TheBanyanTree: Fireworks

[Margaret R. Kramer]

She could see the fast moving current of the river from her vantage point on
the bridge.  People rushed by her intent on getting a spot for the fireworks
display now less than an hour away.  The double stroller with her twin boys
in it was too big, too clunky, and it was an obstacle in the small space
people could walk through.  People kept bumping into it, upsetting the
babies and giving her a dirty look.

She shushed the babies and got them quiet again.  She leaned over the cement
railing and let the river hypnotize her.  The dark dirty water zoomed under
bridge.  She wanted to be in that waterway.  There was no place for her
here.

She picked up one baby, hugged him tight to her and then threw him off the
bridge.  She heard the small splash above the talking and laughing of all
the people around her.  That small splash gave her courage to lift the
second boy out of the stroller.  He was sleeping soundly and barely
responded to being raised above the railing.

Her hands opened up and the baby drifted out of them, going down in a funny
kind of slow motion, spinning round and round towards the river.  The sounds
had disappeared and she was in a tunnel of silence, but she knew the way
out.

She didn’t hear the gasps around her as people became aware that the party
had just ended.  She hoisted herself up on the railing, leaned forward, and
let herself fall.

--

He was restless.  The summer evening was perfect.  He didn’t want to take
the time to call anyone, so he just headed out on his own.  It was going to
be crowded on the lake, but he wanted to take his new boat out and see if he
could find a space to watch the fireworks.

He got the boat launched and headed out to a small cove he knew would be the
perfect spot to see the display.  He carefully worked his boat through the
maze of other boats.  He saw a vacant spot and moved towards it.

Two other men had seen the same spot and they arrived at the same time.
Their boat nicked his.  Angrily, they maneuvered their boats so they were
right next to each other.  The boats bounced merrily in the waves as he
stood up and they stood up.  He yelled at them and they yelled back.  Too
late he noticed the sunburns on their bare backs, the empty beer cans
littered on the bottom of their boat, and threw a punch.

He missed, but the bigger man didn’t.  He fell overboard.  The water was
warm and cooled him off.  He popped up and swam towards his boat.  “OK,” he
thought, “it’s time to leave this one alone.”

A motor fired up.  He caught the motion of the other boat coming towards him
just a split second before it hit.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at earthlink.net

http://www.polarispublications.com
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