the wildflower of madison

chapter one: pilot

"finn, make sure that you're home by dinner, your father made cake for the fourth of july." my mom stated as she flipped the tv off. my sister groaned, and continued to finish folding her pleated school skirts.

i nodded ever so slightly, for my mom clearly didn't know what i was doing, and why i wouldn't be home. today i was finally able to kayak to the island on lake kerris, my hometown's man-made lake smack dab in the middle of my neighborhood. it was approximately 20 miles around overall, but you can only access about 50%. if you cut through a path you find a bank with a small round island covered in trees towards the back of the lake. it was deserted, and since kayaks were banned from the lake it had been unoccupied for three years or so. noah, my lifelong best friend, and i decided it was time that we find out why. it wouldn't be an easy trip, since the island that started it all was about 9 miles in the water from the shore. not only would it be a rough travel, the sneaking around wouldn't be simple either. however, we had tried this so many times that we officially know our way around and we're almost certain we wont be caught. who could stop us anyway?

we walked our bikes down the steep hill on Cattleside drive, all we could talk about was the island.

"what if there's a witch, and it poisons us?" noah flinched.

"grow up, we're in grade ten, there's no such thing as witches." i snapped.

noah had always been, well, immature. he acts childish but i know hes capable of a lot. he tends to worry a lot and it had recently become a problem during semester two of grade nine.

maybe something in him snapped, but whatever it was destroyed my reputation. we used to be popular, but i gave that up to keep him company at the loser's table at lunch. he was still my best friend and meant the world to me, i couldn't live without him, he couldn't live without me.

lake kerris; perhaps one of the grossest lakes in the united states. maybe thats why they wont let anyone kayak, it was probably killing people.

"hey stupids." a redhead leaned against a tollbooth for the park.

"sadie. i see you're in a spirited mood." noah groaned at the grin that spread across her face.

"listen sadie, just give us the keys and the kayaks and ill give you the money tomorrow." i pleaded

sadie stroked her chin and pursed her lips.

"nah, pay up twerp." she reached into my pocket and pulled out a 20 dollar bill and a few singles. she shuffled them in her fingers, counting them.

she stopped,

"this is twenty four, idiot. i expect my full twenty five dollars." she dangled her keys in front of her stupid 'kerris lake wildlife team' hat.

noah reached into his pocket,

"all i have is this ten and-"

"great!" sadie tossed us the keys as she snatched noah's allowance for the month of july.

she counted it once more, before she stuck it into her knee high sock.

"come with me." she motioned us to follow.

she pushed open the dilapidated shed towards the back of the lake. luckily, this gave us a head-start to the island and would make the trip a bit easier. 
     "alright, so i'm assuming pink for both of you?" sadie taunted with a smug grin.
     "we don't care, just give us the best you have." noah sighed at sadie's remark.

   looking at the different kayaks, the best seemed to be toward the front. towards the middle were the worn out kayaks that would still float if you didn't mind tipping a few times, and then there was the back. the back of the shed was not only disgusting, but it was filled with kayaks that i didn't know why they kept. they had holes, were broken in half, or were cracked down the sides or bottom.

   "why do you even keep these? no one will use them..." i ask.

   sadie stares at me like i'm stupid,
       "don't be a dipshit, finn." she flicked my forehead.

   noah received a double ended paddle, complete with a fully cushioned kayak. however, i received a single sided switch paddle with a barely functional kayak. it had no cushioning but it was at least intact.

    sadie wished us luck and reset the security cameras as she sent us off.

     the gate to the open water was small and wooden, and swung open with just a slight brush. the algae had climbed up the sides and covered the small hazard sign that was once red and white. now it was just a washed out coral and a yellowed white.

noah grimaced at the sight of the mold on the launching. he didn't like the idea of getting sick for something this stupid.

    "calm down noah, maybe its better for you to collect some germs." i laughed, pulling my kayak over the rough gravel.

  noah pushed his to the edge of the lake, finally sitting after applying hand sanitizer from his khaki's pockets.
   "come on we don't have all day, nerd." i teased.
he pushed himself off with the waters patterns going against him. he struggled, but made it to a deeper part of the lake.

    i set down my kayak and hopped in, without thinking twice. the bottom of the kayak dragged on the rocks as i pushed off, until it was silent.