Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Eek! (02/25/10)
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TITLE: The Waters Echo | Previous Challenge Entry
By Janice Samuelson
03/03/10 -
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July is one of my favorite months, I love the flowers in bloom, swimming in a lake or river, bar-b-ques, late nights where it is still warm, and the melodies of frogs and crickets filling the air. The fact that my birthday is in July does not impact my love for that month as much as most would think. My favorite thing in July as a kid was our annual trip to Lake Retreat Baptist Camp in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.
Being able to see the same friends every year was great. There were two friends in particular I spent time with, I was very shy but Stewart and Marida did not seem to mind that I was quiet in a group. I spent time one on one with either of them and occasionally the three of us together.
The summer I turned 14 was a year I will not forget. It was the year I was allowed to walk around the lake without my parents. The trip was just over three miles and most of the other kids my age were allowed the same freedom that year. We took advantage of our new found freedom and usually at night about ten o’clock we would walk around the lake in a large group of about 25-30 kids.
We felt safe in that number, about our fifth trip around the lake things changed a bit, all the boys accept Stewart decided to walk faster, about ten minutes later the girls decided to try and catch up with the boys. Accept Stewart, Marida and my self, we were in some deep conversations and finished them before Stewart decided to catch up with the guys.
Marida and I continued for about half of the trip by our selves a bit concerned about the dogs that were a problem at times. All of a sudden about 16 guys jumped out of the bushes on both sides of the road growling and yelling. Marida made a tiny eeek, turned and ran before she even knew what happened, I on the other hand stood there and screamed as loud as I could… after about 40 feet Marida turned back around and vented her anger on the guys, after my scream I was silent the rest of the trip walking escorted by the guys with Stewart close by knowing I did not handle the whole thing very well.
The next day at the dinner table there was an announcement; the camp could no longer allow people walking around the lake after 8:00pm. Apparently my scream was so loud it echoed across the water waking everyone including young children.
That was our last trip around the lake at night. We found other ways to entertain ourselves in the evening hours, and no screaming involved. I was relived, I did not want to make that trip again at night knowing at any moment someone could jump out of the bushes, the fact that my scream was heard offered a bit of reassurance but not enough, because no one responded to what they heard other than Stewart staying close to me the last mile of our late night walk. We never talked about it, but I was very thankful for Stewart’s sensitivity that night, it showed a depth of his character that I knew was deep inside.
It has been over 25 years since I have seen Stewart or Marida though I am sure they both still remember that final trip around Lake Retreat.
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Interesting story.
It was confusing to me at the beginning with the sentences about Accept Stewart, etc- that part did not make much sense to me. I think it could be revised and rewritten in a better sentence structure.
Otherwise, I liked the ending, a nice way to close the story.