(This story took 1st place in the fall contest for the Springfield Writer’s Guild. Here is the prompt.)
Every year during the full moon, I come back to sit and look over the lake where life, as I knew it, ended. I arrive in the late afternoon and stay until the moon is up… remembering.
I was eighteen, and a freshman in college. I knew pledging to a fraternity would be the key to college years full of girls and booze. And yeah, I suppose it would help with my career too. I’d suffered through probation, being humiliated and abused at every opportunity. There was just one test left and I’d be in.
Four of us were blindfolded and driven into the mountains. I knew that’s where we were because I could smell the pine trees and feel my lungs struggling to get enough air. Then they made us walk. Holding one hand on the shoulder of the pledge in front of me, I tripped on rocks and branches stung my face. Finally they allowed us to remove our blindfolds. We stood together under a full moon, next to a lake, shivering.
Sean, the fraternity marshal explained, “We’ve brought you here to Jaybird Lake for your final test. In 1855, trapper Samuel Baskin was doing his laundry. He was buck-naked when a grizzly wandered out of the bushes. He jumped into the lake and swam across to get away. Samuel watched the bear from across the lake, and then after it left, he had to walk back to his camp naked as a jaybird, which is how the lake got its name. So, to honor him, you’re all going to strip, swim, and make your way back naked through the woods. Come back here for initiation… and your clothes.”
I looked at the sparkling black water. It looked freezing. I really didn’t want to get in, but the humiliation of backing out now would force me to transfer to another school. So, along with the other pledges, I stripped off my clothes and laid them on a log.
They made each pledge wait five minutes in between getting in the water so that we’d have to go back through the woods alone for full scare value. When it was my turn, I decided it was best to just jump in and get the shock over with quickly. I threw myself into the dark water, and I swear my testicles crawled up inside me, trying to get away from the cold.
I started swimming, but quickly found my strokes getting shorter as my muscles contracted from the cold. I stopped for a moment to look back. Sean’s flashlight looked miles away. I had to be close to the other side. I kicked out for the opposite shore when I felt a searing pain in my calf. I screamed and clutched at my leg. My voice was cut off when I sank below the water. I kicked with my good leg, trying to get back to the surface to call for help. I broke through, but only had time for a quick breath before I dropped below the water again. I was in trouble.
When I kicked, the cramp in my leg became even worse. Instantly, I knew I was going to die, and I couldn’t believe it would be doing something this pointless. I pushed against the water with my arms, and kicked with one leg, but the moon was getting smaller and dimmer.
“There he is!”
“Dude, I got him on camera, I know I did.”
I quickly vanished and watched them as they gathered around the screen to see if they’d recorded me.
“That’s him.”
“It could just be mist on the water.”
“No way. That’s the pledge that died in the lake.”
He was right, of course. I hate that my visits are so regularly interrupted. Everyone seems to be looking for proof of life after death these days. I guess I’ve become a bit of a legend, because almost every year somebody comes to the lake to try to catch sight of the ghost pledge.
With one more look at the beautiful place that took my life, I return to the light. I’ll be back next year, same time, when the moon is full. That’s my pledge.
Tales by the Fire 