The Joyride
Rain clouds began to tear themselves away from the jagged peaks of the
Koolau range and rays broke through the clouds and beat down on the muddy
water of Pearl Bay. Bobby glanced toward them, but his mind was elsewhere.
He paced back and forth along the isolated stretch of the narrow beach. Now
and then he would kick at loose pebbles along the muddy grey shoreline. For
the moment, Bobby was still in his private world, consisting of little more
than a strip of mud flat along one small section of the bay. But his world
was about to be invaded. Chris, his best friend since kindergarten, would
be showing up any minute. And Bobby knew that before this afternoon ended,
their two lives, so entwined these many years, would forever be changed.
Bobby clutched a smooth black stone in his fingers. He leaned into the
light breeze, preparing to skip it across the harbour waters, but stopped
abruptly, remembering that the gods did not like land removed from the
island. As the stone slipped from his fingers, his eyes followed the
ripples that glided on and off the grey beach where he stood, then rose
almost by habit to gaze once more at the Arizona Memorial stretching white
and graceful, remembering painfully that this would be the last time that
he would ever walk along this beautiful beach.
As his eyes watched the waves, and how they caressed the muddy shoreline,
he began to think of the future. His thoughts were quickly disrupted.
“Hey bud, how's it going? What was so important that you had to talk to me
about?” Chris asked.
“It's to hard. I can't go on with it.”
“What? What can't you go on with?” Chris demanded urgently.
“It's just, that, that, this will be our last weekend together”.
“Wait a minute. Slow down, your not making any sense. None at all. What do
you mean that this will be our last weekend together? We have the whole
entire summer planned out. Fishing next weekend, canoeing to Ford Island
next month, our bike.....”
“NO STOP!!! You don't understand. My dad got transferred. We're moving.”
“But why now. School doesn't start for another two months, and colleges
start even later than that!” Chris replied.
“I know, it sucks. I can't do anything about it. I've tried everything.
I've even asked my parents if it would be okay to move in with my
grandparents for the rest of the summer. But it's no use. They say I have
to get used to the town, meet new friends,and get a job.”
“Okay then. I guess there's nothing we can do about this. So let's make the
most of it this weekend.” Chris said softly.
The clouds began to form again. The rays of light that had once beat down
upon the water had now disappeared once again.Bobby looked at the end of
the bay and watched where the water poured through Maxis's cave. Suddenly
an idea hit his head like a jolt of lightning.
“Let's do something outrageous, something that we'd never do otherwise.”
Bobby said excitedly.
“Well what do have in mind”? Chris asked, holding a puzzled face.
As Bobby raised his arm towards the cave Chris began to see what he was
pointing at. His eyes widened in disbelief.
“Your not serious Bobby. You're gonna get yourself killed!”
“You better believe it. I'm going, whether your coming or not, well, that's
up to you.”
“Wouldn't you rather just go fishing?” Chris asked questionly.
“Fishing. It's my last weekend here, and you wanna go fishing!” Bobby
retorted.
“Fine, let's do it. I'll rent some wet suits at the scuba shop, and um..
you can get the inner tubes. Meet back here at 2:30.” Chris said excididly.
Finally 2:30 came around. By then, the sun had broken up the clouds and you
could now see the jagged peaks of the Koolau Mountains. The two boys had
shown up. They decided to meet up at the top of Maxis Funnel. When they got
there they encountered a man fishing in a near by creak.
“You boys have a death wish or something?” He asked.
“No sir”, Chris said. “Were just looking to have a little bit of fun.
That's all.” Chris replied in a polite manner.
They hopped the 13 foot fence, and the warning signs. Nothing was going to
stop these two boys.
They hopped into the cold murky water and wiped down the funnel like
greased lightning. Suddenly, the sun disappeared. They were now in the
cavern, cries of laughter and excitement rang trough-out the cave. Till
suddenly one of the cries turned bad. One of the cries had a shriek of pure
terror in it. Bobby didn't notice it. He was to busy trying to dodge the
large rocks, until finally the trill of their lifetime came to a stop.
Bobby was sitting in the middle of the bay, alone. He looked back to see if
Chris had come out yet. He didn't. No one did. Until he noticed a discolour
in the water.
He rushed over and scooped up a hand full. It was blood, Chris's blood. And
Bobby knew it.
Bobby jumped off the tube and ran up the muddy beach in hope to find
someone. But no one was there. He knew deep in his mind that no one was
around for miles, and with that fearful thought in his mind he collapsed.
His head sank down between his knees till it hit the soggy mud of the beach.
He turned sick, in thought that he had killed the love and friendship of
two people. A love and friendship which he could never bring back, and he
knew. That this was his fault. He thought to himself that he couldn't live
any more with such a heavy burden on his shoulders. He cried aloud on that
isolated beach. Until he was out of energy and fell asleep. He knew he had
to go home.
He went home that night and told his parents what had happened. Everything.
They were shocked at how irresponsible he could be. They called Chris
parents and they called the police. News trucks and TV reports rushed up
and down their road all night, asking Bobby what had happened. He had a
hard time excepting what had happened. He couldn't believe that he had
killed his best friend. And for what. A trill of a life time.
It's been 3 years now. My stomach still hurts once in a while. My head
spins out of control, kind of. But only now and then. Like at night in my
bed, when it gets real quiet. And dark. First, my mind goes around in slow
circles for a little while, then sinks back down into that foggy place
where I lived for such a long time. That dark misty place where you can
hardly see anything. Where there's nobody else, just me. And Chris's face,
of course, always in front of me. It looks right at me the whole time. But
still, I can't help feeling so terribly alone. Sometimes when I feel like
that, I can hardly fight my way back out of the mist. But now I manage to
clear my head before morning at least, before Mom and Dad catch me and send
me back to the hospital. I hardly go to the hospital anymore. So, I guess
I'm getting better.
It's been a whole 3 years since Chris left. 3 years since the pain started.
A year since we took that plunge down into the dark murky water. I'm not
dumb. I know what made it happen, what it was all about. But I don't think
I'll ever understand it completely.Partner sites: Study Spanish in Spain, Pug, and Free Argumentative and Persuasive Essays