Short Stories of the Golden Six

Deep Waters

This story was written by my friend and cousin, Tiana. She is a really good writer so I decided her story could be first. 

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Deep Waters

         "Mom, that's too tight!" Lillian Southerby squealed as her mother tugged her uncontrollable mane into two stiff french braids.

         "Now I don't want you taking these out during the day. You hear me?"

       "But mom, they hurt my head! You make them too tight!" (Lily hated her hair, she had more than once attempted to shave it all off.)

       "I don't care! Envision what the neighbours think of us. You come home every day with your posse of boys all dirty and wet. I even overheard Mrs. Broomsdale and Ms. Gareth chatting it up about the 'Southerby girl!" She paused for a moment, then shifted her tone a bit. "You should find some new friends, maybe a couple girls you like?" Lily had heard her mother say this plenty of times, and she always responded the same way.

        "But the girls are sooooo boring. All they talk about is weird girly stuff." Her mother sighed, kissed the top of Lily's head and told her not the be home too late, and that was that.

          It was early August and the sun scorched down, making the knee length dress Lily was wearing quite irritable. She was thinking about what her mother had said about all the neighbours buzzing about her. It annoyed her. Why should others be concerned for her and what she does? Since when was it their business?

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          When Lily finally reached the 'blockhouse', as they called it, all the rest of the gang was there. Billy was jumping around Bruno, who was eating  what Lily guessed to be his third cookie. Cody just sat on an old fallen tree looking expectantly at Lily .

        "So what are we doing today?" she asked, since it seemed like what everyone else was thinking. "It's rather hot today, maybe we should do something at the lake." Lily suggested.

       "How about we go swimming?" volunteered Bruno. 

      "You know better than anyone how gross that lake is, and besides, you can't even swim." Cody replied with a snort. After a brief moment of silence Lily had a brilliant idea.

        "Let's build a boat using scrap wood. Afterwards, we can sail it out on the lake!" The boys indicated their approval by nodding their heads like plumes.

       Lily's father was a carpenter so, naturally, he had plenty of extra wood lying around his shop. Lily skipped toward her father's nearby workshop, Cody trailing behind. There they found skids, plywood, 2 by 4s and poles. She took all that her small hands could carry while Cody dragged half a sheet of plywood over to the lake where a pile had already begun to form. Billy and Bruno huffed and puffed as they threw on a few small sticks.

        "So, how are we doing this?" asked Lily. She already had a good idea as to how the boat would look, but before anyone could respond, she heard a sneer behind her. She turned around to see Chester Harling, and his two cronies Squid and Turnip. Chester was the town bully. Everyone stayed away from him, and when he wanted something, he got it. This little chap had never heard the word 'no'. Lily had always seized a chance to right the fellow, but she herself was never on his bad side. She had a feeling that Chester was developing a liking to her.

         "What's going on here?"Chester puffed out his chest like a peacock. "Whatcha doing with all this wood here?"

         "We are going to build a boat and sail it out on the lake" Lily stated calmly. "You're welcome to help" she offered. Squid and Turnip snickered.