The two angels watched from above as the canoe drifted closer to the outside of the bend. The current grew swifter and sucked the canoe toward the rock overhang, where the flowing water cut deep. The man in back paddled furiously, trying to turn the canoe towards open water and propel it forward, away from the low hanging wall that threatened to clothesline them. In the front of the canoe a redheaded girl was screaming "Rocks! Rocks! Rocks!" In light of the impending crush of the rock wall, her screams were reasonable. Above them, Stephen and Marie laughed.
Stephen: Ha, look at this idiot*, letting the canoe get sucked in towards those rocks. Should we get them out of this one?
Marie: Well, this girl's mom is praying pretty hard right now. Anyhow it's not her fault. I'll bet if I push her out of the canoe right now she'll be all right.
Stephen: Good idea.
Marie (shoving the redhead into the water just before the rocks could strike): What are you going to do?
Stephen: Well... he is kinda dumb. Look, he's trying to keep the canoe from getting sucked further under the rocks...
Marie: Yeah, shoulda bailed out when the girl did. But he's not a bad guy, y'know.
Stephen: I suppose not. Maybe I'll just get him out with a little reminder that he failed pretty epically on this one.
Marie: Flip the canoe on him?
Stephen: Why not? He's too stupid to jump out when he should. Maybe smashing his leg up would teach him some humility.
Marie (sounding very much like her ward): Ha, good luck with that.
Stephen: It's worth a shot anyway. At least he'll remember that he managed to find the only conceivably dangerous spot on this creek to screw up in.
Marie: Not really surprising, I suppose.
Stephen (sighing): No, I guess not.
As the canoe flipped over the right side smashed wickedly into the young man's leg. He plunged into the cold water only a few seconds behind his companion and, probably with Stephen's help, managed to swim down stream and into the open, away from the current and the rocks, where he suffered a brief attack of Limited Vocabulary Syndrome, before finally recovering with some help from the rest of the group.
*"This idiot" is, of course, your humbled, bruised author, who really does owe some thanks to that redhead's mom for her prayers, even if they were mostly for her, and only for me in a sort of incidental, or even accidental, way.
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no way!!!!!!!!!! i'll have to get more details. :-)
ReplyDeleteDetails make it sound a little less dramatic, actually.
ReplyDeleteAlso, thanks Mom (I know you're reading this), I'm pretty sure you were praying that weekend too, since you never seem to give up on me.
:-)
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