I wiped the sweat off my forehead and took long deep breaths to slow my racing heart. I stood still with my eyes closed, basking in the breeze rolling off the lake. When I opened my eyes I noticed the gray storm clouds rolling in fast and decided I should get home soon before I was caught in the heavy down pour and intense wind that was sure to come.
As I turned away from the lake to run back home I got a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach telling me that this is where I needed to be, so instead of going home I began walking down the pier towards the light house where large waves were roughly crashing against the pier. Lake Superior during a storm was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen but also one of the most dangerous.
As I began climbing my way through the rocks I noticed something bright blue in the water. I squinted my eyes trying to get a better look but when I didn't have any luck I decided to climb into the water knowing I was able to touch bottom. I climbed down the metal ladder into the ice cold water. Waves pounded into me continuously making it hard to keep a grip on the ladder. Instead of climbing the rest of the way down I waited for the next wave to come and jumped into it, letting it carry me close to the shore and giggling to myself as I rode the wave like I used to when I was younger.
I straightened up when the wave let go of the hold it had on me and deposited me only feet from the bright blue object. I could see it rocking back in forth in the waves like a lullaby. My body went rigrid when I realized I was staring down not at a something but a someone. The girl's brown hair floated in the water tangling itself together. It was summer so I figured it was another teenager jumping into the waves at the very end of the pier. Every year summer kids would come to Grand Marais with their family and decide it was a good idea to jump into the waves and every year kids would turn up dead in the water.
I didn't want to but something, that same something that told me to stay, was telling me to flip the body over. I hestitantly reached out and flipped the girl's body over. The first thing I noticed was the familiar blue basketball warm up t-shirt the girl was wearing. I had the same one stored away in the back of my closet. Her shirt had large gashes in it and was stained with blood. I closed my eyes tight and when I opened them I was looking at the face of Olivia, my best friend since first grade.
A strangled gasp escaped through my lips and my hands flew to my mouth to stop any more from getting out. My eyes swelled with tears and I couldn't control it anymore, loud violent sobs ripped through the air as I felt myself shaking in horror. I squeezed my hands into fists and tried to compose myself. I was still crying hysterically but I knew I had to do something. I hated having to touch her, my lifeless best friend, but I had to bring her to shore. I grabbed her shoulders and attempted to pull her towards shore but the waves roughly pulled back making it ten times harder.
I felt out of breath by the time I had Olivia and myself on shore. I sat there with my eyes closed and when I opened them I was staring right into Olivia's. Her normal chocolate brown eyes were now a murky brown color that had none of the shine or happiness they usually had in them. I whipped my head the other way, not able to bare looking at her like that for another second.
I stood and went to retrieve the cell phone I had placed on the edge of the pier. I called my dad and after the sixth ring I was about to hang up but then I heard his deep voice on the other end of the line. "Dad" I croaked out. "Kylan, sweetheart what's wrong?" Dad asked in a concerned voice. Before I could stop myself I had started sobbing uncontrollably. "Kylan, Kylan answer me. What's wrong baby? Where are you? What happened?" he questioned, his voice sounding panicky. "Pier. Olivia" was all I could manage to say between sobs. "I'll be there soon honey, hang tight" and then he was gone. The call clicked off and I was all alone again with my dead best friend laying on the wet sand beside me.
