Saltwater Summer

by Rich Eubanks

Chapter One

“The final will take the entire hour so everyone be in your seats and

ready tomorrow when the bell rings. Anybody late will not be allowed in

the room and will have to take a make-up exam which will be much harder.”

She wasn’t kidding either. We all knew that Mrs. Bonnell had two

finals ready and the second one would be impossible for even me to pass.

And, I was good at math. As I got up and started out of the room I heard

Nancy hurrying up behind me.

“Dennis, wait up a minute.”

Nancy Fuller was the most beautiful girl in the school. Her natural

sandy-blond hair was what other girls spent hours trying to duplicate. She

did complain about being too tall but I thought she was perfect. Even

though she was almost as tall as I was. She was head cheerleader, had been

the homecoming queen, and was still just a junior like me. I turned and

looked into her beautiful smiling blue eyes and imagined again what it must

be like to have her for a girlfriend and envied Steve Nelson. I guess I

should’ve been happy that she considered me a friend, even though I knew

she probably only did because I had helped her study for the past couple of

years.

“Dennis, can we study together tonight? I’ll buy the pizza. Please?

I have to pass this final or I won’t pass the course. Please, please?”

“OK, sure, what time do you want to come over Nancy?”

“Oh, Dennis, you are so sweet. Thanks...,really, I appreciate it.

I’ll come over whenever you want. Thanks Dennis.”

How could I possibly have said no? She never let on that she was just

using me and it made me feel proud to have her always talking with me in

the hallways. I never let her know that I would like for her to be more

than a friend. What good would it do anyway? I was lucky enough to have

her for a friend, even if only because she needed my help studying.

As we walked down the hallway I could see the envious looks from all

of the other boys. It was no wonder that Nancy was so popular. She was

not only beautiful, but she was so sincerely nice to everyone. She smiled

and spoke to every student in the hall and they all said hi to us both. I

doubt that anyone would have known my name if it weren’t for Nancy.

“Hey, guy. Are you trying to get my squeeze again?”

Steve Nelson was a senior and was as muscled out as any pro football

player. He was only a couple of inches taller than me, at six-two or so,

but he gave the appearance of being much bigger. And his dark black hair

and thick black eyebrows gave him that caveman tough look. I think it

would have made me feel good, even if a little frightened, if he’d been

serious but I knew he was kidding. He had even referred to me as Nancy’s

brother before and never seemed jealous about us being together so much.

“Don’t call her a squeeze, Steve. It sounds so degrading.”

I hated the way he took her for granted. I know he didn’t mean

anything by it but it bothered me, even if she didn’t mind.

“Sorry, guy. I don’t want to make little brother mad at me.” Steve

then turned to Nancy. “What do you say we go to a movie or something

tonight?”

“I can’t. I’ve already got a date.” Nancy grabbed hold of my arm and

leaned into me as she answered Steve.

“Oh, I see, a little brotherly love huh?”

Steve knew good and well that we were probably going to be studying

together tonight and didn’t seem the least bit concerned. I think I

would’ve liked him to show a little bit of jealousy, just once. He was

always just so sure of himself.

He didn’t ever really need to study, and not because he was smart

either. He somehow always managed a passing grade as long as he kept

passing. The football, that is. But I had to admit that I enjoyed having

our school always win too. And it was neat that I was thought to be one of

Steve’s friends because of Nancy.

We all three walked together until I had to take a different hallway

to my last class.

“I’ll see you tonight, Nancy. Bye, Steve.”

“What time?” Nancy asked as Steve was leading her away down the hall.

“How about seven?” I yelled.

“OK, I’ll be there. Thanks again, Dennis.”

I had offered many times to go to her house and would really like to

meet her family but she had always insisted that it wouldn’t be right for

me to be inconvenienced. As if being with her could ever be an

inconvenience. Besides, she had a car and I didn’t.

I was still thinking about Nancy while I took my English final. It

was a good thing that I was good at English or I would have probably made

my first “F”. But as usual I finished first and after turning my test in,

sat and daydreamed about Nancy. I thought about her coming over that night

and studying. In my daydream she was more than just a study companion and

I practically fell out of my chair when the bell rang and brought me back

to reality. When I got home I told Mom that Nancy was coming over to study

and helped her clean, again, an already clean house. She knew how I felt

about Nancy and liked her a lot too. Mom was always telling me that she

could tell that Nancy really liked me. I just couldn’t explain to Mom that

Nancy was nice to everyone and was in love with Steve Nelson. Mom was just

so close to me since Dad died four years ago. She made herself believe

that I was the most likable boy in school. And I enjoyed her admiration

even though I knew better.

When the doorbell rang I had to catch myself to keep from opening the

door too fast. I didn’t want Nancy to know that I had been standing by the

door looking for her since six thirty. It rang again and I opened it.

“Hi, Dennis.” Nancy walked in, gave me a quick hug, and continued,

“Hello, Mrs. Stevens.”

“Hi there, Nancy, you sure look pretty tonight.” Mom was smiling as

she looked at Nancy.

“Oh thanks, Mrs. Stevens, but you don’t have to fib, I must really

look terrible. My mom was cleaning house when I got home from school and I

got trapped into helping and didn’t have time to really clean up and still

make it here on time.”

“Well, I still think you look pretty. But then, you always look

pretty. Doesn’t she, Dennis?”

What could I say without embarrassing myself and Nancy? Of course she

always looked pretty. In fact, I thought she always looked beautiful.

Nancy had brought pizza as usual. We fixed something to drink, put

the pizza and our books on the kitchen table, and as usual Mom disappeared.

Then we started studying. Nancy was a lot smarter than she thought. I

think she was convinced she wasn’t so smart because cheerleaders weren’t

supposed to be pretty and smart too. But, it never took very long before

she learned everything when we studied together. Or maybe I was simply a

better teacher than the ones at school. Whatever. Anyway, it wasn’t long

before we were laughing and eating the rest of the pizza.

“Why in the world did you take Trig anyway, Nancy?” I just couldn’t

understand why someone who had trouble with math would take something that

hard.

“I was beginning to wish that I hadn’t,” Nancy got a serious look on

her face as she spoke, “but now that it’s almost done I’m glad I did. I

need all the math I can understand if I’m going to be able to pass entrance

exams next year.”

“Oh, Nancy,” I smiled at her concerned expression. Whenever Nancy got

worried or serious she got this little dimple to show just under her eyes,

“you’re going to pass the college entrance.”

“But you don’t understand, Dennis,” Nancy continued quite seriously,

“I can’t just pass to get in. I’ve got to make a really good score. I’m

not a football player like Steve or an honor roll student like you that

every college wants. And, they don’t give scholarships for cheerleading

you know.”

I hadn’t really thought about it before but she was right. My only

concern was getting into the right school…, the school that I wanted. I’d

been working to get into Engineering at MIT and Nancy was just trying to

get into a college.

“I wonder why they don’t give a scholarship to the cheerleaders?” I

caught myself and stopped a little abruptly hoping I didn’t sound like I

was making fun. “Really, cheerleaders are athletic and needed just like

the sports teams and the band.”

“I don’t think they give scholarships to the band either, Dennis.

They have music scholarships but not for the band in specific.” Nancy was

smiling now and made me feel more relaxed. “Scholarships are for guys like

Steve who’ll make the school some money or people like you who’ll make the

school proud.”

“Thanks, Nancy.” I knew that my face was turning red. I could feel

the heat of the blood and knew that I probably looked like a ten year old

boy right now even though there wasn’t a mirror to confirm it. “But you’ll

make any school proud too. And, you’re going to make a great doctor

someday as well.”

“Well, I just need to first get into college,” Nancy smiled as she

spoke, “second get my bachelor’s, and then hope I can get into pre-med and

maybe med school. But if I’m never a real doctor I’ll be happy in whatever

part of medicine I wind up in.”

“And you’ll be good at it too, Nancy.” And I knew that she would.

“Some of us are planning on going to Lawrence Harbor this weekend to

celebrate the end of school. Why don’t you come with us?” Nancy said

changing the subject.

“Naw, I don’t think I can...” I knew she was only being grateful and I

didn’t want to be in the way even though I would love to go. Lawrence

Harbor was a fishing port and I always enjoyed going there. It was such a

pretty little village and I’d always enjoyed fishing.

“Oh, come on, Dennis, it’ll be fun, and besides, Jane Dixon wanted me

to ask you. I think she likes you and she doesn’t have a date.”

Jane Dixon was one of Nancy’s friends. I had dated several of Nancy’s

friends and they were all really cute. It had been one of the fringe

benefits of being friends with Nancy. I think they liked me because Nancy

liked me and I treated them nice. If they only knew. I just wasn’t

interested in being romantic with anyone because I really only liked Nancy.

I think a lot of girls liked to go out with a boy that they felt safe with

and didn’t have to worry about being attacked the whole date. Jane was

cute, although I wondered if Nancy had just made up the fact that she had

asked about me. It did sound like fun though.

“Well, OK, I’d like to go.”

“Great, I’ll tell Jane tomorrow at school and we’ll get together after

school to make arrangements. It’ll be a lot of fun.”

“I’m sure it will be,” I was thinking more about spending the day with

Nancy than with Jane as I spoke, “I’m looking forward to it, Nancy.”

“Hey, it’s getting late and I need to get home,” Nancy was looking at

the clock on the wall as she spoke, “and I need to let you get some rest

too Dennis. Thank you for being so sweet and helping me.”

“My pleasure.” I smiled not only at Nancy, but also to myself as I

repeated. “My pleasure, Nancy.”

Nancy got her books and left. I watched as she walked down the

sidewalk to her car and wished that Jane were going to be Steve’s date.

Chapter Two

Nancy and I were walking by the shore holding hands. It was twilight

and we could see the first stars in the eastern sky. The moon was just

becoming visible and it’s light was shining in Nancy’s blue eyes. We

hadn’t been talking. There seemed to be nothing that needed saying.

Suddenly, without any noticeable provocation, Nancy turned to me, and

moving so close against me that I could feel her heart beating against

mine, she kissed me. I felt her warm lips against my own trembling lips

and shared her warmth. We held each other and explored our mutual emotions

of a newly found love for what seemed an eternity. It was getting darker

now but we had no need for light. Our total beings were aware of each

other and there was no need to see our surroundings. I was suddenly

startled by the shrill sound of what must be a ship’s horn, but it was much

too shrill, and it continued with relentless persistence. As I opened my

eyes I became aware of it’s true identity, and felt such a total loss.

This had only been another dream. My beautiful Nancy was no longer with me

and I hurriedly quieted the shrill screaming of my alarm. Why do your best

dreams always occur just before time to wake up? Just once I wish my

dreams of Nancy could start right after I went to sleep and allow me to

savor them throughout the entire night.

“Good morning, sweetheart, how did the studying go?”

“It didn’t take long, Mom, Nancy is really a lot smarter than she

thinks. We were finished not long after you went to bed.”

“I know, I wasn’t asleep when she left. Did I hear her inviting you

to the harbor this weekend?”

“Yea, she got me a date with Jane Dixon, a friend of hers.”

“Oh, Dennis, I’m so sorry, I thought it was with her.”

“Mom, you know she’s going steady with Steve. We’re just good

friends.”

“Well for now maybe that’s true, Dennis,” Mom looked straight into my

eyes with one of her extra serious expressions, “but I really think Nancy

likes you a lot more than you think, or she really knows.”

“I wish you were right, Mom,” I replied in almost a whisper, “I sure

wish you were right.”

I ate breakfast and rode to school with Mom. It was always better

than riding the bus, so I liked it when she’d drop me off on her way to

work. The bus never got there until class was just about to start and I

liked being there early. It was really lucky for us that she’d gotten a

job with the school system after Dad died. And, even neater when the

school system let her transfer to the office at the high school I went to.

Plus, her hours were almost the same as mine.

“You have a wonderful day, Dennis.” Mom leaned over to kiss me before

we got out of the car.

“You too, Mom,” I kissed her on the cheek and felt her kiss me on

mine, “wish me luck on the final.”

“I’m sure you’ll do just fine, honey,” Mom smiled and then continued,

“and luck has nothing to do with it.”

I went to my locker and started to get my first period books, then

remembered that I didn’t need them. The only thing I really had to do

today was take my last final in fifth period. I closed my locker and was

turning to leave.

“Hi, Dennis, Nancy told me you’re going with us tomorrow.”

“Well hi, Jane, yea, I think it’ll be fun.”

Jane was a pretty girl. I don’t have any idea why she didn’t have a

date though. She must be between boyfriends or something. She not only

had a pretty face but also a near perfect figure. She was on the school

swim team and kept so fit. She had such pretty dark-copper skin that was

the same flawless shade all over. I should have been flattered to have a

date with her. We walked down the hall and talked about really nothing

until we had to split up to go to our separate classes.

The morning was fairly uneventful. Even the teachers seemed excited

about school being almost over. We had to come back Monday and Tuesday but

there wasn’t really anything to do except make-up work for whoever needed

it. As planned, I met Nancy for lunch. We spent the whole hour reviewing

for the Trig final. She told me that she had talked to Jane and that Jane

had seemed so excited about me going. Nancy was sweet.

After fourth period, which was nothing more than a desktop football

tournament, I met Nancy on the way to Mrs. Bonnell’s room.

“I’m so nervous, Dennis. I just know I’ll bomb the test.”

“If you bomb it then I guess I will too. You know as much about it as

I do, and I plan on making a good grade. Just relax and take it one

problem at a time.”

We went in and, as promised, it started immediately. It was tough, but

luckily, I had guessed what almost every problem on the test would be. I

glanced over at Nancy and could see a smile on her face. She must have

thought that I had seen the test before hand. Normally getting a good

grade is enough reward for anticipating the test questions. But my reward

on this one was much better. Just seeing the pleased expression on Nancy’s

face was priceless.

I waited in the hall until Nancy finished, then when she came out she

threw her arms around me and gave me a kiss right on the lips. I

immediately remembered my dream but against every fiber in my trembling

body kept the kiss short and held back the urge to put my arms around her

and hug her tight.

“Ooh, Dennis, thank you. I know I passed. In fact I’ll bet I made at

least a C or maybe even a B.”

“Heck, I’ll bet we both aced it, Nancy. I can’t believe how many of

the problems were exactly what I had thought they‘d be.”

“Dennis, you’re wonderful. I’ve got to go meet Steve now but remember

we’re meeting on the patio after fifth hour to plan for tomorrow. See you

then. Thanks again, Dennis.”

I had never cheated on a test in my life. Well, I did see an answer

once on the chalkboard behind a teacher and used it a long time ago but

that wasn’t really cheating or copying from anyone. If I could have Nancy

hug and kiss me I think I would break into the school and steal every test

she had to take from now on though. My lips still tingled as I walked to

my last class.

School had been scheduled to be dismissed early today. I guess there

were no finals being given in sixth period. I went to my locker and put my

stuff up, then headed for the patio. When I arrived I found out that it

was just going to be Nancy, Steve, Jane, me, and two other couples going.

Steve had gotten his folk’s van so we could all go in one vehicle. He was

going to pick everyone up between six and six-thirty in the morning. It

was about an hours drive and we could be on the bay by eight. We didn’t

talk that long because everyone was anxious to get home and get ready for

an early start in the morning.

When I got home I decided to get my stuff ready so I wouldn’t forget

anything in the morning. I went to the garage and got out my rod and reel.

I checked my tackle box and grabbed the minnow bucket. Back in my room I

got the first-aid kit that I had bought for the hiking trip Mom and I had

gone on last summer. I looked through the closet and decided on what I

would wear and noticed my rain poncho in the back of the closet. It wasn’t

supposed to rain but I decided it wouldn’t hurt to take it anyway. I put

everything but the rod and tackle box in my gym bag and even threw in a

couple of extra baseball caps in case anyone forgot to bring something to

keep the sun off their faces. The reflection of the sun on the water can

really give you a headache. I was sure excited about the trip even though

I wished Nancy were going to be my date and Jane, Steve’s.

I glanced in the mirror over my desk and saw my reddish-brown hair and

the freckles under my hazel eyes and envied Steve’s more macho look. I

knew I wasn’t that bad looking but I thought I looked like a little kid. I

wondered if I’d ever start looking like a man, like Steve did.

“Hi, Dennis,” I heard Mom’s voice and the garage door closing, “you in

there?”

“In here, Mom,” I yelled over the obnoxious grinding sound of the

overhead door of the garage closing, “just getting my stuff ready for

tomorrow.”

“Well it sure looks like you’re prepared.” Mom smiled at all the

stuff I had out on my bed as she entered the room.

“Hey, better to be prepared than regretful.” I grinned as I spoke.

“Absolutely!” Mom patted me on the shoulder. “You sound just like

your Dad.”

I’d never really thought about it before but I guess I did imitate Dad

a little. And that was one of his expressions. As much as I’d missed him

I know that Mom must have been heartbroken when he died in that stupid car

accident. Sometimes life just isn’t fair at all.

“I’ll go fix something for you to take to eat tomorrow, honey.” Mom

turned to leave my room as she spoke.

“Thanks, Mom,” I quickly answered, “but the girls said they’d bring

plenty of sandwiches and stuff.”

“How sweet,” Mom grinned with a twinkle in her green eyes, “Tell me

about your date, Dennis.”

“She’s not really my date, Mom,” I thought about what I’d just said

and realized that technically I was wrong but continued, “Jane Dixon is

just going with all of us.”

“Well, what’s she like anyway, honey?” Mom looked like she was really

interested.

“She’s really cute, Mom,” I answered and decided not to go into

needless details, “She’s on the swim team, makes good grades, and is really

nice. But, this isn’t anything like a real date.”

“I know, honey,” Mom put her hand on my shoulder, “I just want you to

have a good time.”

Chapter Three

The alarm went off but I was already awake. It’s odd how no matter

what time I set it for I usually wake up just before it goes off. Except

when I’m in the middle of a good dream.

I was as quiet as possible taking a shower so I wouldn’t wake Mom. I

got dressed, double checked my gym bag, and went to the kitchen.

“Good morning, Dennis, I’ve just about got breakfast ready.”

“I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You didn’t, I had my alarm set. You didn’t think I was going to let

you go off without having breakfast did you?”

And I suppose I didn’t. She would’ve been sick all day if I had

quietly sneaked out without getting her up. We ate a large breakfast and I

was thinking of double-checking the things I was taking along when I heard

the van pull into the drive. Steve must have come by here first because it

was only five forty five. I grabbed my gym bag, rod, tackle-box, minnow

bucket, and started out the door.

“Dennis, just a minute, fella. Didn’t you forget something?” Mom was

standing with her arms crossed looking at me sternly.

I quickly checked the stuff in my hands, and then it dawned on me. I

stepped back in the hall and gave her a big kiss on the cheek.

“We might be kind of late so don’t worry.”

“I won’t, sweetheart, just have a good time. Bye now.”

It was still very dark and the headlights of the van ruined what

little vision I had. Blinded by the glare I rounded the front of the van

and opened the passenger door.

“Hey! Are you planning on sitting on my lap?”

Nancy was in the passenger seat and was laughing at me. I was a

little embarrassed and quickly shut her door and opened the side door and

got in. I went to the back and put my things behind the rear couch and

came back to the chair behind Steve.

“Did you guys watch the weather?”

“No why?” Steve and Nancy said almost in unison.

“Well, there’s a storm coming in but they said it shouldn’t be to the

coast until fairly late this evening. It’s really going to be nice and

warm all day though.”

“Is it supposed to be warm enough to swim, Dennis?” Steve asked.

“They said about eighty but I don’t know how warm the water is. It

might not be that warm yet. But as tough as you jocks are I’m sure you

won’t mind.”

Nancy laughed. She always enjoyed me ribbing Steve. I don’t think I

would have dared if I didn’t know he’d let me get away with it. Besides,

he considered being called a dumb jock a compliment anyway. Steve really

wasn’t that dumb. He passed the S.A.T. and you couldn’t cheat, or be

helped, on it. He had gotten a football scholarship to State and would

most likely be the starting quarterback there next fall unless they decided

to red-shirt him for some reason.

We stopped at Julie’s house next and then Teresa’s. Rod and Ben met

us at Teresa’s house to save time. When we got to Jane’s house the van was

already pretty full. I was still in the seat behind Steve and Rod was in

the seat beside the side door with Ben, Julie, and Teresa on the back

couch.

“Here, Jane, I’ll climb in the back with my date.” Rod started to get

up and move.

“No, Rod, that’s OK, I’ll just sit on my beach bag on the floor.”

Jane put her beach bag on the floor between the captain’s chairs in

the center row of seats and handed another bag to Julie who put it behind

the couch. She was sitting lower than Rod and me and leaned over with her

arm on my leg.

“Just say if I’m hurting your leg, Dennis.”

“Naw, heck it’s fine.” I answered. In fact it felt rather good. I

couldn’t help thinking how she was almost as cute as Nancy.

I felt a little left out of the conversation and I think Jane and

Nancy did too. We were all three juniors and the rest were graduating.

The topic of conversation was commencement tomorrow and graduation Monday

night.

The five of them were almost finished planning their lives by the time

we arrived at Lawrence Harbor. We drove by the old houses, through the

town square and up the hill that led to the bay. The sun was shining on

the water and it looked beautiful as we topped the hill that overlooked the

bay. It was fairly large and we could see the ocean past the small

entrance to the bay itself. No matter how many times I see the ocean I’m

always humbled by its magnitude. I think everyone in the van felt the same

way because all of their talking stopped at the same moment.

“Makes you feel a little small, doesn’t it?” Steve broke the silence

and everyone agreed.

Steve had called and reserved the boats at one of the piers and knew

where to go. We all got out and were stretching our sore limbs as Steve

went in to get the manager. We were unloading our stuff when Steve

returned with a man who looked like he’d spent his first seventy or eighty

years at sea. He led us to a dock near the marina where some old boats

were tied.

“Now these may not look like much, kids, but I guar-on-tee-ya they be

the safest crafts ya’ll ever be on. I sat aboard one ‘a them nigh on a

week once in a gale ‘an it kept me afloat ‘till me whaler came to.”

I had to agree, they didn’t look like much. Each one was about

eighteen to twenty feet long, made out of old wood with a deep v-hull and

about six feet across at the top. They were completely open with two

benches built in. Each one had oars and oarlocks and a small outboard motor

that looked as old as the boats. Inside the boat was a gas can and some old

life jackets that were pretty filthy.

“Now, ya’ll, can all ‘a fit in one’s no problem, but I reckon, ya’ll,

ought to split up to two. It’s not about to scuttle with the weight but

ye’d be a more a’comforting with the extra room.

We paid for two and Steve, Nancy, Jane, and I put our stuff in one and

the other two couples took the other one. I watched as Rod yanked on the

starter rope of the old motor on their boat until it finally started. They

pulled out and headed for the marina to get gas and minnows. I pulled the

rope on ours until I thought I would drop, but it just wouldn’t crank.

Steve switched places with me and he pulled and pulled too. Finally after

taking turns I think we had warmed the motor up by our arm-power and it

sputtered, spit, and then, smoking profusely, jumped into action. I

steered with the tiller arm, sitting on the rear bench with Jane,

maneuvering the boat to the marina. We filled the motor’s gas tank and

bought minnows for the two buckets. The girls went inside and filled the

ice-chest with soda and ice. I had left the motor running, just in case,

and as we were pulling away from the marina, the old man shouted above the

engine’s sputtering.

“Now, ya’lls, be rememberin they’s a storm out yonder. It’s ‘a-gon-na

cause some plenty strong currents and undertows. It be a real nice-ity day

but the nice-ity weather can shore deceive ya’ll. Sailor’s luck to ya’ll.”

As we headed out into the bay in the direction of the other boat we

laughed about how the old man had talked.

“I wonder if he’s ever really been on a ship in his life?” Steve

sneered a little as he spoke.

“Oh, I’m sure he’s been around fishing and the ocean a lot.” Jane

thought a second then added, “Just look at him. You don’t get that rough

looking sitting behind a desk somewhere.”

“Well I think he’s cute in a cartoon sort of way,” Nancy was searching

for the right words then continued, “sort of like Popeye.”

“Well, he certainly was a character wasn’t he?” I thought a second

then added. “I guess you need to become a bit of an actor to run a place

like that don’t you?”

“I still think he’s cute.” Nancy elbowed Steve as she spoke but he

didn’t understand that she was teasing him to make him jealous.

Chapter Four

“Ahoy, mates! How be the fishing?” Nancy yelled out as we approached

the other boat.

The four in the other boat were laughing about something as they

steered their boat up next to ours. We used the bow ropes and tied the

boats together.

“These girls won’t let us stick the hooks through the minnows.” Ben

looked concerned as he spoke.

“Well, they’re just babies, and they deserve to live, not to be

stabbed and given to the big fish.” Julie responded very seriously.

Julie had never been fishing before and it was really bothering her

even though everyone else was laughing at her. I felt sorry for her but I

wanted to fish too. I hoped she wouldn’t have a miserable day. Rod put

his arm around her and they moved to the front of their boat and ignored

the rest of us. It was still sort of chilly and I think his concern and

the warmth of his arm around her helped a little.

“What you don’t know won’t bother you, Julie,” Ben teased. “Just keep

looking the other way while we bait the hooks.”

Ben and Teresa baited two of the hooks and let them sink into the

water. I baited mine and Jane’s and we dropped them over the side of our

boat. Nancy was getting some cups out and Steve was helping her pour some

hot chocolate into them. They started handing them out to everyone. The

water on the bay was just as smooth as glass and the morning sun was

reflecting off the water and appeared as though it was marking a trail

exactly toward our boats. Jane moved over closer to me and put her arm

through my arm for warmth. I have to admit that I was very comfortable

with her being so close even though I couldn’t keep my eyes off Nancy

sitting across from me. Nancy had worn old baggy pants and a flannel shirt

that must have been her dad’s, but she was still the most beautiful girl

there.

“What kind of fish are we trying to catch?” Jane asked me breaking my

trance.

“I don’t know,” I answered trying to decide myself, “I’m not sure

exactly what fish are in this bay. I’ve never fished in the ocean before.

I’ve been here several times but never to fish.”

“Steve, you’ve been here before haven’t you? What are we going to

catch?” Nancy asked.

“I thought Dennis had been before.” Steve replied, “Rod, Ben, do you

know what to catch?”

They admitted that their knowledge of fishing was limited to bass and

catfish and we all broke out in laughter. Even Julie forgot about her

concern for the minnows and laughed with us.

It didn’t really matter because, even though something kept getting

the minnows, nobody caught a fish all morning. We talked and laughed,

having a good time, but no one caught any fish.

When the sun was just about overhead we broke out the food. Jane

passed sodas around to everyone while the other girls got out sandwiches.

The smell of the ocean had made everyone hungry but even as much as we ate,

there was plenty left. I think each of the girls had made enough

sandwiches for everyone. When we had all had enough to eat the girls put

what was left in their sacks. Between just Nancy and Jane we had enough

left for all eight of us to have another meal.

“It doesn’t look like there are any fish to scare so I’m turning on

the radio.” Nancy spoke as she pulled a small radio out of her beach bag.

She turned it on and was searching for a station that played good music.

“Leave it there, Nancy,” Jane spoke up, “I like that song. It’s my

favorite dance song. I can always almost see the dancers from the video

when I hear it.”

The music played louder as Nancy turned it up.

“Yeah, me to,” Steve added, “That’s the video where the girls are

practically stripping to the music.”

Jane grinned at all of us as she cautiously stood up. With the boat

rocking, making it hard for her to keep her balance, she started to dance

to the music. We all applauded, not only for her dancing but also for her

ability to stand up at all in the boat.

“Anybody for a swim?” Jane asked as she pulled her sweats off from

over her swimming suit.

“Sounds pretty good to me.” Steve answered, “It’s starting to get

pretty hot now.”

“OK, Steve, watch it now.” Nancy said as she gave him a dirty look.

“I mean the weather, not Jane…,” then Steve looked at Jane and added,

“not that you weren’t sexy, and cute, but…”

“Give it up, Steve,” Ben laughed as he spoke, “you’re just digging

your grave deeper.”

“Yeah, and it’ll be a burial at sea.” I added and everyone laughed.

We had been drifting and were only a couple hundred yards from a small

beach area on the bay. Steve was still taking his jeans off from over his

own swimming suit when Jane stood straight up ready to dive.

“I’ll race you to the beach, Steve.” She yelled as she launched out

of the boat and into the water.

Steve almost fell out of the boat when his jeans got tangled around

his feet but managed to get them off and dove in after her. He was so

competitive. It would kill him to lose but I didn’t think he had a chance.

Jane was the best swimmer in school, boys or girls team, and had a twenty

or thirty foot head start. We untied the boats and after a few tugs on the

starting rope Rod had theirs going. I tugged and tugged but ours wouldn’t

start. Nancy and I sat and watched as Jane was leaving Steve behind.

Finally Ben turned around and saw us still in the same place and pointed

back at us talking to Rod. Rod turned their boat around and they came back

and grabbed our bow rope and pulled us to the beach.

When we pulled the boats to the shore Steve and Jane were arguing.

“It wasn’t a fair race,” Steve was saying, “You had a head start.”

“I could beat you if you had a head start, Steve. You may be good at

football, but I can out-swim you on your best day.”

Steve was really muscular and could run awfully fast, but Jane was the

best swimmer. Standing there on the beach they looked like quite a pair.

Both had well formed muscular bodies and I couldn’t help but think how they

made a “perfect couple”. Plus, that would leave Nancy for me! We all

stripped to our bathing suits and laid some towels on the beach. The water

was still too cold for the rest of us so it was just Steve and Jane, who

kept racing back and forth in the water near the beach. The radio was

playing and the sun felt good.

“Seems more like you and I are together more than Steve and I doesn’t

it?” Nancy nudged me with her elbow as she spoke.

“He’s just really competitive, Nancy,” I was covering for Steve but

really would rather burn him for ignoring Nancy, “He’s not flirting with

Jane.”

“Well, either way it’s fine with me,” Nancy put her hand through my

arm and leaned against me as we sat beside each other on the beach, “I’ve

got a great guy to be with myself.”

I didn’t know what to say and really didn’t want to say anything

anyway. I just enjoyed the moment and pretended that Nancy was my

girlfriend, and that we were all alone on that beach.

“Hey we’re out of soda.” Ben’s voice broke my daydream as he dug

through the ice in the ice chest.

“I need to go to the girls room.” Julie said.

“Me too.” Teresa added.

“Let’s head back to the marina and re-supply,” Rod spoke as he was

walking towards their boat, “anyone else need to go?”

“I’m fine right here.” I blurted out a little too quickly. But I was

fine. More than fine with Nancy so close to me.

“I’m OK too. You guys go ahead and we’ll wait for you here.” Nancy

yelled at the boat.

Rod got into the boat with the other three and said that they’d be

back. They started their little motor and headed towards the marina to get

more soda and use the restrooms.

Steve and Jane were still in the water having a good time racing and

splashing each other. Nancy and I were sitting on the beach watching.

“Are you still planning on going with Steve…, I mean next year…, what

with him away at college?” I was stammering and almost wishing that I’d

not even started this conversation now.

“I haven’t even thought about it. Why? Why do you ask, Dennis?”

Nancy gave me a puzzled look.

“Oh, I don’t know, Nancy, just curious I guess.”

“Well I suppose I will. We haven’t really talked about it. We’ve

been dating for so long now that I guess I just assumed we would. Why? Do

you think he’ll want to date someone else in college? Has he said

something to the guys about that?”

“No…, no, Nancy, not at all. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“Dennis, if he does then he does. I like Steve. I like him a lot,

but I don’t think we’ll ever get married or anything. He’s way too into

sports right now and I don’t think that I’m part of his long-range plans.

Anyway, he just might not be part of mine either. I just might start

dating someone else myself next year. Maybe you and I will go steady. Who

knows?”

I knew she was just talking without really thinking but it sure made

me feel good. If I thought I had a chance to go steady with Nancy I’d

spend my whole summer practicing football and work at getting muscular.

Even though it didn’t interest me at all, I’d do it for her. If that’s

what she liked. If that’s what it would take to have her for my

girlfriend.

“Well, I guess I’d better start practicing throwing a football then.”

I spoke without realizing it.

“You don’t have to be a football star, Dennis. You’re just fine the

way you are.” She was smiling so sweetly as she spoke. I started leaning

toward her and our faces were getting close together. Our eyes were

centered on each other’s and at that moment it seemed as though we were the

only two on the beach. Then it all ended suddenly.

“Did you see me?” Steve was running toward us with Jane walking

behind. “I finally beat her. I won the last race.”

“Aw, I let you win so you’d quit.” Jane said smirking at Steve, “I

was getting tired of swimming.”

They dried off and joined us on the beach. It wasn’t long before we

saw the others coming back in the other boat. They were all yelling and

sounded real excited as they beached. Rod was holding up a fairly large

fish.

“We were trolling with the line out behind the boat on the way back

and I caught it.” Rod was yelling excitedly.

“I think it’s called a redfish,” Ben said, “If so, they’re supposed to

be really good to eat.”

Even Julie seemed excited and wanted to go catch some more. I guess

the spirit of the moment had won her over. They gave us half of the sodas

and said that we should have a fishing tournament. And if we caught enough

we could have a fish fry tomorrow. The losers had to clean all the fish

and do the cooking. They climbed back into their boat and took off onto the

bay again.

“They won’t catch more than us.” Steve sounded very serious as he put

the sodas in the ice chest and loaded the rest of our things back into the

boat. “Come on, let’s get going.”

Steve began pulling the starter rope as I pushed off the beach. He

pulled and pulled to no avail. Then we switched places and I pulled until

I was red in the face.

Finally Jane asked if she could try and it started on her second pull.

Steve was shocked and I couldn’t help laughing at the insulted look on his

face.

“You just can’t out-do a girl can you, Steve?” Nancy was joking but

Steve didn’t laugh.

“Just luck, Nancy,” Steve’s sarcastic tone of voice gave away his

obvious displeasure with Nancy’s ribbing, “Jane was just lucky and it would

have started for anyone on that pull of the rope.”

We let out two baited lines behind the boat and chugged out across the

bay. The two little motors only pushed the boats about the speed of a fast

walk and as we crisscrossed the bay back and forth we all jeered and

laughed at each other every time the boats passed. About the third pass

Rod held up another fish that they’d just caught. Steve was furious now.

He couldn’t stand to be outdone.

“Where are you going, Steve?” Nancy looked concerned as the boat was

being steered toward the narrow channel that connected the bay with the

Atlantic Ocean.

“If the fish won’t come to Steve, then Steve will go to the fish.” He

said as he steered to the open sea.

“Is this little boat going to be safe in open water?” I asked.

“The guy at the dock seemed to think so, and I want to catch some

fish.” Steve replied.

We went through the narrow channel at the entrance to the bay and hit

the waves. It had been so calm in the bay and now we were plunging through

waves two to three feet high. The little boat lurched over each one and

everything in it was being bounced around, including us. We decided to put

on the dirty life jackets and tried to talk Steve into returning to the

calm water of the bay.

“Just hold on,” Steve kept saying, “it’ll calm down when we get past

the channel.”

“C’mon, Steve,” Nancy’s face showed that she was very serious, “go

back now. This isn’t very smart and I’m getting scared.”

“Let’s just try.” Steve wasn’t giving up yet. “I know we’ll catch

some really big ones out here. And I really think the sea will get calmer

when we get past the breakers.”

But it didn’t. We went several hundred yards out and it was still

just as rough. Steve turned the boat parallel to the coast but then the

waves were hitting us from the side and nearly turned us over.

“Now will you turn back?” Nancy was really sounding mad now.

“OK, I guess we better.” Steve admitted as he turned the boat toward

the channel entrance again.

But the little motor just didn’t seem to be making any progress

against the out-going tide. After almost an hour we were four or five

hundred yards from the shore and at least a quarter of a mile away from the

channel entrance.

“Dennis, why don’t you work the motor and I’ll use the oars?” Steve

started getting up as he spoke.

We carefully stepped around the girls as we changed places in the

rocking boat. I held the handle, kept full throttle, and steered straight

at the beach. Steve got the oars and had gotten one in the oarlock and

still had the other in his hand when an extra large wave hit the back of

the boat. He almost fell out but caught himself on the side of the boat,

dropping the oar in the water. He reached out but it was drifting away too

quickly and he couldn’t get it. He sat down and took the remaining oar out

of the oarlock and used it the best he could to row toward the beach. The

combined efforts of the little motor and his rowing helped us make some

progress. The girls were holding our things down because each time a wave

hit everything nearly bounced out. When we got to within about a hundred

yards of the beach the motor quit. I pulled and pulled on the starter rope

but it wouldn’t start again. Steve and I switched places again, he needed

a break anyway, and I rowed while he yanked on the starter rope.

“Is it out of gas?” Jane asked.

Steve looked into the tank and said, “No, it’s got a little left. It

just won’t start back.”

“Let me try. I had the magic touch before.”

Jane pulled for a while as we were slowly but surely being pulled away

from shore. With no motor and only one oar for that large a boat, we

weren’t going to make enough progress. It was starting to get darker as

the sun quickly neared the cliff above the harbor on the western horizon.

We knew something drastic would have to be done.

“I’m going to try and swim to shore and get help.” Steve spoke as he

was taking his jeans off again.

“Steve, don’t be silly. If anyone is going to swim to shore it should

be me. I’m the best swimmer.” Jane began taking her clothes off again as

she was speaking.

“Jane, do you think even you should try it?” Nancy looked at her

friend very seriously.

“If I’m going to make it I need to hurry. We’re going further out

every minute. I think I can make it and it’s going to get dark soon.”

It was getting dark fast. Not only from the sun going down but also

from the clouds that were coming in rapidly from the east.

Jane finished taking off her sweats, put her life jacket back on, and

dove in. I couldn’t believe how brave she was being. It was about two or

three hundred yards to shore in water that had waves over three feet high.

We kept trying to start the motor and took turns rowing the best we could.

We watched Jane as each wave brought her up to the top and then as she

disappeared again between them. Finally she was completely out of sight

and we hoped for the best, but feared the worst for her. Our fears for

Jane made us forget our own predicament, which was bad at best.

Chapter Five

The clouds had covered the sky all the way to the west now and what

little light that had been left from the setting sun was gone. We could

see a few lights from houses on the hilltop that overlooked the bay but

they appeared to be so far away. The wind was picking up and the waves,

now invisible to us, seemed to be getting larger. Steve tried working the

oar as a rudder to keep us facing into the waves that could only be felt

and not seen. It was as dark as the cave I had gone to with Mom had been

after they turned the lights off. I remembered the apprehension I’d felt

in the total darkness then, and it was even worse now. The wind and waves

kept turning the boat sideways despite Steve’s efforts.

“Steve, without propulsion a rudder won’t work. Try rowing. We have

to keep the boat faced into the waves and wind or it might capsize.” I

yelled across the length of the boat towards where Steve must be. I just

hoped he could hear me above the ever-increasing sound of the waves and

wind.

I knew Steve was doing the best he could with no visibility but I also

knew that he couldn’t keep it up for long and neither could Nancy or I. I

tried to remember a story about some people in a similar situation that I’d

read last year and what they had done.

“Nancy, get the inserts out of those minnow buckets for me. Just pour

the minnows into the outer buckets.”

I knew that the two minnow buckets had inner buckets with holes so you

could take them out and get to the bait easier. I took the two inserts and

tied them to the bow rope which was about ten or fifteen feet long. I held

them in the water until they filled up and let them go. The wind was

blowing the boat and when the buckets reached the end of the rope the boat

held steady against the wind. The boat was a sort of sail catching the

wind and the buckets acted like an anchor in the water keeping the bow

straight. It had worked and hopefully would keep the boat from capsizing

in the storm.

Now with the high bow of the boat being made to face straight into the

wind, the waves would break around it keeping most of the water out. It

was starting to cool down and the cold water on us and around us in the

boat was miserable. We used the minnow bucket that didn’t have minnows in

it to bail out the water. We all three worked to secure all of the stuff

so nothing would be thrown out when each wave hit us tossing the boat

higher.

I remembered my rain poncho and got it out. We sat in the floor at

the back of the boat with the poncho over all three of us. By sitting in

the back it held the bow even higher and less water came in. Nancy was in

between Steve and me and the three of us sat shivering and holding each

other as we looked at the dim lights of the village, which were now going

out of sight over the watery horizon.

“Do you think Jane made it?” Nancy was trembling as she spoke but her

voice sounded strong.

“I hope so,” I answered, “I sure hope so.”

“What if she didn’t? What if nobody knows we’re out here? What if

we’re just left to die?” Steve sounded like he was about ready to cry.

“Don’t even think that, Steve.” I practically shouted. “Jane is a

good swimmer and wouldn’t have given up. I know she made it…, I just know

she’s OK! Besides the others must have seen us leaving through the channel

and someone has to be looking for us by now.”

There was nothing else we could do right then but wait. It was too

dark to try to row, even if we could. The anchor I had devised was working

for the time being and we had to just try to stay calm.

The wind kept blowing but didn’t seem to be getting any stronger. I

don’t think it was raining but I couldn’t tell with so much mist from the

waves breaking across the bow. We sat for what seemed like hours huddled

together under my poncho, occasionally scooping the water out with the

bucket.

“What’s that?” Nancy was almost asleep between Steve and me but woke

up when Steve yelled.

“Can you hear it? It sounds like a ship or something.”

“It’s probably just the waves hitting the boat, Steve.” I was getting

a little annoyed with Steve but I tried to be as understanding as I could

be. He was probably in a semi-state of shock but I couldn’t do anything

for him in these conditions.

“No really! Listen! It is sort of a beating sound.”

Steve was right. I could hear it now too. It sounded like something

thumping in my body. I could feel it as much as hear it but it was there.

We took the poncho off and started frantically looking in all directions.

“Look…, over there…, a light.” Nancy was probably pointing as she

spoke but it was too dark to see her even though she was close to us.

I felt for her arm and looked in the direction it was pointing and saw

it too. It was still quite a ways off but it was definitely a helicopter

with a searchlight shining at the water. They were here! Jane must have

made it! I was just about as happy for Jane as I was for us right then.

We all three got up on the bench and started yelling as loud as we could

even though we all knew it would do no good. The spotlight got within

about fifty feet of our boat once and Steve almost fell in the water

reaching out toward it.

So close, yet an eternity away. They had almost seen us. We’d almost

been found. If only the boat had been in just a little bit different

place. Or the helicopter had been a little closer.

We all three started crying together as we watched the helicopter

making circles ever further away from us.

“I wish they’d never even come by.” Steve sobbed as he spoke. “It

just isn’t fair to get that close and not see us.”

“At least it means that Jane must have made it to shore.” I shared

Steve’s desolation but wanted to find something positive for us to hold

onto.

“They could have looked a little harder,” Nancy sounded almost mad,

“couldn’t they have just circled once more our way?”

“Maybe they’ll circle back later.” I didn’t really believe what I was

saying but felt I needed to say something. “Maybe they’ll come back.”

We huddled back under the poncho and waited. We strained our eyes

looking and concentrated on listening. It even felt like I was straining

my ears. But eventually sleep took us away from our search.

Chapter Six

My back was killing me. I was wet, cold, and my back was really

killing me. How I had gone to sleep sitting on this hard bench with Nancy

and Steve I’ll always wonder. I took the poncho off my head. The sky was

starting to get light. The boat sat motionless in a now calm prairie of

water. My feet were submerged in about a foot or so of water in the boat

and the sides of the boat were only about a foot above the ocean now

instead of the normal three or so feet. The ice chest, beach bags, and

thermos were floating in the water in the boat and towels, clothes and

debris were half floating. It hadn’t been just a bad dream. I shut my

eyes tightly and re-opened them hoping it would go away but it was all

still there. It hadn’t just been a dream. I wanted to wake up in my warm

bed at home. I wanted to have breakfast with Mom. But I had to accept the

reality of what was. I had to figure out what to do.

“Wake up!” I nudged Nancy who was lying with her feet in my lap and

curled on the seat with her head in Steve’s. “Wake up! We’ve got to bail

the boat out!”

As Nancy started sitting up her feet went into the water and she

yelled. “Oh! What is this? Where are we?”

Steve was now awake too. He didn’t say anything but he looked as

terrible as I felt.

Steve grabbed one of the minnow buckets and I got the other one and we

started bailing frantically. Nancy started gathering the things and

keeping them away from the back where we were scooping water out of the

boat. Dead minnows were floating in the water and some were still alive

and swimming. It took about an hour to get the water out and the effort

warmed us up slightly but we were still pretty cold.

“We’ve got to get dried off. See if my gym bag kept the towels dry,

Nancy.”

Nancy opened the plastic bag and, sure enough, the towels I had

brought were reasonably dry. We all three took everything off except our

swimsuits and wrapped the towels around us. We used the towels and wet

clothes to wipe out the rest of the water that we hadn’t been able to get

with the buckets. Then we laid the oar across the boat from side to side

and hung everything over it to dry. The air was still so humid it was going

to take quite awhile. It was so foggy that you could see the water

particles hanging in the air above the smooth water. If you looked out

from the boat you couldn’t tell where the gray water ended and the gray sky

began.

“Should we try and start the motor again?” Steve sounded hoarse as he

spoke.

“Which way would we go if it started? We might be going the wrong

way. Let’s wait ‘til the fog lifts and we can see the sun. Right now just

listen and maybe we can hear a boat.” I felt really uncertain about what

we should do.

“What if a boat is being quiet listening for us?”

Nancy had a point. We decided that every few minutes we should yell

for help. It seemed strange and sounded sort of eerie when every few

minutes we took turns yelling out across an endless empty ocean. Yelling

“help” quickly became monotonous so we started improvising.

“Rescue us!” Nancy yelled with her turn.

“Ahoy there!” I screamed when my turn came.

“Send breakfast!” Steve yelled then added in a talking voice, “I’m

starving.”

Nancy opened the large thermos and looked inside.

“There is still some hot chocolate. And I think it’s still warm.”

She found three cups, rinsed them out in the ocean, and poured each of us a

cup. “It isn’t hot, but it isn’t cold either, here you go, guys,

breakfast.”

It tasted a little salty but sure helped. It didn’t take long to

finish all that was left.

“Hey, weren’t there some sandwiches left, Nancy?” Steve started

opening the beach bags and looking in as he spoke.

Nancy opened the ice chest and looked in it.

“Here they are.” She took out a plastic bag with the sandwiches

inside and opened it. “They’re a little damp but the plastic kept them dry

enough to eat. There’re also four cans of soda.”

Steve and I were also looking in and the four cans were in about two

gallons of water with a little ice still left. We each grabbed a soda and

ate some of the sandwiches. There were two sandwiches still left when we

were finished.

“Steve! You shouldn’t have littered. It might be the center of the

ocean but it’s still tacky to litter.” Nancy sounded irritated and Steve

tried to reach out and get the empty can he’d just thrown over board but

couldn’t reach it.

“I’m sorry, Nancy. But maybe someone will see it and know we are

near. Sort of a marker.”

He had a point but we decided not to throw anything else in.

We were feeling a little better with something in our stomachs. We

continued our yelling every few minutes.

“Life line!”

“Seniors are best!”

“King Neptune!”

“Nancy, get out that little radio you had and see if you can get some

news.” I looked at her remembering the small radio she had yesterday.

She got it out and we were all relieved when we heard static when she

turned it on. After tuning the dial a few turns she stopped at a station

we knew was in this area. It was still playing music, which made us feel

at home, but hopefully it’d have some local news at eight, which was just a

few minutes away. We were anxious to know if they were looking for us and

to maybe find out about Jane.

When the song ended the disc jockey came on.

“We’ll be right back with the local news after this message.”

“Enjoy the tranquility of the beautiful ocean. One and two day

cruises on our luxury ships are a great way to get away from it all and

relax. For as little as four hundred dollars per person, based on double

occupancy, you can enjoy fine dining, dancing, and moonlight walks on the

deck. Call Tranquility Cruises at Cape Benson or check with your local

travel agency, see you on deck.”

“Heck we’re getting the same thing for free.” I laughed as I spoke.

“I don’t know. At three dollars an hour we might wind up paying more.

I wonder if that old manager will make us pay for the whole time?” Steve

sounded almost serious but when we laughed he started laughing too.

“The three high school students missing since yesterday have been

identified as Steve Nelson, the highly recruited senior football player who

was to attend State College in the fall, Nancy Fuller, a junior and last

year’s homecoming queen, and Dennis Stevens, a junior. According to a

companion, who was able to swim to shore, the three were unable to return

to Lawrence Harbor in the storm that hit the coast last night. Coast Guard

helicopters and boats searched through the night with no luck and airplanes

are expected to continue the search when the fog lifts today. Captain

Simpson of the Coast Guard says that it is uncertain if inexperienced

boaters could have kept that small a boat from capsizing in last night’s

rough seas. He hopes that if they did, they’ll be found before the boat

reaches the Gulf currents, which could pull them along and make the

potential search area too large to properly cover. Let’s all hope that the

fog lifts early and that the kids are OK… In other news...”

“Nancy, go ahead and turn it off for now, save the batteries for the

noon news.” I didn’t feel like music now anyway. Things didn’t sound

good, and the fog was sure thick. “At least Jane made it back safe.”

“What did he mean about the Gulf currents?”

“I’m not real sure, Nancy, but I know that there is like a river in

the ocean. It runs along the east coast and then curves over towards

Europe in the North Atlantic. The Spanish ships used it to go home a long

time ago. If we drifted out that far last night then we could be in it and

moving faster than we think.”

Steve looked down into the water. “It doesn’t seem to be moving and

the boat is sitting still.”

“Yes, but look at the fog,” Nancy sounded startled, “It’s moving, look

at it…, it’s moving past us.”

We all noticed it now. We were definitely moving at a slow steady

pace through the fog. It could have been that the fog was drifting but we

suspected differently. We suspected the worst.

Nancy moved to the front of the boat and Steve and I moved back by the

motor and began pulling the starter rope. We figured if we could get it

started we could go in the direction the fog appeared to be going and try

and stay in the search area. We took turns pulling until we were both

exhausted but it wouldn’t crank. We thought about using the oar but knew

that with just one oar we wouldn’t be able to accomplish much. Besides, we

needed our stuff to dry.

We were all three tired and sleepy. We decided to take turns on

watch. Two could sleep while the third listened and called out

periodically. I took the first watch. Steve lay in the area between the

two seats and Nancy lay in the area in front of the front seat. I sat on

the back seat by the useless motor. They were both quickly soundly

sleeping and didn’t even stir when I made my calls.

“Moby Dick!”

I sat and listened to Steve snoring and wished he would quit. I

didn’t disturb him though.

“Captain Ahab!”

I stood up and stretched my legs and arms. I saw Nancy lying in the

front of the boat. How many of my dreams had been about being stranded

with Nancy? I couldn’t remember but I doubt that any included Steve.

“Free Rum!”

I smiled and thought that this was something that would surely get the

attention of any old sailors out there.

Just before noon I woke Steve and Nancy and we turned on the radio

again for the news. “The thick fog has the coast really shut down. There

were twelve accidents on the coastal highway this morning and one fatality

was reported. The driver of a dump truck collided with a slow moving car.

The passenger of the car was killed when he was thrown out. The car’s

driver is in satisfactory condition in Memorial Hospital. The passenger’s

name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. No charges

have been filed. We urge everyone to use extreme caution if they have to

go out. And do wear your seatbelts folks. In other news, the search

continues for the three kids missing at sea. Coast Guard officials say the

fog is still hampering the search and it is getting more doubtful each hour

that they will be found...”

“Kids?” Nancy made a face at the small radio. “We’re not children.”

“They won’t give up will they?” Steve looked worried.

“No, I’m sure they won’t. They just have to wait ‘til the fog

clears.” I quickly replied. “They’ll find us this afternoon.”

The fog was just as thick as it had been when we woke up this morning.

If anything, it was worse! Nancy had been awake but hadn’t really gotten

up. She had gone immediately back to sleep when we turned the radio off.

Steve switched places with me and I went straight to sleep too.

“Steve Nelson!” Nancy’s shouting woke me up. “You are the most self-

centered creep I have ever known!”

“What is it, Nancy? What’s wrong?” I was still groggy as I tried to

see what she was yelling at Steve about.

“I woke up and found him finishing off the last soda and sandwiches by

himself! He’s a real creep!”

“But, you two were asleep, I need the most food. I’m used to eating

more and need it more.”

“You’re just used to getting your way with everything, Steve Nelson.”

Nancy had an angry look on her face that I’d never seen before and would

never have thought she’d have. “You’re just a spoiled brat. And right now

I think you’re the biggest jerk in the world!”

“I’m sorry, Nancy,” Steve looked a little remorseful as he apologized

to Nancy, then looked at me and repeated his apology, “I’m sorry.”

“What’s done is done.” I was as disgusted with Steve as Nancy but

realized it wouldn’t do any good to keep harping on it. Besides, we were

stuck together and needed to work together. “We can’t change what’s

happened so far but we have to work together from now on.”

“Why don’t you and I work together and throw him overboard.” Nancy

pointed at Steve as she spoke to me.

“I’m really sorry, guys.” Steve did sound sincere and his head was

hanging low so nobody said anymore about it.

It was now mid-afternoon and the fog was still thick. The towels and

clothes were fairly dry so we decided to get dressed. Nancy put my poncho

over her, took off her swimsuit and put on Jane’s sweats. While her head

was turned Steve and I took our trunks off and put our clothes back on too.

It felt good to have clothes on, even if still slightly damp. The swimming

suits had really started feeling bad with all of the salt in them. I was

really thirsty now. I rinsed a cup out in the ocean and dipped it in the

ice chest and had a drink.

“Oh, Dennis, that water must be dirty.” Nancy was making a bad face

as she spoke.

“Hey, it’s the only water we have that we can drink.”

She thought about it a moment, looked in the ice chest, and finally

drank some herself.

“With all the water around we might not feel so thirsty but we can’t

let ourselves get dehydrated.” I said after remembering a book I’d read

about some people in an airplane crash in Alaska.

They were found dead from dehydration but there was still water left

in their canteens. The book mentioned how you don’t realize how much you

need water when there’s snow all around. Unlike the desert where you’ll

feel thirsty all the time, the arctic tends to fool you. I suspected the

ocean would work the same way since there was so much water everywhere.

“Let’s be sure to drink a little bit every so often.”

We washed out the thermos and two minnow buckets and poured the rest

of the water from the chest into them. We were careful to put the minnow

bucket lids on tight so it wouldn’t spill out, then we put the extra

clothing, towels and anything else that would fit in the ice chest to keep

them safe and dry.

“Have you heard anything at all, Steve?”

“No..., nothing, I’m sorry, Dennis, but I’m used to eating so much to

gain weight for football…, and I really get sick if I don’t eat.”

“Steve, it doesn’t matter, it’s done, let it rest.” I was tired of

hearing Steve whine about it.

“It does too matter, Dennis, Steve was being totally selfish, and it

does matter!” Nancy quickly added.

“Nancy, calm down. We are in enough trouble without arguing. We have

to work together, and he said he was sorry.”

“I don’t care, sorry isn’t enough, you don’t know him as well as I do.

He’s always being selfish. He’s a creep and I would just as soon throw him

overboard.”

Steve looked so pathetic as Nancy yelled at him. When he looked over

the side of the boat, as she was threatening to throw him over, it was a

funny picture. A muscular athlete afraid of a hundred and thirty pound

cheerleader. I couldn’t help it, I laughed out loud. When I laughed it

started Nancy laughing and then Steve laughed too.

“Well, I am sorry, Nancy.”

“OK, I would say don’t do it again, but there’s nothing else to eat

anyway.”

They sort of made up but definitely not with a kiss.

Nancy and Steve changed places and I found a place to lie

down. I was still sleepy but woke up every time Nancy yelled.

“Go defense!”

Somehow I figured she would use cheers. I guess it was what she was

accustomed to yelling the loudest.

“Sack the quarterback!”

I didn’t really remember the cheerleaders ever using that one.

“Nancy Fuller is available!”

I finally dozed off after that one. I dreamed that we were back in

school and I was going steady with Nancy. We were at the Bull’s Pen steak

house together enjoying that huge steak that you get free if you can eat it

all. I was so hungry that I knew I’d get mine for free. It sure tasted

good. I don’t remember the rest of that dream but that was sure a good

steak.

We continued taking turns sleeping and keeping watch. The evening

news was about the same as the noon news had been. There was even one

other story now before they mentioned us. The fog remained all night but

at least the water was still calm.

Chapter Seven

“Wake up, Dennis, wake up.” Nancy was shaking me as she spoke. “I

can barely keep my eyes open. It’s so dark that there’s no noticeable

difference if they’re open or shut.”

She was right. It was so dark that I couldn’t see anything. I

instinctively pulled my left arm to my face to see the time. The

luminescent dial was shining and I saw it was three-thirty. I’d never

really thought about my watch glowing before. As I sat up I could hear

Nancy lying down. Steve must have been sound asleep because he was

completely still and not even snoring. My stomach and insides were

churning. It had been so long since I used the bathroom that I was aching.

I decided that I would give Nancy time to really get to sleep, then take

care of my problem. I decided thirty minutes would do. I kept watching my

watch. The small glow was so comforting. I’d never paid any attention to

how much light it put out until now. I could hold it next to something and

it was like a tiny light bulb that allowed me to see. I finally couldn’t

wait any longer. I saw that it was still only three-forty-five but it was

definitely time. I pulled my pants down to my knees and let my rear end

hang over the bow of the boat. The splashing in the water sounded awfully

loud and I just knew that the other two had to hear but I had to go. As I

sat straddling the bow, holding onto the front seat I could imagine sharks

or other sea creatures coming out of the water and attacking my bare butt.

But it felt so good to relieve myself after so long that I just didn’t

care. When I finished, I reached into the water and washed myself off and

cleaned my hands as best I could, then I pulled up my pants. I definitely

felt better.

“Hot dogs!”

It sure would be good to have a couple of chili dogs right now. Yea,

that sounded really good. And add a large order of fries and a huge cola

too.

“Baseball!”

What the heck, hot dogs go with baseball don’t they?

“Apple pie!”

A little dessert while I’m on a roll.

“Mom!”

I’ll bet Mom is worried sick. I wish I could at least tell her I’m

ok.

It was finally almost time for the sky to start getting light. I

looked and it was almost six. I was just so tired of the dark and kept

straining my eyes for the first hints of something other than darkness. I

kept turning my head to try and find the east. Then it finally arrived.

The first hints of vision, the first tease of light giving direction, the

first clue of something of reference. East, that was east. It was

strangely comforting to once again have this simple natural thing, light.

I could vaguely see Steve moving as he got up and sat on the back seat

of the boat stretching his arms.

“What time is it?”

“It’s a little after six. Why don’t you get the radio out and we’ll

try to get the news and weather.”

He opened the ice chest and got the radio but when he turned it on we

could barely hear the station. The sound woke Nancy up.

“Is the battery going dead?” Nancy sounded still half asleep.

“I think so,” Steve said but as he adjusted the dial another station

came in louder, “no, no, it’s not the battery, the station is just getting

weaker.”

“This is Jerry Lange with W.T.O.G. in Rocky Mount. Stay tuned for

local events.”

The station then started a commercial.

“Rocky Mount? That town isn’t even in the same state. Rocky Mount is

at least a hundred miles north.” Nancy suddenly stopped talking and looked

shocked.

“We must have been carried a lot further than I

would have guessed by the current. The Gulf Stream goes north. I sure

wish we could get out of it and quit going north.” As I spoke Steve

started pulling on the starter rope again.

“If this stupid thing would just start!” He kept pulling frantically

as he spoke.

The news came on but not a word was mentioned about us. Nancy reached

over and picked up the radio where Steve had laid it down, turned it off,

and put it back in the ice chest.

“I guess they’re not even looking for us anymore.” Nancy spoke

quietly, more to herself than us.

“They’re still looking, Nancy,” I was trying to convince myself as

well as my friends. “They’re certainly still looking.”

I wondered if we should even get the radio out anymore. We sure had

enough to worry about without bad news.

“What are we going to do about a restroom?” Nancy sounded a little

embarrassed as she asked.

Steve didn’t say a word and I felt embarrassed too, although I don’t

know why. It’s a natural function and really shouldn’t have been

embarrassing.

“I went last night while you two were asleep.” I admitted. “I

couldn’t wait and just sort of hung over the bow in the dark.”

Steve admitted to using about the same method.

“Well, I’m not going to just hang over the side with you two watching,

and I sure can’t wait ‘til dark!”

Nancy made Steve and me sit on the back seat with the poncho over our

heads. I remembered how the splashing had seemed so loud last night so I

reached in the ice chest, and got out the radio.

“We forgot to listen for the weather.” I said as I turned the radio

up full volume under the poncho.

“OK, guys, you can come out now, and thanks, Dennis.”

Steve went back to pulling on the starter rope. When he gave up I

looked at the adjustment screws of the motor, got a little knife out of my

tackle box and turned them each a bit at time, pulling the rope several

times between each adjustment. On about the millionth pull the motor

sputtered. I pulled several more times leaving the screw the same and it

sputtered, spit, then smoking terribly, it finally started. While Steve

worked the throttle handle and kept it running I adjusted the screws until

it ran a little more smoothly.

We were all three elated. The sun was just coming up now and Steve

turned, keeping the sun to his back, and we were off. While he steered I

filled the tank with about half of the gas left in the can.

“Do you think we’ll make land by lunch?” Steve sounded happy and we

felt the same way. “I sure am starved.”

“Me too,” Nancy smiled and I saw that old familiar twinkle return to

her pretty blue eyes, “I sure hope there’s a restaurant on the beach right

where we pull up.”

“Or at least a hotdog vender.” I added with enthusiasm.

As the sun came up we suddenly realized that it wasn’t foggy today.

Our luck had really changed. We were finally going to be OK.

“It’s awfully hard to keep it straight Dennis. Do you think the

adjustments you made might have affected the steering?”

“No,” I hesitated as I thought about what Steve had said, “no that

shouldn’t have anything to do with it.”

As I spoke I noticed that the bow was jerking side to side and we

weren’t going as fast as the motor should be taking us. Then I saw it.

The bow rope was moving side-to-side going straight down in the water. I

went to the front of the boat and pulled in the rope with the minnow

inserts in. We all laughed. We were sure lucky that they hadn’t gotten

tangled in the prop. But they hadn’t, things were going our way. We

laughed some more together with relief.

Nancy and I sat on the front seat together with our feet propped up on

the bow while Steve was on the back seat steering.

“Any land in sight yet, mates?” Steve yelled over the sound of the

little motor.

“Nay, mate, none yet. We’ll hoist the main sail and make haste

though.”

Nancy and I took turns standing up and looking. Each time we just

knew that land would be in sight. The horizon was straight and we

concentrated for any irregularity that would indicate something other than

water was there. We both wanted to be the one to shout land-ho.

After about an hour I went to the back to relieve Steve. He checked

the tank and then poured the rest of the gas from the can into it.

When he went up front to sit by Nancy, he tried to put his arm around

her but she pushed it away. They sat together on the front seat but I

noticed that Nancy kept her distance from Steve.

After about another hour the little engine started sputtering again

but this time we all knew why. It stopped and when I unscrewed the lid I

confirmed that the tank was empty.

“Do you think we made it out of the currents?”

“I don’t know. I hope so.” I said trying to figure in my mind how

far we might have gone. But I really didn’t have any idea how far out we

had drifted night-before-last in the storm. And, for the last hour the sun

had been mostly up above. They always say you can navigate by the sun, but

around noon it’s hard to tell where you’re going. We were just drifting

again. The waves were now about a foot high, not too bad, but I decided we

should put the sea anchor back in the water to keep us aimed into the

waves.

“Well I’m starving.’ Steve sounded disgusted again. “I’ve got to get

something to eat. We’re going to die out here, I just know it…, we’re

going to die!”

“Steve, we don’t like it either, but we sure don’t like you belly-

aching all the time.” Nancy was really annoyed with him.

“I don’t care what you like or don’t like, Nancy, I just don’t care.

We were just kidding ourselves that we would make it. We won’t! I just

don’t care anymore!”

“Steve, calm down, we’ll make it. I know we’ll make it.” I was

worried too but I wanted everyone to keep calm and work together.

“Dennis, let him die, he’s just a loser anyway. He’s just a weakling

and he’ll pull us down with him.”

“Nancy, please don’t talk like that, we’re all in this together. We

have to help each other. The strong have to help the weak in a survival

situation.”

It was noon now. It had been a morning that we thought would be the

last bad one. But it was noon and things weren’t really much better. We

were lost. We were hungry. We were out of food. But we were healthy and

we had water, we might be out of the current now, and..., I wondered just

exactly what else we did have?

Chapter Eight

“Steve, get the stuff out of the ice chest,” I thought an inventory

would be a good idea, “let’s see exactly what all we have.”

“It doesn’t matter, Dennis, there isn’t any food in there. It’s just

towels and stuff. We can’t live without food, and there’s nobody looking

for us anymore.”

I could tell that Steve wouldn’t be much help today. I thought about

it for a minute and decided to leave him alone for a while. I knew he’d

come back to his senses eventually.

“Hey! All right! I’d forgotten all about bringing the caps. Here,

you guys put these on.” I said as I pulled the extra baseball caps out of

my gym bag and handed one to Nancy and one to Steve. “These will keep the

sun off your heads, and, I have a first-aid kit. Nancy, what’s in your

beach bag?”

Nancy had already started digging through it as I was talking.

“I’ve got some extra towels, a bottle of baby oil, and some lip balm.”

Nancy laid those things beside her and continued looking into her bag.

“Anything else?” I asked, wondering why she hadn’t just emptied it

out in the first place.

“Well, just some silly junk in the bottom that’s been there forever, a

hairbrush, safety pins, and oh yes, a couple of books of matches that were

a souvenir I kept from a neat restaurant.”

“Let’s see, Nancy.” I said, reaching across for the match books in

her hand. “Wow! Neptune’s Anchor! I’ve been there. I love their fried

shrimp.”

“My favorite is the crab legs.” Steve looked a little better as he

joined in.

“I’ll bet people are there right now, eating the lunch buffet. It’s

just after twelve and it’s probably packed with tourists.”

“No, not on Monday.” Steve corrected me. “Today’s Monday, and it’s

probably business people for lunch.”

“It’s not Monday, Steve. This is Sunday.” Nancy looked from Steve to

me questioningly. “Isn’t it, Dennis?”

“I’m not sure, let’s see, we’ve spent two nights, last night and the

storm night before last, yea, I guess Steve is right, it’s noon Monday.”

I hadn’t really given thought to the fact it’d been that long until

now. I guess Steve’s growth of hair on his face should have clued me in.

I couldn’t help reaching up and feeling my own face and wondering how I

looked. But then, I know my face wouldn’t be as covered as his was now

even if I went months without shaving.

“I know I’m right, I can keep track of my days, and this is Monday, my

graduation day. I missed commencement yesterday and I’ll miss graduation

today.”

“Oh, Steve, you’ll still graduate, you don’t have to attend the

ceremony to graduate.” Nancy thought a moment then continued with a smile.

“And I guarantee that you will probably be there anyway. I’ll bet they

have your picture set up on the stage, with a wreath or something, and they

probably will have the coach and the whole team wearing black arm bands and

leading a prayer.”

“Wouldn’t it be fun to be there and watch,” I added, “like in ‘Tom

Sawyer’, you know, when he and Huckleberry Finn attended their own funeral.

And, Nancy, you know the whole pep club and all the cheerleaders are

mourning you. They probably made a cheer for you. Poor, poor, Nancy.

Nancy’s gone. Now the head cheerleader’s Karen Long.”

I started laughing as I mimicked the cheer and Steve absolutely lost

it. He was bellowing out a laugh. At least I had brought him out of his

depression but Nancy wasn’t laughing.

“Long doesn’t rhyme with gone, and they wouldn’t vote her head

cheerleader anyway! She’s such a snob and nobody really likes her!”

“Wooo!” Steve teased Nancy and continued in a sarcastic tone. “Miss

goody-goody can get mad too.”

I think that was the first bad thing I’d ever heard Nancy say about

anyone except Steve. She seemed upset at first, but when she thought about

what she’d said Nancy looked embarrassed. Then after a few seconds she

finally began laughing with us.

We went through the rest of the things. Along with the towels,

fishing gear, and poncho, Nancy found a mirror, eye goggles, and more baby

oil in Jane’s bag. There was also one of those little tubes that held

tampons but Nancy just put it back without saying anything. We also had

the two minnow buckets and the thermos, now with fresh water, the two

inserts acting as a sea anchor, some paper cups and three empty soda cans.

“I sure wish we’d saved the minnows.” I thought about how we’d just

scooped them overboard with the water yesterday while bailing out the boat.

“Yea, then we could catch some fish to eat.” Steve added.

“But there wouldn’t be any way to cook them.” Nancy was making a

rather disgusting face as she spoke.

“Nancy, haven’t you ever been to a sushi-bar? I know there’s one at

Sakuri’s Japanese restaurant that you must have tried.”

“Well yes but what’s that got to do with it?”

“Then you’ve had raw fish before. That’s what sushi is, raw fish!

And how about oysters on the half shell?”

“But it’s been prepared somehow, if not it’d make you sick, wouldn’t

it?” Nancy sounded confused.

“No, not unless it was spoiled. There’s not that much bacteria in the

ocean, so seafood doesn’t really need to be cooked.”

Talking about seafood made us hungry, even though the thought of

chomping down on a raw fish wasn’t exactly appetizing, yet!

“Hey, Steve, see what you’ve got in your tackle box.” I looked in

mine as I spoke and found a couple of fishing lures. They had worked on

bass. They might work on whatever was out here. Steve found some in his

tackle box too and we put them on our lines and began casting out into a

seemingly bottomless ocean.

“Here, you guys should put some of this lip balm on too.” Nancy was

handing the lipstick tube to me as she spoke.

The sun was overhead and it was pretty hot. I knew she was right. We

needed to protect ourselves as much as possible but I wish we had something

in a jar. I really felt silly putting on the, lipstick..., then handing it

to Steve I spoke to Nancy. “Could I borrow your eye pencil?”

“I didn’t bring it, oh, Dennis!” She laughed when she realized I’d

been kidding. “But here’s Jane’s mirror. You need to fix your lipstick!”

That afternoon wasn’t so bad. We were all hungry but the simple

repetitious act of fishing kept us hopeful, even though we didn’t have a

single bite. The water was fairly calm and we kept our minds off of our

problems by talking about our friends who were graduating tonight. It

seemed as though the sun was getting lower much too soon. The afternoon

had gone by so incredibly fast.

“I sure hope there’s a full moon tonight. It’s so spooky in the dark.

I’ve never known it to be as dark as it is out here.” Nancy sounded

apprehensive.

“Isn’t that the truth!” Steve said. “Last night I held my hand to my

face and couldn’t see it even when it touched my nose.”

“Well, I guess I’m lucky,” I interrupted them, “my watch glows in the

dark and it helps some. Whoever’s on watch can use it tonight.”

“I wished I had a candle or something too. Anything at all would

help. Something to give a little more light when the stars and moon aren’t

out.”

I knew what Nancy was talking about. Plus, if any boats were near it

would get their attention.

“If we hadn’t used all the gas we could’ve made a signal by soaking a

towel or something. We have the matches.” Steve was really just rambling

but he gave me an idea.

“Nancy, hand me a bottle of baby oil.” As she got one of the bottles

out of her bag and handed it to me I reached for a soda can. I took one of

the laces out of my tennis shoes and poked it through the hole of the

still-attached pull-tab. I stuck one end of the string into the can and

tied the other end to the pull-tab, leaving just a little above the knot.

I then squeezed the baby oil into the can until it was about half full.

After waiting a few minutes for the shoestring to soak up the oil I struck

one of the matches and it lit.

“All right! We have an oil lamp!” Nancy shouted so excited.

“Let’s be careful with it though.” I spoke very seriously. “We don’t

have that much oil and there are only two books of matches. Let’s keep

them for emergencies.

“Nancy, didn’t I see one of those, um, tampon holders, in Jane’s bag?”

I don’t really know why but I didn’t look at Nancy as I spoke. “Let’s put

the matches in there to keep them dry.”

We folded the two match books enough to get them into the round

container, blew out the lamp and decided that they would be used only when

there was no moon and it was really dark, or if we heard anything that

might be a boat or plane. While Steve and I continued casting out for

fish, Nancy stuffed everything that could get wet into the more-or-less

waterproof beach bags and my gym bag. She then put all of the other loose

items in the ice chest. That night it was clear and it was amazing how

much light the stars could make even without a moon. We took turns staying

awake and watching for any boats while continuing our occasional yells.

“Hamburgers!”

“Spaghetti!”

“Meat-loaf!”

Chapter Nine

“Wake up!” I practically yelled. “You guys wake up! There’s

something out there! Hurry!”

It wasn’t very light yet but I could definitely see it now. I had

thought I’d just been imagining it, but there was something in the water

about a hundred yards away from the boat. I think I had heard it before

seeing it in the still morning water. It sounded like it was raining but

the sky was clear. Then I could sort of see it. It looked like rain

hitting the water and I could see something near the surface and the water

was churning.

“What is it? A boat?” Nancy sounded so hopeful that I wish I’d been

more clear.

“No, I’m sorry, it’s nothing like that, but it looks like a school of

fish. Over there! Look!” I pointed at the water churning as I spoke.

“It is! I’ve heard how they chase smaller fish to the surface and

churn the water under them while they feed.” Steve sounded excited. “If

they get close enough we can catch all we want by just casting any lure in

the water. I’ll bet they’re tuna or maybe mackerel.”

We got our rods and started casting as far as we could in that

direction but they were still too far away. As we were casting Nancy got

the oar and did what she could to navigate the boat toward the churning

water. We couldn’t tell if the fish were coming to us, or our boat was

going to them but they were steadily getting closer. We could finally see

the small fish jumping up out of the water, which was churning under them.

It took what seemed like an hour but they suddenly moved close enough.

I swung my rod as far back to the side as I could and when I flipped the

heavy lure out it landed near the edge of the turmoil. The line

immediately straightened, nearly jerking the rod out of my un-expecting

hands. I gripped the handle, held the reel in place, and jerked back. I

nearly fell out of the other side of the boat when the line broke. I

quickly reeled in the weightless broken line. I reached in my tackle box

and picked out another lure to tie on. As I was working on it I noticed

Steve fighting something on the end of his line.

“Be careful, Steve! They must be large! Don’t fight so hard that it

breaks your line like I did.”

“I won’t,” Steve answered, “I’m not going to lose this baby.”

“Careful. Careful, Steve, there it is, I can see it now.” Nancy was

caught up in the excitement as she watched Steve bringing the fish nearer

to the boat.

I laid down my rod and went to Steve’s end of the boat. When he

worked the fish to the side I reached in the water to grab it but it

slithered under the boat and I nearly fell in with it. He worked it for

another minute or two and then I saw it again. This time I grabbed for the

tail and caught it. As Steve lifted with the rod I managed to pull the

tail up and out of the water and into the boat. As Steve and Nancy were

grabbing for the very active fish I went back to my rod and cast out.

Nancy quickly dumped the things out of the ice chest into the small area

forward of the bench near the bow of the boat. I was watching as they were

getting the fish unhooked and into the ice chest when my lure hit the

water. Immediately another fish hit. This time I gave the fish a little

slack and let it pull away some. When it lessened its pull, I pulled up on

the rod bringing it my direction. When it seemed the tension was too much

for the line to take I let it out some. It took quite a bit of give and

take for me to get the fish near the boat. Nancy came over and took my rod

and kept the fish near until I could get a hold of its tail and get it into

the boat like we’d done with the last one. I put it in the ice chest and

was ready to try again but Steve had another one so I waited to help with

it. When we got the third one in the ice chest we noticed that the area of

fish had moved some distance away. We each cast quite a few more times but

gave up at last when we could no longer see any action. But..., we had

three fish!

It was completely daylight out now. The sun was just above the

horizon. It was going to be a nice day. No, it was going to be a great

day!

“They look like mackerel. The big tails and narrow bodies…, I think

they’re mackerel.” Steve was looking in the ice chest at our prize catch.

“The one I caught must be at least seven pounds and the other two are four

or five each.”

“Holy mackerel!” Nancy was grinning ear to ear as she spoke. “Well I

have to admit I had been pretty much praying for something to eat.”

“Me too,” I agreed, “so, just maybe, this is a divine offering of some

sort.”

“Who really cares,” Steve added, “let’s eat.”

Steve had a pocketknife in his tackle box and I had a real good fillet

knife in mine that had never been used. We each took a fish out and began

by first cutting the heads off.

“Yuk, gross!” Nancy gasped as the blood rushed out of the fish onto

the seat of the boat where we’d placed them to dress them out.

“Haven’t you ever cleaned fish before?” Steve sarcastically asked

Nancy. “It’s no big deal, Nancy. They’re just fish.”

“Well, it’s just gross.” Nancy sounded disgusted. “I know it’s

necessary, but it’s gross and I hate it that we’ve got to do it.”

“Here,” I reached over the side and scooped some seawater up with my

hand and rinsed the area up a little bit, “let me clean up some. It is

grossing out our home isn’t it?”

“Thanks, Dennis.” Nancy smiled at me so sweetly.

“Well, it is just fish, guys.” Steve repeated.

“Don’t throw anything away, Steve. We can use the waste parts for

bait later.”

“Yea, good idea, Dennis.”

“But it’s sure going to stink up the boat, guys.” Nancy said then

added. “What if we put the heads and stuff in the minnow bucket inserts

and leave them in the water.”

“Yea, good idea, Nancy, and that might attract more fish to the boat

anyway.”

Nancy pulled the sea anchor in and opened one of the lids and as Steve

and I cleaned the three fish we put everything but the pieces of meat in,

then let the sea anchor back out.

“Well, who’s going to take the first bite?” Nancy asked as she looked

at the raw fish chunks lying on the seat of the boat.

We were all three so hungry, but we just knelt there looking at the

makeshift table in front of us with so much fresh fish. But it was just a

little bit too fresh.

“Maybe we could sort of cook the first of it.” As I talked I got the

soda-can lamp out and set it on the seat. Nancy quickly reached for the

beach bag and got the tampon container out that held our matches. We lit

the lamp and I put four or five pieces of fish on Steve’s knife and held

them over the flame. I turned them a couple of times and took the first

piece off and quickly popped it into my mouth. The oil of the lamp gave the

fish a funny taste but it wasn’t that bad. With some concentration I

forced myself to swallow. My stomach felt grateful and I quickly grabbed

another piece and this time chewed it a few times before swallowing. Steve

and Nancy both cautiously took a piece also and did the same. We put more

pieces on the knife and each time cooked them less and less until we were

almost eating raw fish anyway. It was good and we were ravenous.

After we’d eaten about all we could hold we still had quite a bit

left.

“Hey, the motor’s cover feels awfully warm from the sun. Do you think

we could sort of cook, or maybe even dry, the fish on it?” Steve had his

hand on the flat black top of the small motor as he spoke.

“Good thinking, Steve. Let’s wash it in the salt water first to add

some salt. It might work.”

As Steve and I worked the pieces of fish Nancy reached into my gym bag

and got out the radio. It was nearly eight o’clock and time for the local

news. She turned it on and it immediately came in clear on the same

station as yesterday. There was still nothing said about us on that

station.

“Try the Cape Benson station again, Nancy.” I thought it was worth a

shot even though we had only barely been able to hear it yesterday.

Nancy turned the dial and we could just barely hear it, but it was the

Cape Benson station.

“Great! You know what that means don’t you?”

“No..., what, Dennis?”

“It means we must have gotten out of the current yesterday. If not

we’d be too far away by now to still get that station!”

We all felt so much better. We had full stomachs and we were not

drifting further away. It was a nice, calm day and things were getting

better all the time. We leaned back in the boat and relaxed. Steve was in

the back by the motor and he turned the fish occasionally while we all

talked about what our friends must be doing. We wished we were with them

at the pool or maybe at the mall where they’d probably be right now. As

the sun was climbing higher in the morning sky we all three fell asleep.

Chapter Ten

“What in the world?”

Nancy’s yelling wasn’t the only thing that woke me up. I too had felt

a jerk on the boat that had made Nancy wake up.

“What’s happening?” Steve shouted frantically. “What’s yanking the

boat?”

We were all three sitting up now with our hands holding tightly to the

sides of the boat. The water was a little choppy but certainly nothing to

account for what we had felt just a moment before. Then it happened again.

This time I noticed the bow of the boat dipping as we felt the tug. I saw

the anchor rope moving violently. I looked the fifteen or twenty feet out

to where the end would be and panicked.

“Sharks! There!” I yelled as I pointed toward the minnow bucket

inserts. “Look!”

We could see the fins of several sharks. And fairly large ones too!

Steve regained his senses and gathered what was left of the drying

fish from the motor’s top. I grabbed the rope and started pulling in the

makeshift anchor. Nancy grabbed the oar and as the minnow bucket inserts

came closer to the bow of the boat she began striking the water with the

oar trying to hit the sharks, which were following the bucket towards our

boat. As I pulled in the end of the rope we saw that one of the buckets

had been destroyed. Nancy continued pounding the water with the oar. The

sharks we could see were pretty large but we had no idea how large or how

many more, were unseen. We watched for a long time as the fins menacingly

circled our small boat but they finally disappeared into the vast ocean.

“Well, so much for keeping our bait in the sea anchor.” Steve spoke

sheepishly as he examined the destroyed minnow bucket.

“It did seem like a good idea at the time, Steve, but those aren’t

really the type of fish we wanted to attract.” I was still a little

breathless as I spoke.

We decided that, smelly or not, in the future we would keep the bait

parts of the fish in the boat. And, from now on, we would always make sure

one of us was awake. Even in the middle of the day.

It was late afternoon now and the water seemed to be calming down

again. We talked about the sharks and what might have happened until the

conversation got around to all of the terrible movies and stories. That’s

when we decided to change the subject.

“Well, at least we’ve got some food now.” Steve brought the

conversation to something more positive.

“Really,” I added optimistically, “and that puts us in a lot better

shape to get through this.”

“Well with food and water we should easily make it until someone finds

us…,” Nancy paused and thought a second before finishing, “and they’ll

find us pretty soon now that we’re out of that current won’t they?”

“Sure,” I answered quickly but knew I wasn’t completely convinced, “I

imagine so, Nancy.”

“Well, I hope they do too,” Steve had some hesitation in his voice as

he jumped in, “but just in case it’s a little longer than we think we need

to consider what besides food and water we need.”

“What do you mean, Steve?” I wasn’t following where he was going at

all.

“Well,” Steve organized his thoughts before going on, “don’t we need

to work out some too? We’re stuck in this little boat and not moving

around hardly at all.”

“Football players.” Nancy almost laughed at Steve’s comment. “You’re

just afraid that you’ll lose some of those muscles you’ve worked so hard

getting. And you might have to red-shirt your first year at school.”

“Well, being in shape isn’t a bad thing you know.” Steve almost

sneered at Nancy when he spoke.

“You’re right you know,” I looked at Steve as I spoke, then I turned

to Nancy, “We do need to keep our muscles in shape as much as our

attitudes. Steve’s right, Nancy.” I turned back to face Steve who was

smiling now. “What do you think we should do, Steve?”

“Well there’re several things we can do sitting down.” Steve sat on

the bench and went through a few movements to show us. “But I really think

the most important thing for us is to do something that makes us stand up

and work our backs and legs more.”

“Hey, I think I know.” Nancy was in the spirit of the conversation

now too as she added. “We’ve got this stepping machine in the gym that you

kind of rock back and forth on,” Nancy stood up and placed a foot on each

side of the boat with her legs wide apart and her arms out, “if we stand

like this and lean side to side we’ll get the boat rocking a little but

it’ll help us move our legs and back muscles too.”

“Good, Nancy.” Steve smiled as he got up and joined her in the

motion. “Hey, this does feel like it’ll work for us.”

I stood up too and joined in the motion. With the three of us going

in unison from one side to the other we got the boat really rocking.

“Whoa!” Steve was the first to realize the danger in what we’d been

doing. “We’re going to turn it over, guys.”

“You’re right, Steve,” Nancy agreed, “but it sure felt good, and it

was fun.”

I’d stopped at the same time they did and had to agree with Nancy that

it was fun and felt good to get every muscle working again.

“How about if we just step up and down on the seats? Steve

demonstrated a couple of steps while he was talking. “That’ll do about the

same thing and we won’t use as much energy either. After all, we’re doing

this to keep our muscles loose, not burn up calories that we definitely

need to keep.”

We worked out for probably twenty minutes with the stepping and some

of the other things that Steve had shown us earlier but decided not to

overdo it the first time. But, we all agreed that we needed to repeat this

daily.

“Look at the beautiful sunset.”

Nancy focused our attention on a much more relaxed topic as we caught

our breath from the workout. And it really was a good one. There didn’t

seem to be any clouds but the western sky was absolutely red. We could see

it reflecting across the water and it was difficult to tell where the sky

ended and the water began on the horizon.

“Red sky in the morning, sailors adorning. Red sky at night, sailors

take flight.”

“Is that how it goes, Dennis?” Steve asked. “Does that mean we’re

going to have a storm tonight?”

“I think that’s it, but I’m not really sure.” I’d heard that old

expression before but never really understood or remembered it.

“No, it’s red sky in morning, sailors take warning. Red sky at night,

sailors delight.” Nancy corrected.

“How about red sky at night, after shark fight?” Steve laughed as he

made his rhyme.

“Well, whatever it means, it’s sure beautiful.” Nancy was still

staring at the sunset.

“I’m hungry.” Steve announced as he got the fish chunks out of the

small towel he had wrapped them in.

“Anybody care to join me?”

It smelled pretty strong so we decided that to be on the safe side we

would cook it on our little oil stove. There was plenty left for all three

of us to fill up on. We decided that what was left would be kept for bait,

rather than breakfast.

We had slept most of the day so nobody was very sleepy. We were all

fairly red in places that hadn’t been covered and protected from the sun

while we slept.

“Here, Dennis, let me put some of this on your face.” Nancy spoke as

she put some of the lotion she’d been spreading on her own arms on my face.

“Thanks, that really feels good, Nancy.” My face did feel better with

the lotion but just having her touch me felt wonderful too.

The sea was really calm and as the sun went completely down the moon

was coming up so it never really got that dark.

“Why don’t you come sit with me, Nancy?” Steve was sitting on the

seat by the motor and Nancy had been sitting on the large ice chest between

the seats. “It’d be a lot more comfortable here by me.”

“No, I’m fine here, Steve.”

“Aw, come on, Nancy, I want you to sit close to me. You’ve really

been ignoring me.”

I was starting to feel a little embarrassed and uncomfortable as I sat

on the bow seat so close to them.

“Steve, I said I’m fine here. I don’t want to sit close to you, I’m

fine!”

“Don’t you like me anymore?” Steve sounded hurt as he spoke. “Come

on, sweetheart, sit by me.”

“Steve, we’re still friends, but I don’t know if it’s more than that

anymore. I don’t know if it was ever really more than that. We’re just

friends.”

Steve didn’t respond this time. It got quiet, really quiet. I had

turned around and was facing the ocean in front of the boat trying to

pretend I wasn’t so close to them. The anchor rope was limp and I had been

nervously playing with it.

“I sure hope that this one minnow bucket is enough to hold the boat

straight in rough water.” I broke the deafening silence. “Maybe we should

do something else before we really need it and it doesn’t work.”

“What made it work in the first place?” Nancy had turned around

toward me as she spoke. “How does it work?”

“I think it’s because it’s completely in the water and the boat is

mostly out. The boat is blown by the wind and the sea anchor is caught by

water and holds the boat around.”

“Then with just one, instead of two buckets, maybe we should make it

heavier.” Steve wanted to be included in our conversation.

“Good thinking, Steve.” I thought about what he said and it made

sense. “Hand me a small towel or something. If we put it in the bucket

and it’s wet, then it should be heavier. The one heavier bucket might work

as well as the two empty buckets had worked.”

We played around with the sea anchor and it took everyone’s mind off

of Steve and Nancy’s argument. It was a nice night and it was fairly late

before we assigned watch duty and decided to start our sleeping shifts.

Chapter Eleven

No, I thought I’d just imagined it, but it had been so clear. I know

I hadn’t dozed off. Or at least I think I hadn’t. It had gotten cloudy

and without the stars and moon it was so dark that you couldn’t tell if

your eyes were open or not. I looked at my watch and it was four-thirty.

Then the slight breeze quit again and I heard it once more. It lasted only

a second, then the whisper of the breeze in my ears resumed and blocked the

faint thumping sound. I considered waking Nancy and Steve, but had I just

imagined it? Maybe it was the sea anchor bumping against the boat. I

reached around and felt for the anchor rope. It was tightly stretched out

away from the bow. The breeze had brought up the waves to about a foot or

so and it couldn’t have been the anchor. Maybe it was something in the

boat bumping with the slow rocking the waves had caused. I sat as still as

I could and strained my ears, trying to again hear the sound, and pinpoint

it’s origin. I could hear a humming sound but wasn’t sure if it was coming

from outside or inside my head. I kept glancing at my watch, which was the

only visible point in the vastness of black. Or was it? There, far out on

the sea of darkness, was another light. I wasn’t imagining things. It was

there. I held my hand over my watch dial. Even the tiniest glow could

affect my night vision. I strained my eyes in the direction of the light,

and then I was sure. It was definitely there.

“Nancy! Steve! Wake up, look!”

I heard frantic movement in the boat but could still see nothing.

“What…, where…, what is it?” I heard Nancy’s voice in the blackness.

“Feel my arm, Nancy, and look in the direction it’s pointing. I saw a

light, and I’m pretty sure I heard a motor.”

I felt Nancy’s hand on my shoulder. Then as she was exploring her way

to my pointing arm she gasped. “Yes! I see it too!”

“Where is it? What is it?” Steve sounded frantic.

Nancy let go of my arm and I heard her moving away from my end of the

boat. Then, as I felt Steve’s hand touch my arm I pushed it down to my

pointing hand.

“There, Steve. Look over there, a long ways off.”

“It’s a boat. It’s for sure a boat. We’re saved.” Steve started

yelling at the top of his lungs.

Then we could see more lights as the boat came over the horizon toward

us. In between our yells we could definitely hear it as well. The motor

was loud and we could hear it. It sounded wonderful. The few lights were

more beautiful than any Christmas tree or laser light show I’d ever seen.

We were jumping up and down in our little boat screaming, laughing, and

crying with joy.

But, as suddenly as they had appeared, the lights disappeared again.

We stood together and looked at the empty blackness and cried. And it

wasn’t the same type of crying we’d shared before. We cried in sheer

frustration and self-pity.

“It’s not fair.” Nancy sobbed as she spoke. “It’s just not fair.

They should’ve heard us.”

“I guess their engine was just too loud, Nancy. It was just too

loud.” I tried to make excuses.

“Why didn’t you light the lamp, Dennis?” Steve sounded angry. “Why

didn’t you wake us sooner so we could’ve lit the lamp?”

Steve was right. I hadn’t thought of it and now it was too late. I

felt terrible.

“Why didn’t you light it, Steve, instead of just screaming and jumping

around like a maniac.” Nancy was scornful. “It isn’t any more Dennis’

fault than ours, and placing blame won’t get the boat back.” Nancy stopped

talking for a long moment but obviously had more on her mind. “But, if

we’re going to place any blame,” Nancy hesitated then continued, “if you

hadn’t been so stubborn about winning a stupid fishing contest we wouldn’t

be in this predicament in the first place.”

I still felt bad. I should have thought of it. It might have worked.

We might have been rescued.

We decided to go ahead and light the lamp anyway. Just in case the

boat circled back. It was comforting to have the light and we all sat in

total silence until it started getting light. We blew out the lamp and

strained our eyes on the horizon all around us hoping to see something.

But nothing was there, nothing but the, now all too familiar, never-ending

ocean.

“Let’s turn on the radio.” Nancy was digging in the beach bag as she

spoke.

She turned on the radio and our hearts sank even lower when we could

barely hear the station that had been clear the last time.

“Try to find another station so we can find out how far we’ve drifted.

We must be in that dumb current again.” I was really disgusted now.

First, I hadn’t thought to light the lamp, and now it appeared we were

drifting further from where they might still be searching for us.

“Yea, Nancy,” Steve added, “Turn the dial.”

“I am!” I’m turning it, but nothing is coming in strong. Are we

going further out to sea?”

Let’s see it.” Steve reached over and took the radio out of Nancy’s

hand. “It’s not even loud static.”

We were relieved. It was just the batteries, not our drifting.

“Well, scratch the radio from our dwindling list of supplies.” Nancy

whispered then speaking louder added.

“I’m hungry. Real hungry. I’d kill for an omelet right now. With

toast and grape jelly. No, make that strawberry jelly.”

“I’ll have pancakes and bacon,” Steve jumped in, “with lots of maple

syrup all over both and a tall glass of milk.”

“I’d settle for a bowl of cereal. Maybe two or three bowls of

cereal.” I thought a minute then added. “Could I have a piece of your

toast, Nancy?”

“Heck no. If you wanted toast you should’ve ordered it yourself!”

We all started laughing but it didn’t last long. We were hungry. A

hunger we hadn’t felt before. It was a hunger that we felt, not only in

our stomachs, but in our arms and legs too. A hunger that makes you feel

as though your whole body is giving up.

As the sun’s first rays of light peeked over the edge of the world,

Steve and I got our rods out. We took off the lures and replaced them with

hooks. We put two of the few remaining pieces of fish on the hooks and

dropped them over the side of the boat. There was nothing to do but wait

now. And hope.

The sun barely became visible before disappearing again under the dark

clouds. The clouds had come from the west and had completely covered all

but the far eastern sky during the night. At least it didn’t appear that

it was a storm. The winds were very light but the clouds very dark.

“I’ve heard that the fish start biting when the weather changes.”

Steve tried to sound positive.

“Yea, me too, at least in fresh water, Steve, I hope it works the same

in the ocean.” As it started sprinkling I turned to Nancy. “Better grab

the poncho so we can get under it. No sense getting wet if we don’t have

to.”

Nancy got the poncho and we moved to the back seat by Steve. Nancy

was in the middle with Steve and me on each side, our fishing lines dropped

over the side of the boat. It started raining now. Not a blowing or

stormy rain, but a steady straight down rain.

“I don’t know about you two, but I’m going to wash this salt out of

some of my things.”

Nancy had a good idea. Our clothes and towels were gritty with the

salt residue. We all washed out everything as best we could in the now

pouring rain. Steve and I held the poncho up for Nancy while she changed

out of Jane’s sweat suit. She then held it up while we stripped and washed

out our clothes, and then put them back on. While we were changing we had

used a small towel to wash our bodies as clean as we could.

“Hey, we’re also running a little low on drinking water. I think

we’re down to just the thermos and a little bit in one of the buckets.” I

was taking inventory as I spoke. “Let’s use the poncho as a funnel. Hold

it out open wide with the hood in the bucket and it’ll fill faster.”

We held it open and it worked really faster than I would have thought.

When both minnow buckets were full of fresh water we decided to refill the

thermos. It was still full but the water in it was from the melted ice and

hadn’t been that clean to start with. After it was full we decided to take

everything out of the large ice chest and use it for water too. At this

point we didn’t know how long we might be out here. We didn’t really want

to think about it but we had to be prepared just in case. By the time we

had the ice chest just about full the rain subsided. We closed the lid

tightly, secured the minnow buckets and thermos, and sat back down to fish.

At least now we had plenty of fresh water and our clothes and bodies were a

bit cleaner. We felt a little better. But we were still awfully hungry.

The sky started clearing and the sun felt good on our wet skin and

clothes. We laid the oar across the boat and Nancy began to drape the

towels and extra clothing over it to dry. Steve and I held our rods over

the side of the boat.

“Oh no, not more sharks.” Steve didn’t sound panicked, but rather

simply disgusted.

Nancy and I looked in the direction he was pointing.

“Those aren’t sharks. Look how they are bobbing up and down,” Nancy

explained, “They’re dolphins. Aren’t they pretty?”

The school of ten or so dolphins seemed to be playing about fifty feet

from the boat. But as we watched closer we found that they weren’t playing

at all. They were fishing too. They seemed to be herding a school of

smaller fish into the center of their group and the small fish were jumping

up out of the water to get away from the dolphins. We watched with

amazement as the ocean ranchers so expertly worked their herd.

“Hey, they’re getting closer to the boat. Let’s cast over there and

try to catch some of their livestock.”

Steve stood up and cast his baited hook in their direction. I moved

to that side of the boat and did the same. But as we cast the group of

dolphins were moving towards us and were now all around our boat. We

quickly reeled in and as our baited hooks came to the boat we each had a

fish on our lines. As fast as we could get the small fish off our hooks,

now not even baited, and back in the water we would catch another. One of

the fish, that was jumping to get away from the dolphins, actually jumped

into the boat. Then, as quickly as they appeared the dolphins were gone.

But they had brought us our meal. We knew it was most likely a coincidence

but we thanked them anyway.

“What are they?” Nancy asked as she was gathering the flopping fish

and getting them all to one section of the boat.

“I don’t have any idea, but if the dolphins like them they must be

good to eat.” Then Steve added, “And I’m hungry enough to eat them raw,

and whole.”

He held one of the lively fish up to his mouth and pretended to be

going to drop it down his throat.

“Ooh, gross!” Nancy’s face showed her disgust as she spoke.

“Oh, Nancy, he’s just kidding. But they do look good. We must have

twenty of them and they’re all about a quarter pound or so. Before we

clean them let’s see if we can keep some alive for later.”

“Good idea, Dennis, but how?” Steve looked puzzled.

“How about in the sea anchor bucket?” Nancy said. “It’s got those

holes and it keeps minnows alive.”

“Yea, that might work,” I answered, “It should keep them alive for a

day or so, and I don’t think live fish will smell as much and attract

sharks like the pieces of dead ones did.”

I pulled the sea anchor in, took the towel out, and we managed to get

seven of the fish into it.

“Isn’t that sort of cruel,” Nancy had been the one to come up with the idea

but was now having a change of heart, “they are so crowded, and will be

miserable just waiting to die.”

“Don’t feel sorry for the dumb fish, Nancy, feel sorry for us.” Steve

looked at Nancy with disbelief. “If they will keep us alive then it’s ok.”

“I don’t know. Is it ok for us to be cruel to other animals for our

own survival?”

“I agree with you, Nancy. I don’t like to be cruel either. But Steve

is right too. We have to be concerned with our survival right now. We

just have to make it.”

I put the fish-filled minnow bucket back in the water and helped Steve

clean the rest of the fish. It didn’t appear that the oil lamp stove was

using that much of the baby oil so we cooked all of the fish to make the

meat last longer before spoiling. We ate our fill. We were sure getting

tired of fish and water but we were hungry enough to be reasonably

satisfied with such a monotonous diet.

For several days we had plenty of fish to eat and a good supply of

fresh water. We talked a lot about what we would do when we got back home.

We continued our morning workouts in the boat and even lengthened them a

bit each day. We watched the horizon for any sign of human life on our

planet of endless water. The waves remained at about a foot or so and the

steady motion of the boat created sort of a rhythm that made us start

trying to think of songs that went with that rhythm. It became sort of a

contest and made the time pass, however slowly.

Then the waves stopped. It was as though we entered a sheltered area

in the sea. There was no breeze, no waves, and no sound whatsoever.

“I would almost be happy for a storm.” Nancy practically whispered in

the eerie silence. “Anything would be better than this.”

“Yea, I know what you mean. It’s like we’ve sailed into a void.” I

was leaning over the side of the boat looking down into the water hoping to

see something, anything, as I spoke.

Steve hadn’t said a word for so long we wondered if he had lost his

voice, but we didn’t bother him. We each had our own different ways of

handling our feelings.

Nancy had organized, and reorganized, everything in the boat at least

a hundred times. She would pack everything in the bags then take

everything out and do it a different way.

I had concentrated on the horizon, sky and the deep water of the ocean

for any movement. I’d made myself imagine so many times that I had seen

something that I hesitated now to even mention them until I was sure. Each

time, instead of saying something to the others, I would let my mind

fantasize about being rescued and returning home. I would imagine my mom

fixing the most wonderful meals for me and I would almost taste the

delicious variety of food she had prepared. I never said anything to the

others because I knew it was just my imagination and nothing was really

there. But I savored my escapes. I enjoyed those moments when my

imagination took me away from this desolation. I wondered if Nancy was

doing the same thing.

But Steve kept totally quiet. His eyes had a blankness that was

spooky. Had he even moved lately? I wanted to reach out to him and offer

some support but I had no idea what I could say that would help. It was

such a helpless feeling of solitude in this motionless universe of quiet.

Even though Nancy and Steve were there with me it was still awfully lonely.

Chapter Twelve

“I don’t care if I die. We’re all going to die sooner or later

anyway, and I’d just as soon get it over with sooner.” Steve sounded

almost incoherent as he mumbled barely above a whisper.

“But, Steve, you’ve got to eat. We’re sick of fish too but it’s all

we’ve got. Come on now, Steve, try to eat some of it. You’ve got to. We

need your help if we’re going to make it. You may not care about yourself,

but at least consider us. We want to make it.”

I felt so helpless too. It was tempting to give up myself and join

Steve, but I knew that somehow we would survive. Somehow we would make it

if we just held on and kept doing what we could. We had made it for almost

a month and we could make it a little longer. We had kept the fishing

lines out all of the time and managed to catch enough fish. It had rained

every few days and we always had plenty of fresh water. We still did our

exercises almost every morning and were keeping our muscles in fairly good

condition. I knew that we would eventually need something other than fish

and water to survive but we could live a lot longer than this with nothing

more. We were feeling the effects, with stomach cramps and our whole

bodies aching, but it was not life threatening at this point. Steve and

Nancy really looked bad and I knew I must as well. Unshaven, sunburned,

pimples from lack of soap, and we’d lost weight, a lot of weight. Steve

had suffered the most. Nancy didn’t seem to mind as much about the weight.

Girls always wanted to lose weight even if they had great figures like

Nancy, but I think it was really devastating to Steve. He had talked a lot

about being out of shape for football before he gave up. We had to do

something to renew his determination or he might actually die.

“Oh just leave him alone, Dennis, he’s been nothing but a cry-baby the

whole time.”

“Nancy, we can’t, we have to make him eat. It’s not his fault, we

have to make him eat some of this fish.”

“Why? If he doesn’t care about himself, why should we care about

him?”

“Because…, just because. We have to help him. The strong have to

help the weak in survival. If not, nobody really survives. I read that

somewhere and I really think it was meant for us now.”

Nancy didn’t answer. She simply moved to where I was beside Steve. I

had been trying to put small chunks of fish in his mouth but he’d been

spitting them back out.

“Here, Dennis, let me pour a little water in his mouth as you drop the

fish in. Then he’ll have to swallow.”

“That might work, let’s try it.”

Steve opened his mouth a little wider as Nancy poured a small amount

into his mouth. As he began to swallow the water I dropped a small chunk

of fish in. He partially choked, sat up a little, and spit the fish and

some water out. I don’t think he was in good enough health to really know

what we were trying to do and he never even opened his eyes. Or at least

it didn’t appear they were opening, because they were so swollen that it

was difficult to tell.

“If we had soup,” Nancy thought out loud, “he’d drink the soup.”

We had tried to boil water before over our little stove but there was

really no way to hold the can of water over the flame and even if we

could‘ve, it would take too long and use too much oil. We still had plenty

left but only because we were being careful with it.

“I know,” Nancy spoke to herself as much as to me, “Birds and some

other animals chew up the food before giving it to their babies. What if

we chew it up real good and then stir it into the water?”

It worked. We chewed the fish until it was ready to swallow, then we

spit it into the cup of water. When we poured the water into his mouth he

swallowed it. It was the first he had eaten in at least two days. Maybe

more. We kept this up most of that day and continued the next day. It

seemed to be helping him and it gave us something to do as well.

I couldn’t help thinking how just a month ago something like that

would have totally grossed us out. And now, we were more or less, spitting

into Steve’s mouth and thinking nothing of it. Just a couple of weeks ago

Nancy had been so embarrassed about starting her period. Now she had

thought of this herself. And didn’t give a second thought about it being

gross. We had changed a lot. Not only had our appearance changing

drastically to the worse, but our attitude on things had changed too.

Steve had always been so competitive. Who would have guessed that he’d

give up first? Nancy or I would have been the ones who most people would

have guessed would give up, and yet in some ways Nancy had been stronger

than any of us. I’m just stubborn I guess. I just don’t want to admit

that I could fail at anything. I never failed a test, when I probably

should have, and I wouldn’t fail this ultimate test either. Somehow we

would make it!

Chapter Thirteen

After several days of Nancy and I feeding him, Steve got physically

better. He was still very quiet and into himself as though he wasn’t

there…, but physically better. And it was just in the nick of time too.

We had seen dark clouds approaching from the east and heard the rumble

of thunder. The waves had been increasing in size all afternoon even

though there was no wind. I had already taken the one remaining fish out

of the sea anchor and replaced it with the towel to hold the bow of the

boat more into the waves to keep the boat from capsizing. Nancy had helped

secure things as best she could and cooked the fish for later. Steve even

helped us as we tied the poncho across the bow to make a shelter and to

help keep as much water out of the boat as possible. We huddled together

under the poncho and held on to each other as the boat bucked in the water

when the storm began to increase in its intensity.

“Will the boat take this storm?” Nancy sounded really scared for the

first time in quite a while. “It’s really getting bad.”

“It made it through the first one didn’t it? It will make it through

this one too.” I tried to sound positive but I could tell that this storm

was already much stronger than the one that had gotten us in this mess in

the first place. I couldn’t help thinking how long ago that was.

“The boat is turning sideways, Dennis,” Steve spoke for the first time

in days, “the sea anchor isn’t heavy enough.”

“I’m afraid you’re right, quick, let’s put on the life jackets just in

case.”

When I had mine on I crawled out from under the poncho into the now

pouring rain and grabbed the oar. By rowing across the back of the boat I

could manage to keep the bow going into each wave. Nancy reached for the

minnow buckets and, picking the one with the least fresh water in it, used

it to bail water out of the boat. After about twenty minutes Steve

relieved me on the oar. It seemed like an endless battle but we held our

own.

“Hold on!” I yelled at Nancy and Steve when I saw the wave coming at

us. “This one’s coming from a different angle.”

“I see it!” Steve began to row frantically sideways to turn the boat,

“Grab the sides, Nancy.”

I grabbed the bench as best I could when the wave hit. Steve had

managed to get us turned just enough that the boat didn’t capsize but it

sure bounced when it was raised up and over the large wave.

“Keep looking for more of those, Dennis.” Steve looked relieved that

we’d made it but, like me, was concerned about another one catching us off-

guard.

“I hope that’s the only one,” I stared straight ahead as I answered

Steve, “I don’t want to have to do that again.”

“I’m never going on the log ride at Six Flags again.” Nancy said out

of the blue.

Steve and I both looked at her in confusion for a moment then laughed

at what she’d said.

“And I’m never eating fish again either.” I added to her obvious

conviction.

The storm lasted well into the night and when the wind and rain

finally subsided we all three crawled under the poncho, wet and exhausted,

and fell asleep. We were all too tired to even consider someone keeping

watch.

“Dennis, Steve, wake up!” I could hear Nancy calling from outside our

little tent. “The ocean is covered with seaweed.”

When I crawled out from the poncho the sun blinded me. It took me a

while for my eyes to adjust, but then I saw what she was talking about. It

looked like we were in a field of seaweed.

“The storm must have broken it lose from the bottom.” I thought a

second still clearing my sleepy mind. “I think it’s good to eat. Let’s

try it.”

“I’ll try anything for a change from fish.” Steve sounded encouraged

for the first time in days.

“Don’t eat too much at first though, because I’m not sure it won’t

make us sick.”

We pulled in one of the clumps and each of us chewed a little of it.

It wasn’t bad but it didn’t really have much flavor. It felt good to have

something to chew on though. After the first small bite we decided to wait

a couple of hours before we ate more just in case it made us sick. We

spent that time gathering more into the boat.

“Well, lookie here. Aren’t you a little cutie? Would you like a new

home? A nice warm new home…, in my tummy.”

“Who are you talking to, Nancy?”

“I found a shrimp, Dennis. A nice little shrimp on this piece of

seaweed.” Nancy had been stacking the bunches of seaweed as Steve and I

were picking out the best ones from around the boat.

“Hey, here’s another one.” Steve held one of the small shrimp up for

us to see. “Mmm,” Steve mumbled as he popped it into his mouth and chewed,

“really nice.”

“Steve!” Nancy was startled at first that Steve had eaten a live

creature. “I can’t believe you did that.”

“Hey,” Steve popped another one in his mouth as he spoke, “they’re

good, Nancy. And it’s a less painful way to kill them than letting them

die in the bucket.”

“Steve’s right you know,” I’d thought about what he said and,

agreeing, decided to try one myself, “they are awfully good, Nancy.”

“Well I just don’t think I can do it.” Nancy was holding one of the

very small shrimps up close and looking at it. Then she looked again at us

eating one after the other and popped the shrimp into her own mouth. “It

does taste really good doesn’t it?”

We all three started looking for the shrimp on the seaweed around the

boat and during the course of the afternoon found enough of the small

creatures to fill the minnow bucket that Nancy had used to bail out the

boat the night before. When it was full we continued to harvest this

unexpected crop like you would pick berries from a vine. We continued

until it was too dark to see and our stomachs were too full to hold any

thing else. Our spirits had certainly been lifted today. The storm had

been a blessing in disguise.

By the next morning the seaweed had either sank back into the depths

or drifted away but, either way, we had a good supply of it in the boat as

well as a full bucket of shrimp.

“Did I hear you throwing up last night, Steve?”

“Yea, Dennis, but I think I just ate too much. I feel fine. In fact

I feel pretty good today.”

“I guess the seaweed is OK to eat then, I feel better too with

something other than fish in my stomach.” I thought a second about what

I’d said then added. “The seaweed has vitamins that we probably needed.

And the shrimp is really great. Wish we had some tartar sauce though.”

“I prefer melted butter and lemon on mine.” Nancy smiled as she

spoke.

“I’d like to have ‘em cooked into fritters.” Steve joined in. “I

really loved the conch fritters that I had when my family went to the Keys

last summer. I’ll bet these little guys would make good fritters too.”

“Wouldn’t scrambled eggs with these guys in it be good?” Nancy asked.

“I really miss breakfast food.”

“Me too,” I agreed with Nancy, “and let’s put some green peppers and

onions in with them.”

“Don’t forget to make some toast.” Steve added quickly. “I’d really

like some toast and jelly.”

We chewed on the seaweed and ate some of the fish that we had left,

preferring to save the shrimp for later. But it sure didn’t taste as good

as what we were fantasizing about.

It was a nice day though. And, we had something to look forward to

now, shrimp and seaweed. Not a lot, but so much more than before. I guess

you get to the point where it doesn’t take much to make you happy. We

decided to relax, enjoy the nice weather, and just sort of take the day

off.

Chapter Fourteen

“Can’t you see it now?” Nancy sounded irritated. “It’s there,

coming right towards us, open your eyes, it’s there.”

It was dark but the partial moon gave just enough light so Steve and I

could see where Nancy was pointing.

“Nancy, I think you are seeing stars,” Steve scolded her, “I don’t see

anything but stars.”

“Lower down. Look there, below the stars.”

I looked in the direction her arm was pointing. I saw the stars too

but just under the lowest star was a light…, no three lights. A red light

on one side, a white blinking in the middle, and a green light on the

other.

“I see it! I see it now. It has to be a plane. And it’s flying

really low. Maybe a search plane.” I started waving my arms as I spoke.

“Hey! Hey, over here!” Steve began yelling. “I see it too! Help,

over here!”

We were all yelling now, for what good it would do. The boat rocked

as we were practically jumping up and down.

“Quick, get the matches.” Steve yelled as he reached into the bag

with the lamp. “Nancy, find the matches, hurry, it’s coming closer.”

Nancy reached down and picked up the beach bag where we kept the

matches. She fished around until she found the container.

“Oh no, no, no…, please no.” Nancy sounded like she was going to cry.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” I could see Nancy down on her knees

in the boat as I spoke.

“The matches…, I dropped the matches, and there’s water in the boat.

They’re all wet. I can’t believe I was so stupid and dropped them, and now

they’re wet.”

“Nancy, you idiot, you clumsy idiot. Give them here,” Steve grabbed

the matches out of her hand, “they’re wet and ruined. Nancy, you stupid

idiot.”

“No, Steve! Don’t!” I spoke too late. Steve had thrown the

remaining partial book of matches out into the night.

We watched helplessly as the small plane flew almost directly

overhead. We yelled but as the plane came overhead the sound of it’s

engine drowned out our efforts and we knew that the pilot couldn’t possibly

hear us anyway. But we just couldn’t help yelling until the plane was past

us. We sat down and silently watched as the plane left in the opposite

direction. No one cried. No one moved. No one spoke for a long time.

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.” Nancy cried.

“I should have gotten them myself.” Steve scolded Nancy some more.

“I should have known you would mess it up. We would have been saved. Now

we’ll never make it.”

“I’m so sorry, I just can’t believe it.” Nancy continued crying.

“It could’ve happened to any one of us, Steve. We were all excited.

It could’ve happened to you.” I felt bad too but Steve was really being

cruel. “Besides, you shouldn’t have thrown them away.”

“Well, they were ruined.” Steve spoke sarcastically.

“Yea but they could have been dried out tomorrow in the sun. There

weren’t many left but they could’ve been dried and they would have been

OK.”

“Now we won’t be able to cook any more fish, or even have a chance at

signaling at night again.” Nancy was crying as she spoke, still punishing

herself.

“Matches like that can’t be dried. Once they get wet they’re ruined

forever.” Steve said in his own defense.

“Maybe, but maybe not. Now we’ll never know, will we?” I knew it

wasn’t accomplishing anything by arguing but I just couldn’t help myself.

“I’m sorry, how can you ever forgive me?” Nancy continued to grieve.

“It’s OK, Nancy, there weren’t but a few left anyway, it’s OK.” I

felt so badly for Nancy and so disgusted with Steve.

I moved to the center seat and put my arm around her. She was

trembling with grief. I held her close and wished that I could make things

right. I, too, knew that we had missed an opportunity to be rescued but it

wasn’t her fault. It was just bad luck. I thought about it and decided

that it was just some more really bad luck. In a way it was due. Although

we weren’t in a very good situation we were surviving. Much longer than

anyone probably thought we could. So we’d been very lucky I guess. A

little bad luck was overdue.

“Dennis, I’m sorry.” Nancy whispered for only me to hear as she

leaned her head on my shoulder and grabbed my free hand and held it.

“Thank you for understanding.”

The next day we were all still subdued. I could tell Nancy still felt

terrible. Steve was still mad and I just felt awkward trying to figure

some way to set things straight and get us all working together again. By

mid-morning we were all hungry so we cleaned two of the fish we had in the

sea anchor.

“I don’t know if I can eat it raw.” Steve spoke sarcastically and

obviously was going to continue. “Without matches…,”

I sternly interrupted him. “Steve, we ate the shrimp raw, and

besides, we weren’t really cooking the fish that much before anyway.”

It didn’t look that good raw to me either. At least the little stove

had changed it from blood pink to white and black. Nancy looked at the

fish but hadn’t made a move yet herself.

As we sat staring at the raw fish Steve suddenly reached over and

grabbed my arm.

“Dennis, What about your watch? Can’t we make heat with the lens? I

saw it on a movie once where you could use a watch lens like a magnifying

glass.”

Steve had a point. What difference did it make if we knew the time

anyway. The only thing I had been using it for was the luminescent dial as

a nightlight and we’d still have that. I took the little knife and worked

the lens off. Steve tore some pieces of cotton from Nancy’s flannel shirt

and laid them around the wick of the lamp. I held the watch lens up

between the lamp and the sun.

“Well I’ll be…, it’s plastic, it’s not really a lens at all, it’s

cheap plastic. They sold me a cheap watch with a useless plastic lens.”

“There is a little gasoline in the bottom of the engine’s tank still,

Dennis. Would it help if the cotton was soaked in gas?” Nancy asked

trying to help.

“Nancy, you don’t understand. The lens is plastic. It’s useless to

start a fire.”

“But with the gasoline wouldn’t any amount of heat or spark start it

burning?” Steve asked and then suddenly his eyes brightened. Wouldn’t the

spark from the spark plug start the cotton burning just like it does the

fumes in the engine’s cylinder?”

“Steve, I thought that you took auto mechanics just for an easy grade.

I really think you’re on to something. Can the spark plug create a spark

outside of the engine?”

“Sure, if the cable is attached and the starter rope is pulled it will

spark just like it would inside the motor. But how can we get the spark

plug out?”

That was the million-dollar question. We worked for hours trying to

twist the plug to no avail. We used some of the baby oil around the base

to lubricate it but nothing. We had nothing that would secure around the

plug to turn it. Steve and I finally gave up.

“Let me see it.” Nancy said as she moved to the back of the boat by

the motor.

“Give it up, Nancy.” I couldn’t see her wasting her time and energy

on something that was useless. “It won’t come out without a wrench, and we

don’t have any tools.”

“Why don’t we hammer the knife blade on it at an angle? Maybe that

will jar it loose?” Nancy continued to try and come up with a solution.

“Yea, but where’s a hammer?” Steve asked.

“How about the oar, or even the metal cover on the motor?” Nancy

asked.

Steve and I were a little embarrassed. She was right. Maybe it would

work. We took the knife and Steve held it on one of the flat surfaces of

the spark plug near where it screwed into the motor. I held the oar and

tapped the knife. The oar was just too large and awkward. The motor was

really old and the cover was made of heavy metal, so we decided to try it

as a hammer. It took a while to figure out how to get it off but when we

did…

“Well, what do you know? Can you believe it? Things just aren’t made

that way anymore. Can you believe it?” Steve kept mumbling to himself and

us as he was looking inside the motor’s cover.

On the inside of the lid, attached by the factory, were a screwdriver

and a wrench. They had probably been there and not used since it was made.

It was apparent they were there for emergencies, and this was certainly an

emergency. Steve took the wrench and it fit the spark plug perfectly. It

took some effort but he finally got the plug out of the motor. He re-

attached the plug wire from the engine to the plug and held the plug by the

lamp with the gas soaked cotton. I grabbed the starter rope and pulled as

hard as I could.

“OUCH!” Steve screamed as he dropped the plug like a hot potato.

“What is it?” Nancy looked concerned for Steve for the first time in

weeks.

“I think I’ve been electrocuted. We’ve got to figure something else

out. At least we know it works though.” Steve was nursing his right hand

as he spoke.

“Use the poncho, Steve. Hold it with the poncho. That should

insulate your hand from the current.” Nancy was handing him the poncho as

she spoke.

“You do it!” Steve backed further away from the motor as he held his

right hand, “I’m not getting electrocuted again.”

“Oh you baby.” Nancy scolded Steve and picked up the plug at the end

of the cable where he’d dropped it. “A little electricity can’t hurt that

bad.”

Nancy wrapped the poncho about ten folds around the plug and held it

close to the wick of the makeshift lamp. I pulled the rope again and we

saw sparks but it didn’t light. Seeing that it wasn’t shocking Nancy now I

pulled several times in a row and the sparks showered the wick until it

finally burst into flame.

“All right!” Steve sounded like he wished he’d been the one holding

the plug still, but he was sure excited that it worked.

“It just took a woman’s touch.” Nancy chided with pride.

“Steve, I think we’ve got to admit that us guys were out-done on this

one.” I was excited that it’d worked too and knew we had Nancy to thank.

We were in business. We cooked our fish, ate, and afterwards

practiced the procedure all afternoon. We wanted to make sure we could get

it started even in the dark. Even if we were excited and clumsy, like last

night.

Chapter Fifteen

It had been several days of drizzle and the sun really looked

wonderful. As it peeked over the horizon of smooth water it was as though

we were sitting on the world’s largest mirror. What few clouds that were

left were disappearing in the west. I reached over the side of the boat to

touch the water to make sure I was awake, and not dreaming. The absolute

calm and silence of the ocean was beautiful. The only interruption was

Steve’s occasional snoring. The water rippled as my hand moved in it and

the tiny wave it created moved out from the boat like a messenger on a long

trip. I watched as it continued its progress wondering if someone,

somewhere, would see it and know we were out here. Somehow sense we needed

help and come to our rescue. As the ripple calmed I was still looking down

at my hand in the water. I suddenly realized that I could see something

beneath my hand. Down under the boat, not more than thirty or forty feet,

was a sandy bottom.

“Nancy! Steve! Wake up! You can see the bottom. You can actually

see the bottom.”

They sat up and looked over the side like I was doing.

“All right! Look at it. Isn’t it beautiful? Does it mean we are

close to shore?” Nancy sounded so hopeful.

“Maybe. But it’s probably just an undersea island. There are a lot

of places in the ocean that get shallow like this. I remember flying over

the ocean once and thought that there were a lot of islands but the

stewardess had explained it to me. From the air you can’t even tell that

they are underwater. They are just sort of mountains in the ocean.”

“Well if we’re over a mountain I’m scared,” Steve grinned as he spoke,

“cause I’m afraid of heights.”

“Really?” I furthered his humor by adding my own humor. “I’m afraid

of widths and have been scared to death for over a month out here in the

wide open sea.”

We all three laughed together while leaning over the boat enjoying the

sight of solid land, even if out of reach. We strained our eyes for over

an hour to see anything on the sandy bottom.

“Look, over here in the front of the boat, a conch shell, look how big

it is.” Steve sounded proud that he had seen it first. “I wonder if it’s

navigator is good to eat?”

“Probably, but how in the world would we catch it?” I replied.

“How about the fishing line? We could bait it and maybe the conch

would hold on like a crawfish or crab does.”

Steve put a piece of fish on a hook and lowered the line into the

water. It took some maneuvering but he finally laid the baited hook on the

sandy bottom beside the conch. The conch was less than interested. It

simply pushed it aside on it’s slow but steady journey to somewhere.

“Hey, look over here, there’s a crab, no, two of them.”

Steve and I looked where Nancy was pointing and saw them. Steve

quickly moved his line to that side of the boat. I baited a hook on my

line and dropped in the same area. Finally one of the crabs started eating

the fish on my hook. I remembered catching crawfish and started gently

reeling the line up. The crab held on still eating the chunk of fish.

When I had the crab within a few feet of the surface it let go and sank

back to the sandy bottom. Steve got another crab on his line but the same

thing happened to him. A few more crabs soon arrived but every time we got

one and started pulling it up, it would release the bait before getting too

close to the surface. We tried jerking the lines hoping to hook the crabs

as they ate but they were only nibbling the fish and not the hook so we

couldn’t set the hook in them. It was fun trying but quickly became

frustrating so we quit. There were a few fish in the area so we left the

lines out in the water hoping to catch one for breakfast. We had eaten our

last fish yesterday and needed to refill the sea anchor with livestock.

The crabs sure would have been a nice change in our diet though.

“It’s almost like the fish can see us too. They refuse to bite the

bait. I sure wish we could catch some crabs.” Steve kept looking at the

bottom where there were now six or seven crabs digging in the sand for

food.

“Look out from the crabs, about ten feet guys.” Nancy broke in.

“Isn’t that a lobster?”

“Yea, a pretty big one too. Gosh, just look at that tail. Wouldn’t

that be good?” My mouth watered at the thought of lobster tail and butter.

“How do people catch lobsters and crabs anyway, Dennis?” Nancy asked.

“They use traps I think. I’ve seen them on television pulling the

traps in the water and getting them out again. I think they use wire cages

with bait in them and let them sit on the bottom. Then when the crabs and

lobsters are inside eating they pull them in before the catch gets out.”

“Actually the traps are made with a sort of funnel going in that makes

it easy to enter but hard to get back out. Can’t we make a trap out of

something?” Steve was looking around the boat as he spoke. “I have an

extra spool of fishing line that would work as a rope if we doubled or

tripled it. It should be long enough.”

We thought about the ice chest but it was too heavy and large.

Besides, we needed something with holes, more like a cage, so the water

would be able to pass through as we pulled it up. Otherwise the crabs and

lobsters would just swim out and not be pinned to the bottom by the water

current flowing through. We tried using a towel. We tied the line to the

corners and put the wrench and screwdriver inside to make it sink. Then we

placed several pieces of fish in it and dropped it to the bottom. After

about twenty minutes on the bottom a crab came to it and began to eat the

fish. We started pulling but the drenched towel didn’t hold the crab. It

was too bulky and the crab simply jumped off with the fish. It sat a few

feet away enjoying the meal we had provided almost as though it were

laughing at us. We pulled the towel back in and looked around the boat

again. There was just nothing we had in the boat that would work.

“Hey, what about the sea anchor?” Steve started pulling the rope into

the boat as he spoke. “We forgot about the minnow insert.”

Steve pulled the bucket with holes into the boat. We tied the little

door on top open and put some pieces of fish inside. We took the line off

of the towel and tied it to the handle and then placed the wrench and the

screwdriver in with the fish and lowered it to the bottom. In a few

minutes one of the crabs moved to it and climbed into the trap. We pulled

it up slowly but steadily and this time the crab couldn’t escape. When we

pulled it out of the water the crab was still inside. We took it out,

killed it, and after taking the meat and legs we put the rest back in the

trap and lowered it back down. This time we waited until several were

inside before pulling it up. We continued until we had nine crabs and the

lobster with the most delicious looking tail.

“Well, this is sure going to be a good birthday lunch.” I was

speaking more to myself than the others.

“Dennis, is this your birthday? How old are you?” Nancy smiled as

she spoke to me.

“I think so. Isn’t this the fourteenth of July? If so I’m seventeen

today.”

“Happy birthday to you,” Steve and Nancy were singing together.

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Den-nis, happy birthday to you.

And many more!” They grinned as they harmonized the last line.

“And there will be more.” I mumbled under my breath. “Lots more.”

“I sure hope so.” Steve looked a little disturbed as he gave thought

to what we were talking about.

“We are going to make it. We will be rescued! If I had a candle to

blow out I sure know what my wish would be.”

“We know too, Dennis. And we hope you get your wish.” Then Nancy

added, “Let’s light the lamp for Dennis’ candle.”

Nancy and I worked our procedure and got the lamp burning.

“Why don’t we cook our food before Dennis blows it out?” Steve tried

not to sound like he was spoiling the party when he spoke.

“Good thinking, Steve,” I reassured him about his suggestion, “no

sense wasting all that effort and just having to do it again.”

When we finished with the cooking I held the lamp in the middle of us.

Nancy and Steve were both smiling and we all three crossed our fingers and

shut our eyes as I made my wish and blew out the lamp. We clapped our

hands and cheered, and somehow really thought my wish would happen. That

it would come true. And, that it’d happen today.

“Here, Dennis, it’s your birthday so you can have the lobster tail.”

Nancy handed the barely cooked tail to me. We had been eating crab legs

and crabmeat and had saved the lobster tail for last.

“OK, I’ll take the first bite,” I tore it into three pieces as I was

speaking, “but I insist on sharing.”

The crabs and lobster tail had been delicious but not that filling.

We dropped the baited lines back in the water and kept a lookout for more

crabs but the water was getting deeper again and I don’t think we had

enough line to reach the bottom now even if we saw some. We finally caught

a couple of fish and put them in the ex-crab-trap and put it back in the

water as a sea anchor and fish cage. We decided to save the fish for

later. We were still hungry but didn’t want to lose the flavor of the

lobster that was still lingering in our mouths.

We continued our fishing but were not having any more luck as the

afternoon went by. After eating the crabs and the lobster we had been

talking about other seafood but quickly changed the subject to a more

appealing topic.

“I would kill for a hamburger.” Steve said. “A simple greasy

hamburger.”

“Yea, anything but fish.” Nancy added. “Even a lettuce salad with

nothing else but dressing.”

“How about a pot of beans? Wouldn’t that be good? Just a pot of

plain ‘ole beans.” I never would have thought that I would crave beans.

Mom made them every so often and I always ate them, but I never really

liked them. But right now they sounded wonderful. “I wish I was sitting

by Mom right now eating beans.”

“I always hated liver but my mother cooked it about once a month.”

Nancy made an expression as she spoke that demonstrated her disgust. “But,

I’d eat the liver gladly if I could be with my family now.”

“I still want a greasy hamburger.” Steve stuck to his original

desires. “But, I wouldn’t mind having my Dad there with me eating one too.

And, can I add some fries with ketchup?”

“Too late, Steve!” Nancy and I were on the same wavelength and spoke

in unison. “You know the rules, you already placed your order and you

can’t change it now.”

“Ok then,” Steve grinned, “I’ll stick to the greasy burger but I want

it to be a really big one. Hey, Dad hasn’t been out here with us so he

won’t be that hungry, maybe I could also finish his if there’s some left.”

We sat silently for a few minutes contemplating our fantasy meals. So

simple, food we had always taken for granted, now sounded so special. And

I knew that Nancy and Steve must be thinking about their families like I

was thinking about Mom. I sure missed her. I felt so badly that she

couldn’t know I was OK. I hoped she wasn’t sick with grief. I wish I

could just let her know that I was OK and that I’d be back soon.

We were still sitting silently when we faintly heard a low rumbling

sound. We all three strained our eyes and ears in the direction it had

seemed to come from.

“There, in the sky.” Steve shouted as he pointed. “An airplane! Over

there!”

“It’s too light for them to see the lamp. How can we get their

attention?” Nancy was standing up by Steve and me and we were all waving

our arms but the plane was quite a distance away and couldn’t possible see

us.

“Nancy, don’t you have a mirror in your bag?”

“Yea, Dennis, my compact.” Nancy looked confused as she answered.

“Get it out, quick.” I spoke rapidly as a plan took shape in my mind.

Nancy dug through the beach bag and got out a container with makeup on

one side and a mirror on the other side on the lid. I held it so the sun

would reflect off the mirror and tried to make it shine at the plane.

“Is it working, Dennis?” Steve watched me as he spoke. “Is it

shining at the plane?”

“I can’t tell. It’s hard to see where the reflection is going.” I

answered honestly.

“Hold your hand up and shine the light on your hand. Then move your

hand just under where the plane is and shine the light over it.” Nancy

suggested.

It worked. I could see the sun reflection on the palm of my hand and

when I moved my hand up the light had to be hitting the plane. I aimed it

the best I could to where the front window of the plane must be.

“How did you know to do it that way, Nancy?” Steve asked in

amazement.

“I saw them do it in a movie once.” Nancy answered Steve. Then she

turned and asked me. “Does it work, Dennis?”

“Yea, I think it’s working. It must be working.”

The plane suddenly changed directions and headed straight toward us.

We jumped up and down in the boat, screaming and hugging each other. But

just as quickly as our joy began, it ended. The plane changed directions

again and returned to its previous course.

“It had to have seen us. Why else would it have turned toward us?” I

said thinking how it had been too much of a coincidence. It must have seen

us.

“Maybe it thought we were just fishermen and didn’t figure we needed

help.” Steve sounded really disgusted.

We had been in such a good mood with our unexpected delicious food.

We wished we hadn’t even seen the plane. It just wasn’t fair that things

keep happening to get our hopes up this way, and then let us down. It just

wasn’t fair.

We sat in silence for several hours. I knew I should think of

something to get our spirits back up but couldn’t think of anything. I was

as depressed as they were and was tired of having to always be the one in

charge. Why couldn’t they do something for a change? Why did I always

have to be the one in charge?

The sun was starting to set when we heard it again. This time we

didn’t even get up. We looked at each other for support but nobody said

anything or even tried to get up. We were too tired of being disappointed.

The sound got louder and this time it was a different sound than the plane

had made.

“It’s a boat. It’s not the same plane, it’s a boat.” Steve stood up

and looked in the direction of the sound as he spoke.

“Yea, and it’s coming this direction. It’s…, it’s coming to us.”

Nancy said quietly not letting her emotions show.

We were now all three standing up looking at the boat coming directly

toward us but none of us were waving or screaming. We just stood there and

watched as it got closer and closer with each passing minute. After a

while we saw three figures on the front of the rather large boat. It

looked like two men and a woman in uniforms waving to us.

“It’s a Navy boat, or Coast Guard. Look at the uniforms, they are

coming for us, they are for sure coming for us!” Nancy started getting

louder as her excitement began to release.

“The plane must have seen us and radioed them. That’s why it kept

going. The pilot knew help would come.” As I spoke I began to understand.

It made perfect sense. What could the plane have done anyway?

We all started waving back to the boat and we jumped up and down with

joy. As it got close enough to maybe hear us we began yelling.

“Help! Help us!” Steve screamed louder than I had ever heard anyone

scream in my life.

“Thank you air plane! Thank you Coast Guard, or Navy!” I added.

“Thank you, Dennis,” Nancy yelled but in a lower voice meant just for

me. “Just thanks for being here.”

Then as the boat drew up to our little wooden hole in the vast ocean

we all began screaming with uncontrollable delight.

“Hamburgers!” Steve screamed out.

“Tacos!” Nancy was grinning ear to ear, then added, “Milkshakes!”

“Beans, just plain ‘ole beans.” I yelled as loud as I possibly could.

Chapter Sixteen

“So, do you really want a bowl of beans?” The young Coast Guard

ensign looked seriously at me while trying to contain her smile. “I have

some that I can fix if you’d prefer them.”

“No,” I smiled as I answered the young woman, “I think I’d rather have

some of the pizza too.”

“It is odd isn’t it,” Nancy leaned over against me as she spoke, “you

start missing even the simple things when you’re in a situation like that.”

“You three eat up now,” the ensign smiled as she watched us.

We were certainly three sickly looking teenagers, even after a shower

and clean clothes to wear, and must have looked terrible as we were

devouring the pizza.

“The rescue chopper should be here any minute now. And there’s a lot

of really concerned people waiting for you.”

“What’s that for?” Nancy had a frightened look on her face as she

spoke to the man with the three needles in his hands.

“Vitamins,” he spoke softly and tried to reassure her, “mostly just

vitamins and some other things you need.”

“I don’t like shots,” Nancy continued to object, “don’t you have any

pills?”

“Come on now,” the doctor chided, “you’ve managed to survive an

incredible ordeal and you won’t take one little shot?”

He’d been cleaning her arm with alcohol while they were talking and

without any warning stuck her arm with the hypodermic needle before she

could object further.

Steve and I took ours without objection and tried hard not to show any

fear.

“Don’t eat too much now, guys,” the ensign suggested to us, “there’ll

be plenty more later. You need to be careful not to make yourselves sick.

And, it’s about time to go out and get on the helicopter that’ll take you

home.”

The helicopter ride was cool but we were so anxious to get back to

land again that we didn’t enjoy it as much as we might have under different

circumstances.

“Look!” Steve was pointing out the window on his side as he yelled

above the loud noise of the heicopter. “It’s the shore!”

“Oh yes!” Nancy leaned over and almost placed her head on Steve’s

shoulder to look out his window. “It’s really land.”

I could see past the two of them and saw the shoreline as we

approached it. It looked really wonderful but I couldn’t help staring at

Nancy and Steve too. I guess they were still going to be together after

all. But, I had to admit that they did make a perfect couple. They looked

good together even as bad as we all looked right now.

“I know you three are anxious to get home,” the officer spoke loudly

over the noise of the still-running helicopter as he led us away from it

towards an aircraft hanger, “but the news media and some other folks want

to have a few minutes with you first.”

We didn’t mind at all. It just felt so good to walk on real ground

again. That is, once we figured out how to walk on something that wasn’t

moving again.

The hanger was huge and we were amazed at how many people were in it.

We hadn’t even adjusted our eyes to the different lighting there when a

camera’s bright light blinded us.

“I’ll bet you were glad you had someone like Steve with you.”

Nancy looked at me and saw the amusement in my eyes. She then looked

at Steve. Steve had that same apprehensive fear in his eyes that she had

been seeing for the past month and a half. Had it only been a month and a

half? It had seemed like forever.

“Yea, I suppose so.” Nancy answered the reporter. Steve looked so

grateful, so relieved. I smiled at her with reassurance. She knew I

wouldn’t mind. After all, we had survived knowing that the strong must

protect the weak.

“This is an incredible story,” the reporter continued, now talking to

the camera, “the town’s football hero, the head cheerleader, and another

student, lost at sea for nearly two months yet managing to survive. This

is Ed Stuart, with Action News.”

I didn’t think twice about what the reporter had said. It didn’t

matter that I was just ‘another student’. What mattered was that we’d made

it. I wanted to get back to my life. I knew that Nancy would want to get

back with Steve. She wouldn’t want to date me. I started walking out of

the hanger and away from the crowd. I, at least, would have the memories

of Nancy. I would savor, forever, our short relationship. I understood

that, now, I must let her go.

“Dennis! Dennis, where are you going?” Nancy was breathless from

running to catch up with me.

“Home, I just want to go home.” I answered, surprised by her

presence.

“Won’t you please wait and meet my parents first? They’ll want to

know who I’m talking about when I tell them all about the person who saved

our lives,” then with a sweet smile she added, “my new boyfriend.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My eyes were swelling up with

tears and I tried my best to hold them back. I had never let myself

believe that she would ever date me when we got back. I’d never have

expected her to. I’d not even admitted to myself how much I’d grown to

love the girl I’d admired for so long. And now, she had said that she

liked me too.

I reached out and put my arms around Nancy like I’d done so many times

in the past month and a half, but this time not just to keep her warm and

calm. This time, for the first time ever, I held her in the way I’d held

her so many times in my dreams. I held her close and felt her hugging me

back as more than just a companion. She turned her face up to mine and for

the first time our lips met with a real kiss. We were both oblivious to

the pain of our cracked, parched lips. We only felt the tremendous

pleasure of our need for each other. As we walked further away from the

hanger together, still holding each other tightly, we anxiously looked for

our parents in the crowd.

“They’re not here yet, kids.” The man must have known exactly what

Nancy and I were looking for and smiled at us as he raised the hand-held

radio to his mouth and talked to someone on it then turned back to us.

“But the tower says the plane bringing your families should be landing in

just a few minutes now.”

“Look, Nancy,” I nodded back towards the hanger where everyone was.

“Here comes Steve.”

The news conference had obviously ended and the reporters and crews

were heading back to their vehicles and helicopters to leave. Steve was

walking towards Nancy and me with a very serious look on his face.

“I wonder what Steve wants?” Nancy was now watching Steve intently as

he approached us.

“He sure looks worried doesn’t he?” I couldn’t help but fear that

Steve was going to try to win Nancy back now that everything was going to

get back to normal.

“He does, Dennis,” Nancy added, “but look how he’s walking now. It

looks like he’s got his old confidence back.”

I did notice and it only worried me more. Steve was, obviously,

wanting to say something to us but the noise of the airport prevented him

from speaking until he got closer.

“He’s probably just wanting to know when our folks are getting here,

Dennis.” Nancy reassured me.

“Yea, Nancy,” I sure hoped Nancy was right, “probably so.”

“Hey, guys,” Steve spoke with a confident but serious tone for the

first time since our ordeal had begun, “I was just wondering who’ll have to

pay the boat rental?”

Steve was serious but the absurdity of his question started Nancy

laughing, then I joined her, and then Steve. The three of us went from

simple laughter to hysterical laughter as we hugged each other and finally

relaxed, knowing our ordeal was really over.