story 1 part 1

I jumped from the cliff to the shimmering water forty feet below with glee and wild abandon. I jumped not ever having jumped so high. Down into the water I went, legs and arms akimbo to slow me, to make sure I get to the surface, which is now all I want to do.

My friend Glen jumps from nearly half the height, maybe twenty-five feet up. He's done this before. He has nothing to prove, to himself or to me. We have swum half the length of the lake to get to the diving cliffs. It is shallow in the middle where the rocks rise from the murky bottom to give rest to the gulls and ducks and other birds of the air.