Shadows of summer

Chapter 5

“Hey! Wake-up”! I heard someone scream in my ear as I was being shoved around.

“Who are you and what do you what”? I said to whoever was disturbing my sleep.

“I’d like to hang-out with you like we talked about”. A familiar voice replied.

“Is that you Shadow”?

“Who else would it be”? She said with a giggle.

 I opened my eyes and saw her standing over me.

“Sorry, I fell asleep”. I told her as I rubbed my eyes.

”It’s only nine o’clock and you’re already falling asleep. Sounds like you’ve got an exciting life”. She said sarcastically.

“Oh, shut up”. I said to her as I picked myself up off the dock.

“Come on follow me”.  She said as she grabbed my wrist and jerked me off the dock and in the direction of the forest.

“Where are you taking me”? I asked as she dragged me though the sea of trees.

“A place I know of where we can hang-out and not have to worry about getting caught by anyone”.

“And where is that”?  

“You’ll see”. She told me with a snicker.

  After a good run through the forest we came upon a clearing and a small lake. I was a little out of breath so I took a quick seat on the ground.

“You tired”? She asked me as she stood next to me not even breaking a sweat.

 “Just a little tired that’s all”. I answered her, and she started to laugh.

 “What’s so funny”?

 “You just got out ran by a girl”. She said with her hands on her hips.

“Oh…shut up” I mumbled. I couldn’t help but laugh a little to.

 “I come out here sometimes for a little alone time and no one but me and you know about it”. She told me.

 “Sweet”.  

It was smaller than the lake by the cabin, but it was a lot clearer.

 “Did you bring a bathing suit”? She asked as she started to wade into the water.

“Actually I did”. I was really glad that I wore my trunks now. I threw off my shirt and took off my jeans.

 “Great, come on”. Shadow gestured me to come join her. I waded in the water and got next her. “Let’s see how good of a swimmer you are”. She dove head first into the water.

 ”Right behind you”. I said and dove in head first too.

  I didn’t see Shadow under the water so I went back to the surface to see if I could spot her. I took a deep breath when I got back up and couldn’t see Shadow anywhere. I started to circle around looking for any sign of her whereabouts. Next thing I knew I heard a splash from behind me and I was pushed under the water. I pulled back up and I saw ripples on the water surface.

“So you want to play do ya? Ok it’s on”. I said not knowing if she could hear me.

 I slowly began circling in the water and caught a glimpse of a silhouette of someone a couple feet from me. I jumped over to the silhouette and pulled it out of the water.

 “Let me go”. Shadow cried.

“No. You push me in the water and now I’m going to do the same to you”. I told her as I held Shadow by the waist and she flailed about.

 “That’s what you think”.

She kicked me in the knees and I face planted in the water. While I was under Shadow slipped out of my arms. I opened my eyes and saw Shadow swimming in front of me. It seemed like she was flying though the water. She had amazing speed and grace. She had a small pair of gills on her neck now and her fins were larger. I didn’t realize I was staying under too long. I couldn’t breathe and shot to the surface. I was gasping for air and had to get to the shore. I slowly staggered to the shore line and collapsed on the warm sand.

“You ok”? I heard Shadow ask as she ran out of the water.

 “Yeah. I just stayed under to long”. I told her as I caught my breath.

“Yeah stupid, I’m the one who’s part fish”.

“I know…and it’s not fair”. We started laughing and she held out her hand and helped me to my feet. The rest of the night we swam and talked to each other till dawn approached.