Back From The Brink.

Thirteen year old Kent wasn’t able to swim but that didn’t stop him from going to the old swimming hole at Long pond.  All of his friends went there and if anyone thought it strange that he didn’t swim, no one bothered to mention it. He still enjoyed the fun and would go in the water with the others, only in the shallow end of the pond and never too far from shore.  Usually there would be a dozen or more boys there but one late afternoon in August of 1977, Kent and his best friend Steve arrived at the pond to find the place deserted. They quickly surmised that the other boys  had gotten a ride some six miles up the road to Larry’s Pond Park and had gone swimming there. Steve was an excellent swimmer and since it was a particularly warm afternoon decided to go in the water anyway. Kent followed without a thought and both were soon laughing it up as they splashed water over one another until Steve had swam too far from shore and Kent had to be content with voicing threats of what would happen when he came near him again.

Maybe it was because of his intent on getting back at Steve for that last splash that had sent him backwards  and underwater, but for whatever reason, Kent suddenly found that he had wandered into deeper water and immediately began to panic.  Steve had swum to the far end of the pond and appeared in no hurry to get back, it would be fun he thought to taunt Kent from the other side of the pond, as he heaped obscenities upon him. In the meantime Kent coming up for the third and last time had swallowed so much water that he was unable to focus  and as he slipped once more beneath the calm blue surface, he felt embraced by a feeling of warmth and an overwhelming sense of peace. Meanwhile Steve had finally realized that something was seriously wrong and was swimming furiously towards where he had last seen his friend.

Kent, in the meantime was staring at a body at the bottom of the pond that looked exactly like himself, yet he felt more alive than he ever had before. Beautiful music was coming from all around him and he was surrounded by an indescribable feeling of being loved. Coming towards him and drawing ever and ever closer was a beautiful white light. He heard no words yet he felt that he had a decision to make and quickly as if on a screen, he began to see scenes which he knew was to be his future if he decided to come back.  The next instant, he was lying on the ground at  the edge of the pond coughing and spewing up water, he had a terrible headache and his chest was paining as Steve continued to pound on it with both fists. When Steve had reached the area of the pond where he had last seen his friend, there was no one in sight. Frantically, he had called Kent’s name and then began diving into the water. On the second dive he located him, and with a strength he didn’t know he possessed, dragged his friend to the shore. Without any knowledge of what to do, he began rolling his friend from side to side and then started to pound on his chest  not even stopping when Kent started coughing. Only when he began to speak, did Steve finally realize that his friend was okay. It would be years before either would fully understand what had happened that day. Steve would come to think of it as one reason for his existence, while Kent would have feelings of déjà vu as he passed certain milestones in his life coupled with a sense that he had made the right choice.