Another Day



While most 14-year-old girls were busy experimenting with boys and make-up, Stephanie and I spent our time camping and exploring the wilderness. This day was going to be filled with adventure and excitement. Stephanie’s personality was outgoing and impulsive while mine was quiet and.



The day began at the bus stop on a Friday morning in mid March. The neighborhood we both lived in only contained six houses at the time in a rural area of Central Florida. The house I lived in was located on the east end of the road and Stephanie lived on the west end. The separation between our houses seemed like an eternity. The bus stop was located mid way between our two houses. As I walked to the bus stop reciting vocabulary words in my head in preparation for an upcoming test in History, Stephanie was running toward me with a big smile on her face. “What are you so happy about?” I asked. “We are not going to school today.” she said with no pause in her statement. “How are we going to manage that” I asked. She proceeded to tell me about the plan she had. “This is what we are going to do” she explained. “We are going to hop the fence and hang out at the creek all day”. “Yeah Stephanie that is a brilliant plan” I said sarcastically. I finally agreed and we made dashed over the barb wire fence cautiously not to rip our clothes or better yet our skin.



We trampled our way in the woods. The leaves crumbled beneath our feet like potato chips. The leaves on the trees had fallen making room for the brilliant green leaves that now resurfaced on the oak trees. The ground was covered with pine cones, pine straw and palmetto bushes. Spider webs were attached from one tree to another in every direction. We finally made our way out of view of the bus stop. We stood there in silence, our hearts racing with excitement and fear. The bus drove away, we both sighed and headed back on our journey.



The combination of the crisp air and bright sun provided the perfect temperature for our expedition. We continued to walk to our destination. We never knew how we made it there because the surroundings always looked the same. Stephanie had a blue backpack on her shoulders. “I don’t think I have ever seen you with books” I said. As she turned around, her long dark hair turned around with her. She smiled and said “you have never seen me with books and you still haven’t, I had to pack food for the day”. She turned back around and continued walking.



Stephanie and I stopped to get a drink of water at what we call our half way point. The only reason we call it this is because it is the only sign of familiarity until we reach the creek. Our landmark is a thick vine that hangs from the top of a pine tree and reaches all the way to the ground. This vine was referred to as our rope swing. The slope of the land from here on out is down hill but the trees become thicker resulting in more spider webs. We both break a branch off of a small oak tree. We grasp the sticks in our hands and use them to sword off the spiders in the “jungle” section of the woods.



As we approach the creek the woods become dense and we knew we are approaching our hang out. The land now rises into an incline for a few steps. “We finally made it” I said. This creek was our vision of perfection. This creek however is not the sight of what many would vision as a creek; clear flowing water over a rock bottom. No. This creek was just the opposite. The creek was merely muck; a mixture of mud and water. The color of the water was yellow brown, if there is such a color.

Stephanie and I spread the tablecloth she took from her mother down on the ground. We are only seated for a few minutes when boredom sets in. “What should we do now” Stephanie said. “How about we go for a swim” I suggested. “I don’t think you will swim in that water” Stephanie said. “How about we go in at the same time” I said.

She smiled and simply said “okay”.





Stephanie wore shorts and a black t-shirt. I on the other had on my stone washed blue jeans a white t shirt and white Ked tennis shoes. We both stood six inches away from the creek. The depth of the creek only appeared to be one foot. We both stood there for a few seconds. We counted; 1, 2, 3 and then jumped. Or shall I say I was the only one who jumped. She didn’t do it. “Oh No” I thought I didn’t have time to yell or scream at her. Looks can be deceiving because I sunk in the water up to my thighs. As I tried to move my legs to freedom they sunk even more deep into the water. “Grab my hand” Stephanie said in between her laughing. My hand reached hers and she tugged on both of my arms until I was finally out of the muck minus my tennis shoes.



Stephanie looked down at my pants shaking her head she said “you should have worn your shorts”. My white socks turned to a shade of black and the muck on my pants covered both of my legs like a thick paste. “Stephanie what am I going to do” I said. “This is the first and only time I skipped school, I can’t go home looking like this” I said. “I have a plan” Stephanie said. We walked back to her house so we could sneak into her laundry room and wash and dry my pants before the bus is scheduled to arrive at 3:00.



The walk back was a long and painful walk. As the muck dried my legs felt as if I was carrying two concrete bricks lagging with every step I took. My thoughts drifted to my brother who was four years older than me. He enlisted in the military and was serving in the Gulf War. My dad was a truck driver and gone most of the week so my mom and I were by ourselves most of the time. Here I was complaining about walking with mud on my legs when my concern should be with my brother. I realized how worried my mother must be about my brother and she didn’t need the added stress of my immature behavior. As we waited for my clothes in the dryer I made a vow to Stephanie “no more skipping school”. She agreed. We never skipped school again, but our expedition to our special hang out “the creek” continued on through the rest of our adolescent years.