A Night at the Lake, Lucky 97 [top ten ebook reader .txt] 📗

A barely-contained exhilaration seared through me as I opened the car door to the chirps of the birds and the soft buzz of the dragonflies. The crystallized surface of the lake shimmered under the glare of the sun, nearly blinding my eyes after a first glance. With a smile, I stepped out onto the warm, emerald green grass.
I was very familiar with the beauty of the lake, with the towering pine trees and the clear waters, but somehow this summer morning in particular brought with it a new, fresh excitement. It was almost like I was looking around for the first time, especially to one place in particular.
A shoulder brushed mine, shaking me out of my temporary daze. With a small sigh, I walked over to the trunk and pulled out my purple suitcase from the pile of luggage. Mandy was right behind me, whipping out her designer sunglasses with as much bravura as she could manage while dragging a gigantic suitcase that probably weighed more than she did. She shot me a grimace, one of her signature, bizarre facial expressions, and I laughed.
The small house before us, with small windows and an aging exterior, was where my grandmother lived. Her real name was Bridget, but we liked to call her Birdie because she had a voice that could make the birds sing. When I was young, I would always wake to the sound of her voice as she was cleaning or cooking, singing a beautiful hymn. She used to watch Wendy, Carrie and I in the mornings before school so my mother and father could go to work. However, this angelic voice sharply contrasted with her gruff demeanor and down-to-earth attitude, which only got worse as the years flew by. She moved to this lake house when I was around the age of nine, right after my grandfather had passed away.
We struggled up the steps one at a time, even Dad nearly crumbling under the weight of Mandy’s belongings after he helped her. Lilly effortlessly bounded past both of us, toting a small duffel bag that was barely half the size of mine. Knowing her, she will probably be begging to borrow something she forgot to bring from one of us later. Birdie opened the screen door with a clang and hobbled over to our side with her cane.
We exchanged tight-lipped smiles. “Gwynn! So good to see you!” she said quickly, then without a second glance moved on to hug the twins. She's had a small grudge against me ever since I played that marshmallow prank on her last April. It is probably safe to say I’m not her favorite grandchild.
Dad ventured a look at Birdie’s leg with a frown. “So it’s gotten worse?” he asked. Birdie raised her dress slightly to reveal dark purple splotches all over her calf. I winced slightly. “You may need to go to the doctor,” Dad suggested, although we all knew it was useless.
“I’m done with those doctors,” she snapped, dropping the hem of her dress and hobbling back over to the door. “I’m not going to another doctor for as long as I live. They ain’t good for nothin’.” She always switched into her bad-grammar mode when she wanted to let us know her word was final.
I turned away and entered the house, my suitcase rolling on the thick carpet. Immediately I headed for the upstairs, where the guest bedrooms were. For such a small house, there was a ton of bedrooms, with at least four on the top floor. Birdie didn’t really like to share her room with anyone else, so I guess that was the reason.
I settled into the bedroom that had a slightly larger window than the rest; decorated with pink plush teddy bears and hideous neon green giraffes that always struck a chord with me whenever I came to visit. I actually liked the clash of color; to me it actually gave off a more welcoming vibe than the other stuffy rooms.
There was a giant crash as Mandy failed to carefully maneuver her suitcase right next to mine. We both laughed as the bulging suitcase burst open and several articles of clothing spilled onto the floor. “You really don’t need this many clothes,” I said, bending to pick up the clothes and putting it in a drawer.
“You know me.” She shrugged, grabbing a handful of swimsuits and stuffing it in the drawer as well. “I like to be prepared.” I grinned in response. When I had invited Mandy, I had no idea this was going to be such an ordeal. On the two hour trip here, she did not stop chattering for two seconds about how excited she was, how she hoped she didn’t forget her tanning lotion (though it’s always cloudy and slightly chilly at the lake), and other stuff like that. Wendy and Carrie probably hated me for bringing her, but I genuinely enjoyed having her around. However, I was sure my attitude was going to change as the day went on. As pretty and exciting Mandy was, she bordered on being annoying at times.
Lilly and Mandy both had long, blond hair and green eyes, but the similarities ended there. She was Wendy and Carrie’s friend, but it seemed like all the three did was argue. I didn’t know what Lilly would do without the twins though; they always got her out of all the terrible situations Lilly has stumbled into. Mom always called them the Three Musketeers because they stuck together like glue.
“Why did you pick this room?” Mandy asked, “It’s ugly.”
“I like it,” I jumped on the light pink bed, burying my face in the soft pillows. When I lifted my head, I could see the twinkling of the afternoon sun and the fluffy clouds mixed with the towering trees. But that wasn’t all.
Quickly I shoved my face back into the pillows in the hope that Mandy wouldn’t notice, but her face already became alert. She raced over to my side, fighting to see out of the window. I tried to shove her away, rising to my feet. “Let me see!” she squealed, pushing me back onto the bed. Before I could react, she was already at the corner of the window, staring into the horizon.
She shot me a wink. “So that’s why.” A blush as pink as the teddy bears appeared on my cheeks. "Who are they?”
“Wait, you see people?” I asked.
“Yeah, isn’t that what you were looking at?”
I jumped up, surprised. Wordlessly I traveled over to her side, and later gasped. They were actually there.
They must have appeared when I was fighting Mandy, because I didn’t see them until now. All of them were lounging on the front deck, apparently talking about something. A strange anticipation gripped at my chest as I tried to make out the individual faces.
“Do you like one of them?” she laughed, “Oh, I know you do, Gwynn, it’s written all over your face.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I replied adamantly, still searching in the group.
One of the many turned to look out at the lake. He had light blond hair, with a smattering of freckles, and I could just barely see the chocolate brown eyes. His name, as I was very well aware of, was Adam. For a few seconds, I was afraid Mandy could hear the thumping in my chest.
I could remember the very first day I met him. I was around eleven years old at the time, visiting Birdie for the first time since my grandfather died. It was peaceful and quiet at the lake; the slight cold sweeping through the fallen leaves and caressing my cheek. I liked to play in the leaves, jumping into big piles then throwing the rest into the water. However, my most favorite time-waster was to take a big ring, use a string to tie it to the dock, and float on the lake for hours at a time. If I wasn’t careful, I would lose track of time and fall asleep, causing Mom to wake me up at night and tell me to get my lazy butt to the house.
This one, chilly morning I was floating on the water without a life jacket. I had forgotten to put one on because I was in such a hurry to start reading the last Harry Potter book. For some reason, I could only read when I was relaxing on the water, hearing the soft chirps of the birds. Like always, the day began well. I read about ten pages of the book, then placed it on the deck and began to take a nap. In the distance, I could vaguely hear Birdie calling me for breakfast, but I ignored her. It was such a peaceful day, and I couldn’t summon the will to drag myself up to the house.
Well, it was a peaceful day until I was suddenly flipped into the lake, the icy water shocking my skin and startling me out of sleep. I started to panic. I was never a good swimmer, and it felt like this was going to be the end. Flapping my arms like crazy didn’t do any good towards getting me to the surface. The only thought in my mind after a few seconds was that I should have gone to get Birdie’s delicious biscuits for the last time before dying like this. My stomach was growling like crazy.
Suddenly, when I had just about given up, a hand grabbed mine and pulled really hard. Another hand grabbed my side, pulling me to the surface. When my body broke the surface, a joy entered me that was unlike any other feeling I had experienced in my life. I was alive. I was going to eat Birdie’s biscuits.
After reason caught up with my inward euphoria, I finally cast a glance at my rescuer. At that moment, I wouldn’t have been surprised if Jesus Christ was right there next to me. Instead, a little boy around my age, with dark brown eyes and blond hair, was helping me out of the water and onto the dock. Other slightly younger boys were standing around me, wide-eyed and some red-faced. The shortest one was laughing, and I suddenly had the strange urge to slap him.
It took a few seconds for me to realize what had just happened, but when I did, I bet they could all see steam coming out of my ears.
My rescuer, dripping wet, took a step back. “We’re sorry. We really are. It was a joke,” he said quickly. “We didn’t know you couldn’t swim.” He was the only one that seemed genuinely sorry.
I didn’t say anything, which seemed to scare them. “We didn’t notice that you didn’t have a life jacket on either,” a boy with dark brown hair, a tanned complexion, and brown eyes said. I just