This is a work of fiction. The resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Adventure of Bob and Steve
by Cathey S. Newhouse
Copyright 2011 Cathey S. Newhouse
Smashwords Edition
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My brother and a friend decided to play Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. They paddled away in a canoe and promised parents to be home soon.
They explored flooded White Oak Creek and listened and sought what they seeked--adventures in an aluminum twenty year old canoe. (Besides they didn't have much else to do.)
Snapping turtles as big as their heads often popped up their jaws and snapped at their oars. Rattle-Moccasin snakes slivered off shore into the murky water and swam to close to the boat. "Did you see that?"
Logs jammed then a current tipped the boat. They both silently thanked Mom for the life jackets while they were afloat.
The day was slowly coming to an end. Onward home they started to begin. Arms now weary from paddling the oars.
"What is that I see?" The light in the window was bright. The home they thought they sought was in sight.
They paddled away in the light of the new moon.
Then suddenly realized they were lost and alone.
"Oh. No." They looked at each other, a little wide-eyed, confirmed they were brave and couldn't cry.
The sound of the night rang in their hearts with fright just knowing that someone like Twain's Injun Joe was near. "That was only a story, like a cartoon." They shuddered and shook with fear. "It's just these wet clothes and the night air?"
The coyotes were howling their dreary song, of course, not knowing eating small boys was wrong. "They are more afraid of you," doubtful it seemed.
A groan, a growl, "Cougars are not suppose to be out here," or was it a stomach whose last sandwich cleared?
They paddled and paddled seemed nearly an hour when a voice was heard not to far.
Oh relief! Came to the panic stricken ear! It was Mom hollering like she'd done for many a year.
The light from the flashlight like a lighthouse beacon flashed in the night over the vast wasteland and some dead critter's paw. A big black bear had left it there.
They followed the light until once again they were in the drainage ditch flooded from rain. It does this every year.
They told of their story--outrageous it seemed--of wild dogs, cats, bears and creepy reptile things.
But I can't vouch for truth in this tale because my brother's imagination is a whole lot like Hemmingway's great white whale.
However, the humor of this poem:
The adventure took place only a hundred yards from home.
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About the author:
Cathey S. Newhouse, born at Cape Canaveral, Fla. in 1953, her husband Dale and daughter Tricia live in Red Bud which is in near St. Louis but in Southern Illinois. She has two younger brothers. Bob lives in Rowlette, Tx., Grant, her mother, Susie and other relatives live in the Eldorado, Ridgeway, and Harrisburg part of Southern Illinois. She wrote and published in the 80's then graduated from SIUE with a Bachelor's Degree in Communication in 1995. She spent 13 years, designing pages, and odds, comma ends, in community newspapers. They have children, grandchildren, one cat and three fish ponds. She is a gardener, a blogger and a graphic artist.
Connect with me online:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dream-Mystery/125624787465479
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Cathey
My blog: http://newhousenews.blog.com/