Adrift

The water lapped against Diana’s drifting canoe, a completely different beast than the storm that tried to sink her only a few hours ago.

         She lay on the dryer side of her sinking boat, too tired to try bailing the rising water any further. Her dark brown hair matted against her face. Even with the rain slicker on, she was soaked to the bone.

         When she fought with her mother and bolted into the rain, her instinct was to run into the woods surrounding their cabin. But, her fear of snakes and bears overrode her common sense.

         Instead, she hopped in her canoe on the upset lake. Her mother’s cries for her return faded under the rolling thunder echoing through the surrounding mountains.

         Now she regretted it and just wanted to go home. The fight was stupid. Diana wanted to drive to town to meet some of the kids for a movie. Her mother insisted the storm was too dangerous and Diana needed to stay with her.

         Of course, she now knew her mother was correct, but only about this storm. Diana was right too. Her mother never let her go anywhere.

         A splash of water caused by a jumping fish made Diana yank out of her sleepy stupor. Was it her imagination or was the canoe even lower in the water? Anxiety gripped her chest and she calculated how far she needed to swim to reach the shore. Just as quickly as it accosted her, the panic abated. The shore had grown much closer than before she rested for a few minutes.

         No matter how close it appeared though, her bedraggled boat was losing the battle. For a few more minutes, she tried to ride it out. But, she finally admitted defeat, took a breath, and dove over the side. The water, thanks to the torrential downpour, slapped her like an ice bucket.

         “Screw you, storm. Could have been warm water but no,” she said, trying to distract herself from the unpleasant bite of the water.

         With slow, steady strokes, she headed toward the shore. By the time she reached the rocky coast, her beloved canoe had sank out of sight, probably already on the bottom of the lake. Tears rose at the sight.

         Her father succumbed to cancer last summer, but before he did, he gifted her the canoe. Told her the lake was the best place to find oneself.

         And now, just like him, it was gone.

         A muffled sob escaped her, sounding obscenely loud in the quiet of the woods. Her hand rose to her mouth and bit down on her finger. Sixteen was too old to cry, even over a lost gift from her deceased father.

         Appearing more like a toy than an actual residence, she could just make out her family cabin on the far side of the lake. Her shoulders slumped. With the wide, curvy lake between her and her summer home, she recognized the exhausting hike before her. She studied the dark clouds above the mountaintop, but they seemed to be retreating. With any luck, she’d make it home much dryer than she currently was.

         A path wound about the curve of the lake and she meandered down it, lost in thought. Her mother needed to let her live a bit. Sure, the kids in town got into trouble on occasion but Diana never had. Her mom needed to trust she would make the right decisions until she proved she couldn’t.

         Though, perhaps running away during a brutal summer storm wasn’t exactly the right way to prove that concept.

         A heavy sigh exhaled out of her. She understood the need to prove to her mother she could be responsible. This was just a minor blip on the radar.

         Something on the lake caught her attention and she shielded her eyes to get a better view. Was that a boat? This was her family’s special place. No one else ever came up here. What was a boat doing on her lake?

         Diana ran back over to the shore and climbed out on a rock as far as she dared. A hard lump formed in her stomach. Her eyes burned from the intensity of her stare.

         She could make out that it was the sheriff’s boat, but she couldn’t figure out why he was at her lake. Surely her mother hadn’t called the sheriff on her for running away, right? Her mother was such a drama llama sometimes.

         A strangled cry burst from her.

         She scrambled backward on the rock, unable to fathom what her view revealed.

         Besides the sheriff’s boat, two divers emerged carrying something. . . something far too familiar.

         Diana touched her bright pink rain slicker, her gaze locked on the bright pink in the divers’ hands. Her other hand touched her tangled dark curls, reflected on the body held by the swimmers.

         Her lids squeezed shut and she reimagined the storm. She remembered the rain pelting her skin, soaking her around the edges of her slicker until she shivered. The wind made the usually placid lake rise in ocean-sized waves, tossing her around like a little bath sailboat. The thunder roared over the rain, lightning disorientating her.

         She couldn’t tell which way she came from, which way to safety.

         When the waves started filling her canoe, she tried scooping the water out with cupped hands. It didn’t make a difference. A gigantic wave capsized her tiny boat.

         Diana screamed for help, screamed for her mother, but everything was water.

         Her father’s gift, given out of love, aided her in doing the worse thing possible. Her mother was going to be alone.

         And worse, Diana could feel the permanent anchor around her soul.

         She wouldn’t be leaving the lake anytime soon.