Aesop Lake by Sarah L. Ward

Author:Sarah L. Ward
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Green Writers Press
Published: 2018-11-06T16:00:00+00:00

11

Jonathan Tanner-Eales

THE WIND

AN OLD-STYLE wooden motorboat careens across the lake toward Mom and me as the sun sets and a wave of mosquitoes drifts by. Six docks line up like floating tables, lamp posts at their ends to guide the boats to safety. Some have motorboats anchored to them absorbing the waves. A small duck family swims under one of the docks, and the mother dives to retrieve a morsel. The fluffy ducklings attempting to replicate her move without success.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Mom exclaims. “Just like I remember. I haven’t been here for thirty years, but nothing has changed.”

This isn’t necessarily a good thing, I think. I like progress, though I suppose I can see the advantages of having your childhood memories still intact. I often wish for that myself. When the boat pulls up in front of us, a young man waves. He has dark, curly hair and looks like he stepped out of GQ. I hardly know this second cousin. He went to boarding school and is now in college in Missouri.

“Ollie! You’ve grown up so much!” Mom moves closer to the boat, pulling her suitcase alongside her while Ollie tosses a rope over the post.

“Yup, funny how that happens,” he smiles and turns towards me. “Jonathan and Marcia, my long-lost cousins from Massachusetts! Welcome to the Fables.” His tone is teasing. I like him at once.

“The Fables?” I ask.

“Yeah, we call these three lakes the Fables because of Aesop’s stories. If you look at an aerial view of the lakes, you can see that they’re shaped like a turtle, a hare, and a crow,” he explains.

Ollie maneuvers the boat deftly across the water, rising on a wake, then veering through the corners through one passage after another. Finally we arrive at Aunt Winnie’s camp compound. Mom has described the camp many times over the years, but her stories never overwhelmed my senses like the huge pungent pines swaying over the buildings, like sentries. Ollie pulls the boat up to the trout-shaped post and ties the boat to a brass ring. How fancy.

A woman walks lightly down the stone steps to the boathouse, her long, gray hair pulled into two braids. Her wrinkled skin is the color of lightly toasted bread.

“Look at the two of you! I can’t believe you’re finally here. My god, little Jonathan—is that you?” Winnie exclaims.

I blush, but welcome the warm arms the woman wraps around me. She looks relaxed and happy, like she’s been on holiday for months. The magic here has clearly been working for her.

“Oh, Winnie, it’s just like I remembered! I can’t wait to show Jonathan around. Where is Maddie? I haven’t seen her since she was born. How old is she now, five?”

“Oh dear, it has been a while. No, she’s seven! She’s having an art lesson with her nanny right now.”

“Her nanny?” Mom asks, and Winnie gives us a warm smile

“Yes, we hired a girl to come stay with us for the summer. She’s a darling, you’ll love her.

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