Out Of The Blue (Jayne's Nature) by Louise Jayne

Author:Louise, Jayne [Louise, Jayne]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Surf City Source
Published: 2013-07-26T16:00:00+00:00

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Excursion in the dark

I woke to the sound of something bumping the side of the hull and pulled myself right up to my feet, standing up in the hatch– and meeting eyes with Jem standing up in the canoe alongside. ‘Sorry,’ she said.

‘What have you guys been doing?’ I asked, as though that wasn’t obvious. They were both naked but it was dark, past 9:30, and there was no one on the River for the moment.

‘Recon,’ she said quietly, holding the canoe still where the creek’s current held it against the hull. ‘We just went up the creek a little. You’re right– we’re all alone here.’

I nodded, rubbing my eyes like I’d been asleep for a whole night. ‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Do you want to go out in the River then?’

‘Yes, we want to go to Sweetwater,’ Jules said, from the back of the canoe. She had her life vest on, not zipped closed but hanging open like she usually wore it. ‘We heard music– they’re having some big party there.’

I wrinkled my nose. ‘It’s Tuesday night,’ I said.

‘Yes, and they’re having a Tuesday-night party.’

‘Okay. Let’s lock up the boat first.’

So we did, the way we usually do, and then I went down the ladder into the water and had my pee before pressing myself up into the canoe. I had no life jacket at all, and those two had nothing else with them in the canoe. If we were seen, the only modesty would be jumping into the water. But who would see us? All the activity– what little there is– around here after dark is in the campsites. We weren’t in a campsite. We weren’t near a road. We weren’t even that visible from the water. So, feeling adventuresome, we paddled out into the channel and turned down current, gliding upriver towards the bend that leads to Sweetwater. Far below us came the sound of a small outboard boat. We agreed to head closer to whichever shore seemed nearer and to just appear as three kids in a canoe. Very few people with outboard fishing boats care for people in canoes. They’d never even look our way.

Sure enough, lights were on and things were hopping at Sweetwater. It might not have been a party but there was music carrying out over the water and the restaurant seemed full. We sat for several minutes resting our paddles and looking the place over from the middle of the channel. I had a craving for a cold soda from the machine, but we had no money. I really don’t know if having no money was the only reason I didn’t paddle straight over there and strut up the dock to the machine. I do know I felt totally comfortable. The temperature and humidity exactly matched our body heat and sweat level, and we had no sensations of being underdressed even after dark. I think if anyone I knew from school had suddenly appeared I’d have just said ‘hi’ and struck up a conversation, never even thinking about having no clothes.

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