She laughed all the way.
I saw my friends on shore walking toward us as we approached the shore a lot slower than I hoped. They could hear Lizzy laughing and they assumed we were having a good time. All I thought about is what it looked like with the seat of my jeans completely sopped and the bottom half down to my shoes soaked.
I cannot tell you how many excuses our friends had for how this had never happened before. They admitted they picked up the blue canoe in the 1970’s to give it a second chance. All I know from that adventure is that we too got a second chance.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
Accept Jesus as Your Lord and Savior Right Now - CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
Blessings~
See what you could do with this story with only truthful statements by the couple's friends. It is a very amusing situation, even if possibly a dangerous example by not demanding life jackets.