The True Story of How I Almost Died. (may contain a slight bit of exaggeration)

It happened about two years ago.  My family and I were up at a friend’s house in Anacortes.  (For those who don’t know, Anacortes is a big Island in Washington State.)  This family had seven kids (Schafer, Hudson, Lannie, Lee Lee, Ryle, Eliot, and Titus.)  We had just been playing and having a great time when our dad and their dad thought it might be fun to go boating and exploring while the moms prepared lunch.  All of us young people readily agreed and quickly dressed in our heavy coats and boots before hurrying out the door.  We crammed all thirteen people who were going into two cars and began the short drive to the lake.  We sang and laughed, feeling wonderful to be alive.  Jumping out of the cars, we raced towards the lake.  The older kids helped the younger children administer life jackets, while the dads prepared the boat.   

In the middle of the lake, there was a small bit of land- “An island on an island”- if you will.  Now, this old boat we were using was very small and could only hold a few of us at a time.  So the plan was for Mr. Olson to boat a few of the children over to the island and then go back to retrieve the rest of the kids bit by bit.  Now I, being the eldest and most mature, was chosen to accompany the first group of children and remain on the island with them while their father returned to gather the rest of the group. 

We had a wonderful boat ride over, discussing the many dangerous and new things we were sure to find on the island.  We puzzled over different names in which to bestow upon the bit of land before at last agreeing on dubbing it “The Mysterious Island.” –Yes the whole thing was very Jules Verne worthy.   

After arriving at this new land, we waved goodbye to our boatman as he made the treacherous journey back to the mainland.  We kids on the island, (Schafer, his sister, Lannie, and me) gave a small shriek of excitement while glancing around at our surroundings.  We looked back out at the water and watched the traveling boat diminish until we felt like we could practically imagine it gone, (even though it was not far away.)  We looked at each other, feeling a new independence surge
through our veins.                                                                                                                                     

“I wonder how deep the water is?”  Schafer asked.                                                                             

“Yes.” said Lannie, picking up a rock and tossing it in the water.                                                            

Me, being the eldest and most mature, felt very confident and in charge.  “Well,” I said, “We could always get a stick, and find out.” 

It didn’t take long for me to discover a broken branch upon the ground.   After bending down to retrieve it, I promptly proceeded towards the water. 

Now if you are picturing a flat island, get that image out of your head right now because it is nowhere near the reality of the miniature mountain we were waiting to explore.  There was dirt, and rocks, and trees, and more dirt, rocks and trees.   And the whole thing ascended up a very steep hill.  And, being in Washington State was naturally very wet.  So before you go thinking that I’m just a clumsy fool, (because I’m really not) the whole thing was very wet indeed, especially where the most rocks where towards the end.  

"It's dangerous." thought I, "but it must be done."  So I expertly made the small, treacherous trek down the slopping trail of dirt and the rocks towards the water.  For me, being the eldest and most mature, ‘twas an easy task. 

When I thought I was close enough towards the water, I leaned in and dipped the stick, into the water. 

Not close enough.  I thought.  Just a little further in. 

I carefully maneuvered myself closer and endeavored to stick the stick in again.  'Nope.  I thought.  Still not close enough.  I, being the eldest and most mature, knew that being just a tad bit closer would enable me to gather the information I so desperately desired.  So I carefully stepped in a bit closer and slipped the branch in.  It went in beautifully. 

There!  I congratulated myself.  You did i- And yes, it was at that moment that my feet flew up from underneath me and I slipped down the slippery stones like a child on a slide before tumbling directly into the frigid waters of Washington.   

I made it to the surface and gasped for air.  And then, half swimming, half doggy paddling, I somehow managed to pull myself up the rocks and struggled to grasp on to the ungraspable, wet stones of wetness.  I’ll tell you one thing, the water was very deep, and me, being the eldest and most mature and because of the short supply of life jackets, had not been fortunate enough to receive one of the cherished, yellow, bubbly, beautiful, vests of life.  So, there I fought to survive.  The slippery rocks my only connection back to the hope of life.  This is it.  I thought.  This is how I’m going to die.  In my panicked desperation I took notice of a bit of land I could reach.  Floating myself towards it, I placed my hands on the wet rocks and using all of my strength, managed to hoist myself up enough to grab hold of secure land.  Next, I put my feet on the rocks below the surface and managed to walk on them fast enough that I could bring them above water.  After a great and long struggle, my body was on land, I was at last safe.  It was then that I heard the panicked stricken voice of Lannie Olson asking repeatedly if I was alright.  I raised a tired hand in the air, signaling that I was alive.   Barely.  She still continued asking while her older brother laughed.

“She’s fine Lannie.”  He said, “You can stop screaming.”                                                                     

“Fine?”  Tell that to my heartbeat. 

I picked myself up, walked over to where they stood and managed to put on a smile.  Me, being the eldest and most mature, needed to make sure that they were alright.  Now, my mind remembers that I still had the stick in my hand and at that moment, I lifted the fully soaked twig so they could see. 

“I’d say the water is pretty deep.”  I confirmed, keeping my cool. 

Schafer grinned, “When I said I wanted to see how deep the water was, I didn’t mean for you to take it that literally.” 

I looked down at my fully soaked-self and sighed. 

This was going to be a long hike.