Solomon's Lake

Chapter 1
Part 1

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Chapter Description: The trip.

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Danny had lived in the house for fourteen years, so why he yanked open his sister’s bedroom door that afternoon instead of the bathroom one was a mystery to him (or so he maintained). And, like all unfortunate gaffes, it happened in a vague kind of slow-motion (the kind that allows one to realize the error and what punishments it might entail before the act is even completed). As the door cracked open, Danny was treated to a full-on peep show, the kind that haunt siblings well into their golden years: Heather’s perfectly peach-tinted skin, the roller-coaster curves that curled and spun around her, the outright sweeping nakedness. All combined to form an exquisitely awkward moment in time, one when biological stimulation butts head-to-head with the brick wall of taboo.

Motionless -- or rather frozen with a mixture of chemical excitement and childish dread -- Danny gulped. What exactly was to be the course of action? He could slowly shut the door, praying no stray squeaks escaped the hinges. He could leave the door open and leave room for doubt (Plausible deniability sounded cool, even though he didn’t know what it meant). Or he could remain locked in his current position and obey his true master, the gland. After all, Heather was facing away from him and this, indeed, marked the first occasion when he’d been privileged to see a female, clothed only in her natural outfit.

So, in the time it took him to consider this decision, the performance continued. (Danny didn’t know the word voyeurism either, and so he was not bothered by it.) For Danny, this was one of those times when we, as humans, feel a sense of pride in our discovery. This particular discovery, unlike Salk’s vaccine or Edison’s kinetoscope, would go unreported with the possible exception of the lunch table at Jefferson County Middle School.

"Danny, what hell are you doing?!"

Make that the lunch table and Mom and Dad.

Heather’s voice rose. Danny remained fixed. The backside, an hourglass-shaped feast, had been enough of a treat for an adolescent boy. But that could hardly compare to the veritable dose of heaven that was the front.

"DANNY!! Get out, you sick--" Heather didn’t know whether to run to close door or make a mad dash for her clothes waiting on the bed. Whatever she did, the damage was already done. The retinal after-image would always be there in Danny’s head. For him, she thought, it must be like opening a present, that moment where what was once hidden was now revealed. The snapshot clicked, and now buried away in the archives.

Heather darted for her bed, so as not to give Danny an even closer (and more detailed) look at her physique. "GET OUT!!" she screamed again, though this time like a beast who ate up little trespassers. This time he complied, the sincerity of her last scream having awoke him from his trance. Reluctantly, he closed the door.

It seemed like eternities passed before Danny heard the predictable injunction from his mother downstairs.

"I didn’t mean to--"; "I’m sorry I--"; "I thought it was the bath--"; "I won’t do it again, I--" The parade of excuses passed by but did nothing to help his case. Alas, Peeping Danny was grounded for a week. The punishment didn’t suit Heather, however. It appeared she wouldn’t rest until someone invented a time machine or a memory-eraser.

"What possessed you to spy on your sister like that??" his mother questioned, pacing the kitchen -- in an almost crazy way, Danny observed.

"I said I’m sorry." Danny’s defenses had run out well over five minutes ago and Johnny Cochran was nowhere to be found.

"Ugh! I can’t believe you!" Heather said, still instinctively covering her sixteen-year-old chest.

"Well, it’s time for you two to go to school, but don’t think you won’t hear about this when your dad gets home," his mother said, hurriedly packing Danny’s lunch as if she were auditioning for a part in the I Love Lucy assembly line sketch.

Lunchtime rolled around at 11:00.

Danny’s friends were engaged in their customary fight over who could fart the loudest. A spit-wad battle had broken out at the seventh grade table (currently being quelled by Mrs. Baker). The Jefferson Middle cafeteria drew quite a surly lot. But today, Mark and Jimmy’s fart debates would have to wait; there was sex news.

"Guys, guys. Shut up for a second... You know my sister, right?"

They nodded.

"Well, this morning, I was on my way to the bathroom and I don’t know what I was thinkin’, but I accidentally opened my sister’s door..."

"And..."

"And. You guys are gonna love this. She was like totally naked!"

"No way!"

"Yeah, and she had her back turned toward me, so I--"

"Did you see her boobs?"

Laughing.

"What about her--?"

"You’re kidding."

More chuckling.

"Nothing on?"

Then the dastardly bell rang. Gossip would have to wait for the next day. Oh, man.

When Danny returned home, there was a note waiting for him, pinned with a Scooby-Doo magnet on to the refrigerator. It read:

Danny --

Your Uncle George is in the hospital again. They think it’s his heart. We’re in Masonville right now,

since they said it was urgent. I tried to find babysitter, but--

I don’t need no stinking babysitter.

--they were all busy tonight. So, I’ve asked Heather to take you along on her

camping trip to Solomon’s Lake. Pray for Uncle George. Have fun and don’t bother your sister or

her friends. Don’t forget you’re still grounded.

-- Mom

Mom never minced words; with her, they always came in big, unmanageable chunks. Danny waited for an emotion to set in, but only ended up with ambivalence. Sure, Heather might throw a few angry stares at him this evening, but now he at least had the snappy comeback, Yeah? Well, I’ve seen you naked so ha-ha! So, in his fourteen-year-old mind, the trip wouldn’t be a complete wash. Besides, Danny enjoyed camping and he’d never been to Solomon’s Lake before. In fact, neither had Heather.

"All right, you little perv. Looks like I’ve gotta take you with us tonight," Heather noted, as she barreled down the stairs in a hurry to get her stuff together.

"Hey, are we leaving right now? I mean, I haven’t packed--" Danny had to spin as he spoke, following Heather’s trajectory across the kitchen.

"Mom packed your stuff for you," Heather explained, tossing a small bag at Danny’s head.

"So who’s going with us?" Danny peeled the tote bag off his face.

"Nathan and Jasmine."

"And where are we going?" Danny asked, trying to be friendly, even though he already knew.

"Solomon’s Lake," Heather mumbled as she did a 180 back into the living room for her battery-operated socks and makeup case. Danny watched.

"Where’s Solomon’s Lake?" Danny inquired, suddenly feeling like he may have asked one too many questions and now came off as a curious five-year-old.

"It’s kinda far, which is why we have to leave soon. It’s and hour and forty-five minutes."

"An hour and forty-five minutes?!" Danny whined, thinking immediately man, that sounded whiny. "Must be out in the boondocks," he commented.

"Yeah, something like that. Get anything else you need and go to the bathroom or whatever. Hurry up. We need to get going." The screen-door made a heavy crack as Heather headed out to her Mustang, carrying far more than "the essentials." Just because one was in the middle of nowhere didn’t mean one shouldn’t look good.

The ride was a bore, from Danny’s seat anyway. All Heather and Jasmine and Nathan did was pratter on and on about girlfriends, boyfriends, schoolwork, and parties. Jasmine, the most mellow of the group, was a senior at Jefferson County High, while Nathan was actually a freshman in college. They were all acquaintances via their parents. Nathan’s mom, Jasmine’s dad, and Heather’s mom were coworkers, and as a result of some company parties the threesome met and became good friends. In fact, the only reason Heather was allowed to accompany the two older students was because of the trusting relationship their parents had.

"Are we getting close? Because I have to pee," Jasmine noted a little too casually.

"I don’t know. What’s that map say?" Nathan flung the folded thing back at Heather.

"Well, it says to turn off at Exit 114."

"Did that."

"Then we take a left on Old Solomon Road."

"Affirmative."

"Well, then we should be there any time now," Heather confidently reported, doing what looked like a Joe Cocker impersonation trying to refold the map.

Meanwhile, the Mustang passed a prominent sign nailed to a tree along the road, with the words DO NOT ENTER -- LAKE CLOSED TO TOURISTS scrawled in magic marker. They passed the weathered warning without even noticing. No road blocks or obvious detours existed either, so the sojourn proceeded forward.

Soon the lake appeared before them, as they reached the top of a fairly steep hill. So steep in fact, the Mustang (far from being a new model) sputtered slightly. As more of the lake was displayed for them, Nathan remarked, "Wow, it’s really beautiful." All in the car agreed, even Danny who had long wandered off into his own more-interesting universe. The lake shone a deep blue, almost like an ocean might. Tiny wave crests peeked above the otherwise calm surface of the water. Several picturesque camping areas -- albeit deserted-looking -- rested at the foot of the hill just off the shore.

The motley crew quickly erected the five-person tent as well the gas cooking equipment and the makeshift shower composed of a plastic bag with a nozzle hung on a tree limb. All seemed nominal, except...

"Boy, this place is sure quiet," Jasmine asserted. "I have a hard time believing this place is this unpopulated."

"Maybe there’s some big event going on we don’t know about," Heather conjectured, knowing that explanation sounded unlikely. After all, it was a sunny day. The lake was perfect. The sky was a bright conglomeration of light blues and fiery oranges. The real question was: why wouldn’t somebody want to be here?

"Well, I say we walk down to the edge of the water," Jasmine suggested, already meandering in that direction.

The rest followed. Danny strayed behind, like the runt of the group. There was no disguising the fact that he was the odd man out, doomed as shortest, the least mature, and the only one whose voice cracked.

Jasmine dipped her toe in first, and immediately said, "Oh, who wants to swim?"

They hadn’t planned on swimming as their first camping activity, but nonetheless, under that day’s sun, it could only be a welcome change of temperature. Nathan and Jasmine blazed past Danny before he’d even gotten to the edge of the lake. "Where’r you guys goin’?"

"Back up to camp. We’re gonna go swimming. Want to join us?" Nathan pat Danny’s back as he jogged up the incline.

"OK, I guess. Whatever." Danny turned around and started plodding up the embankment as well. It seemed his weekend would most likely be spent doing just that: tagging along. As an eighth-grader, Danny was used to being at the top of the middle school food chain, but this weekend he’d be only a wannabe, riding the coat tails of his big sister’s gang. Demotion, he thought. Then he remembered that morning. He managed another smile.

Each took turns changing into their bathing suits in the tent; once again Danny was last. Heather left nothing to chance, zipping the tent door up as far it would go. (There would be no reenacting of that day’s earlier affairs.) Soon it was Danny’s turn. Bathed in the green glow coming from the tent walls, he felt a quick chill when he realized how bony and adolescent he would look in comparison to his grown-up cohorts. Exiting the changing tent in his oversized swimming trunks, he saw that Heather was already down by the shore and Nathan was on his way. Jasmine, however, stood waiting for him.

"You all ready?" she flashed an amiable grin.

"Yeah, I’m fine," Danny returned.

"OK, let’s go," Jasmine insisted, a little too enthusiastically... for her.

As she and Danny treaded down the hill, Danny’s old friend -- hormones -- started rearing its head again, as he noticed how stunning Jasmine looked in her revealing one-piece. He’d never found himself attracted to her before (aside from the instinctual attraction Danny had to pretty much any carbon-based lifeform), but in her tight bathing suit, more of her was evident. She had spiked features and a dark tan that appeared as if it were baking in the sun. Her raven black hair tied in a pony tail, Jasmine looked very modern. She also spoke in words that struck Danny as sophisticated, like "postmodern" and "tangential" and "Kafkaesque." None of which Danny understood.

Danny’s pasty white legs clashed with Jasmine’s browned ones, so to an onlooker they looked like night and day personified. Danny talked very little for the rest of his walk with Jasmine; she somehow seemed more intimidating than when they were in the car (and fully clothed).

"What’re you guys waiting on? Jump in!" Nathan yelled as he took a swan dive, sending millions of ripples over the glassy veneer of the lake. He immediately broke into a swift crawl.

"Whew, a little colder than I thought," Heather noted, checking her bikini underwater, "but feels good anyway."

Jasmine ran in next, looking graceful all the way. Her jet black hair shone like the coat of a happy cat. All three seemed to be enjoying the water immensely. They all followed Nathan as he appeared to be swimming toward some form of destination. Danny dog-paddled in last place.

"Where are you going?" Heather shouted across the sweeping waters.

The two girls and Danny could only hear a muffled reply that sounded like "the raft." Sure enough, a raft came into view as the trio swam harder to catch up with Nathan. A raft, sitting quite alone in the dead center of the lake, apparently anchored to something, Nathan decided. He approached the floating thing curiously, wondering if he might be trespassing on anyone’s property. The raft seemed sturdy enough, about fifteen feet by fifteen feet in area with wooden slats running across the top. He climbed up onto it like a conquistador, ready to plant a flag and claim it for his own. Soon the others paddled up to the platform and Nathan pulled them up, Danny nearly loosing his pants in the process. That would be a nice payback, Heather thought to herself, but decided she’d rather not have to explain to her friends why she’d unexpectedly yanked her brother’s swimming trunks off.

The four of them planted on each corner of the raft, again Jasmine observed, "God, this is so gorgeous. Why aren’t there more people around?"

"Why aren’t there any people around?" Heather clarified, turning around just in time to see Nathan put his arm around Jasmine. A wave of bitterness shot through Heather, finally seeing proof that Nathan and Jasmine had the hots for each other. I’m just a year younger than Jasmine, she thought. It was unfair. But then again, Jasmine was prettier than her. Sad, but true.

Heather cleared her throat as if infected with a demonic flu. Nathan dropped his hand. The no-fly zone was safe once again.

"Whew, brrrrrrrr," Jasmine chattered. "It’s getting cold up here all the sudden."

"Must be because we’re out of the water," Heather injected, re-situating her top so Danny wouldn’t be treated to any more pleasant surprises.

"Man, you’re right, Jasmine. It is getting cold. Maybe we should get back in," Nathan commented, a row of goosebumps filing down his arm. He turned to face Jasmin again. "Hey, this sun must do miracles. You... you look great."

"Aww, thank you," Jasmine replied, though wearing an odd expression.

"Heather, come over here."

 

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