Harvey paddled onwards, alone on that brisk autumn afternoon. Alone, that is, save a curious goose trailing him in his wake. The goose shattered the quiet serenity of the lake as it honked loudly. Harvey paddled onwards. He peered over the edge to see a murky, muddy darkness and shuddered, presumably at the thought of being immersed in the cold water.
Why had his father even sent him out here? Oh yes, to “Build character.” Harvey snorted indignantly. “More like building an immunity to freezing my fingers off,” he grumbled softly to himself, the translucent fog of his breath momentarily floating in front of him. The goose swam a little closer to his small, shaky canoe and briefly dipped its head under the surface of the water before raising it up and shaking it like a wet dog. Harvey shivered as he was sprayed. He paddled onwards.
Harvey looked up at the cloudy grey sky and paddled slightly faster. The clouds looked like giant fluffy water balloons ready to burst at any second, thoroughly soaking anyone unfortunate enough to be caught under the downpour. Harvey’s ice-cold, soaking wet feet started to go numb. He wiggled his toes and heard the squelch of water in his shoes. Harvey’s formerly placid face showed a growing sense of alarm, his eyes growing wide, his mouth quaking in terror as he looked down at the bottom of the boat. The water was already up to his ankles, and it was steadily rising.
For a moment, he was frozen in place, unmoving in the otherwise picturesque scene. Then he sprang into action. He dropped to his hands and knees and ran his fingers along the bottom of the boat, desperately seeking the cavity to blame. He quickly gave up and began rapidly bailing out handfuls of icy water. Sweat ran down his brow and his breath was a visible fog floating in front of his mouth.
“No, no, no, no, no!” The words formed on his cold lips but they seemed almost silent, as if the air was absorbing the sound. He threw his arms up in frustration and his eyes caught a glimpse of an airplane that flew lazily across the sky, indifferent to his troubles. Harvey waved and shouted, “Down here! Help me!” but the plane ignored him completely. The goose honked.
Sitting in the boat, the water was up past Harvey’s waist, leaving mere inches before the boat would be submerged. He stood up and water dripped off his soaked pants and shirt sleeves. “I don’t know what to do! What do I do?” He inquired to the nearby water fowl. As the bird did not respond, he simply clamped his eyes shut and waited. The water level slowly crept up his leg like the icy chill of death itself, as the boat sunk to the very bottom of the lake. Fortunately, the lake was only 18 inches deep.