The Hill Man’s Blogspot

Nightswimming

The fire’s lit and we’re all sitting around it watching our S’mores slowly roast. It’s summer Zach, Julia, Amy and I are waiting for summer to end. Waiting to start our freshman year at the high school. Darren sits laughing at us, telling us we’ll soon be wishing high school never started. We roast S’mores until one in the morning, the fire burns low, and it starts to get cold.  Amy starts a game of truth or dare, it goes on for a few minutes, everybody picking truth. Finally it’s my turn, “Truth or dare?” Darren asks me. I contemplate my choices. “Dare.” I reply, confident that what ever it is, it can’t be that bad. As Darren thinks, we all hear the lake in the background, calmly lapping at the shore, pushing the canoe against the dock. Darren’s laugh brings us back to the fire, “I dare you, to jump into the lake…” He says. All right, that’s not so bad. I say mentally. I may not be the best swimmer but the lake is shallow enough. “Naked.” He finishes with a cruel smirk on his face. Oh god. Naked. The lake. In the dark!?  I balk, “absolutely not” I say, no way am I getting in that lake alone, naked and in the dark. I look around the campfire waiting for Amy or Julia to back me up. They don’t.

We all trudge down to the lake. I can’t believe I am doing this. I’m in my bathing suit as I ease into the water. The moon’s reflection bounces as I send ripples running across the lake. The water’s warm, I feel the stones turn into mud as I get farther and farther away from the waterfront. Once I’m safe distance from the dock I strip. My bathing suit is around my ankles when Darren yells “Come on Amanda, I’ve got to see your bathing suit!” Asshole, I mutter as I take my bathing suit in my hand and wave it around in the air. As I look around the lake I relax a little bit. This isn’t as bad as I thought. My fears seem to dissolve into the lake as I float in its clear waters.

I hear a splash and two distinct laughs as Julia and Amy come out to join me. “We couldn’t let you have all the fun.” Amy says. I’m relieved that my friends have come out and joined me. We all float silently, watching the moon and stars above us make their way across the cloudless night sky. A rustling from the dock breaks the calm silence. We look over and to my horror there are Zach and Darren’s bare butts as they moon us. “Hey ladies, there are some full moons out tonight!” They yell out to us. We laugh and go back to looking at the night sky, our weightless bodies lolling in the water. We share last minute thoughts as Mr. Finn yells at us to get out of the water. As we wrap towels around our bodies we laugh and walk up to the house, all of us savoring the memory of our nightswimming.

Filed by Mr. Hillman at March 24th, 2008 under Confessions of Serial Teenager