Reaching Out

Jessie's story.

Reaching Out

 

I was careful not to let any water splash on me as I rowed out to the lake. The bitter November winds had just started, and the thin jacket I was wearing somehow seemed to barely cover my arms. Each pull of the oars chilled me a little more, and I eventually had to stop rowing so I could tuck my hands inside the sleeves of my jacket. I rubbed them together through the fabric and blew on them. When I was little I would have thought nothing of the cold. Why did it suddenly bother me so much?

 Not being especially careful, I pushed the boat as far as I could onto the sand with the oars so I wouldn’t have to step into the freezer beneath my feet.

In the winter the island lost its magic. The leaves were gone, and so was the coverage I came here for. In the winter, everything was exposed and lost. But I could still be alone. In the winter, no one came here to swim or mess around on my island. Not even Devin.

As I climbed, I couldn’t help but notice last week’s rain had nearly washed away his attempt at art. Not even art. Attempt at graffiti. I rolled my eyes at the remains of what was once a painted turtle.

I reached the top of the island and sat down at the base of my tree. In winter, it wasn’t really safe to be on the trees, especially after a rain storm. Andrew had learned that the hard way when he was five. The long drop into the freezing waves nearly paralyzed him. He never returned to the island after.

I picked a rock up off the ground and tossed it through the trees, watching as it splashed into the water a good distance from where I was sitting. This had always been a game of mine, seeing how far I could throw the rock. When I was younger, I hit the shore near our house once. I had never been able to do it again.

Still, I tried. Like a pitcher in a game of baseball, I threw it every way imaginable. The rock just wouldn’t seem to touch the shoreline, and I eventually gave up. Maybe playing baseball wasn’t in my future. I half-smiled at this, and then sat down.

Ironically, I probably had twice the muscle of any of the jock airheads at PCH. This thought powered me, and I found one last rock that ended up falling just a few feet short of the shore. I released a mild swear, and walked back to the cliff. I looked down into the water, and noticed the boat drifting off about twenty feet past the island. I ran to where the sand met the water uselessly, staring as it circled with the wind around the back of the island.

“F**k!” Yelling was kind of useless, so I stared up at the graying sky angrily.

My phone!

I pulled out my cell phone and flipped through my contacts. I was actually grateful I put Devin’s number in my phone, something I swore I wouldn’t do. I hadn’t let him put mine in his.

The number dialed, and I put the technological dinosaur up to my ear. Just before I thought there wasn’t going to be an answer, a familiar voice spoke.

“Hello? Who is this?” He sounded more confused than he should have been.

“Who do you think?” I rolled my eyes.

Before I could say anything else, “Oh, Jessie! Hey! What’s up?”  Way too excited to be talking to me. No one should be that excited to be talking to me. Not even him.

“What’s up?” I took a calming breath after a sarcastic question, “Devin, look outside.” I knew from the many conversations I unwillingly had with him that his room overlooked the island. ‘It’s really such a lovely view, Jessie.’ He had told me, ‘You know, people don’t really appreciate the little things they have.’

“Is that you, on the island?” He must have looked out the windows, though I didn’t see anything move in his windows.

“No, it’s Santa Clause you dimwit. Notice the lack of a sleigh.” If he was here, I would have glared at him. Due to the circumstances, I wasn’t granted that pleasure.

He said it slowly, “You mean boat.”

“No s**t.”

“And?”

“Come help me! I’m stuck out here and it looks like it’s about to rain!”

“Oh, right.” The line disconnected. I counted to fifty before I saw his figure outside, striding towards his rowboat. He couldn’t have been moving any slower if he tried. I watched every move as he climbed into the boat and began to row. His obvious lack of upper arm strength caused me to half laugh, and almost made the situation worth it.

Rain began to fall as he reached the island, “Hurry up, get in!” He had some nerve to be bossing me around.

I stepped into the freezing water, and ran quickly over to the rowboat. I slunk in, and he began to row again.

“You row like a girl.” I informed him. He shot me a look.

“I just saved your a*s,” he took a deep breath, “be more thankful.”

I gave him a disapproving look and a sarcastic, “Thanks.” He shrugged, and I counted the seconds until we reached shore. A mere minute and a half later, we reached the shore in front of his house. He stepped out, and then offered me his hand.

Against my better judgment, I took it.

Reviews

[Daydreamer54]

I'm thinking she's starting to warm up to nim, slowly but surely. ^^
I picked up a rock- instead of saying I picked up a rock off the ground. itt's too wordy.