But in a snap, it was over. A gentle slowdown, and we were done. No trees hit. And no more soaring. Like a flash of lightning that slices the sky, it brightened my world, and then was gone. I wondered if they’d let me do it again.
“Thumbs-up?” Trinity asked after all those buckles and clasps were unclasped and I was back in my chair.
I focused super hard and held both thumbs up.
“Wanna do it again?”
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” I whacked Elvira.
Athena went next. She was begging “AGAIN!” even before they’d unhooked her.
Jocelyn asked to go three times, but Lulu reminded her she had to give everybody at least one turn before anyone got a second. Karyn was at first hesitant, but the look on her face when she landed on the platform on the other side was stunned happiness.
“I… I was like… the wind!” she whispered to me as soon as she was down.
After everyone got a slew of chances to zip down that incredible contraption again, we headed back to camp. Rolling in my chair seemed soooooooo boring. Karyn caught up with me, and, looking slightly embarrassed, said that she probably wasn’t gonna go home today after all.
And I totally got why.
Because today we learned we could fly!
CHAPTER 20
Swimming was next up on the schedule. This time, with Trinity supporting both my head and my stomach, I lay flat on the water—facedown—almost like the swimmers I’ve seen on TV. But not really—I made real sure that not one drop of water touched my nose. I was able to use my arms to move me a little, and it felt SO good! I felt closer to being a guppy, for sure. Trinity’s hair stayed dry; mine was a soppy mess. She wasn’t kidding about saving those braids!
When we got out, we headed back to the cabin, made a quick change into dry clothes, and gobbled down our mac-and-cheese lunch. More cheese, less mac, would be my review if anyone asked. And for dessert we had something called snickerdoodles, which sounds like a type of dog but turns out are freshly baked cinnamon cookies—really awesome. Trinity soaked mine in milk so I could eat them easier. How come I’d never thought of that?
Then Trinity announced we were doing more water! These folks were seriously into wet activities.
“So, are you ready for our deluxe ocean-liner cruise?” she asked.
Not sure what she meant by ocean liner, we all waited.
“I got jokes—sorry. We’re going on a boat ride! It’s not a cruise ship—sorry—we’ll be on a little flat-bottomed boat on Lake Lilliana.”
She watched for our reaction. Since I’d never been on a boat, I only had ocean-liner movie scenes in my head. Hmm—now was probably not the time to be thinking about Titanic, one of my favorite movies of all time. So I had lots of questions, starting with how would they manage to get all of us on a boat?
Karyn had questions too and didn’t need time to type them out, so I was glad she began to pepper Trinity and Kim with them.
“So what kind of boat do you have? There’s too many of us for a rowboat.”
“It’s called a pontoon,” Trinity started to reply, but Athena interrupted with “What’s a pontoon? That’s a silly word!”
My thoughts exactly!
“A pontoon,” Sage explained, “is basically a giant metal floatie.” We must have looked skeptical, because she added, “Let’s see…. Look at it this way: a pontoon boat is like a floating living room with a sunroof!”
“What’s great about a pontoon is that it’s 99.5 percent impossible to sink—honestly. I don’t even know how one could even be sunk!” Sage added.
“Is that all?” Karyn said with a frown.
“I’ve got you, Karyn,” Kim told her. “One hundred zillion percent!” She gave Karyn’s arm a quick rub. Karyn, I noticed, did not pull back. But she still looked worried. Kim explained further, “The boat makes runs with campers every day. Trust me, they’re experts.” Karen still gave her the side-eye.
As for me, riding an ocean liner or a pontoon or tugboat made very little difference—I was about to go on a b.o.a.t.! My legs started crazy kicking.
Sage opened a closet and pulled out a stack of life jackets.
Athena reached for one. “So, you think we’re gonna have a flood in here?”
Karyn giggled.
Sage shook her head. “We just keep these here in the cabin to save time. Plus, the ones down by the pool are usually wet.”
“They sure are orange, orange, orange,” Jocelyn commented.
Karyn gave Jocelyn’s arm a gentle poke. “Safety, safety, safety,” she murmured. Jocelyn glanced away, but with a sly grin.
Athena insisted on putting hers on by herself, and after a struggle, turned around triumphantly. We had to hold in giggles—she had it on backward! Not that I had any right to comment—I can’t even get one arm in by myself.
Trinity, however, had the foam-filled jacket around me and clipped in about ten seconds. “All set, kid!”
Hmm—I sure hoped I didn’t need to use this. Then I got to thinking about logistics—got that from Mom. I tapped, “Wheelchairs on boats?”
Trinity then opened a closet I hadn’t even noticed before. It was full of… neatly folded wheelchairs! Okay, these people probably had backup plans for their backup plans!
“No worries,” she told me. “Special treat—we’re all riding in chariots today. It’s a camp requirement for boat safety. The pontoon is specially designed with fasteners to hold our chairs in place.”
And what if those secure fasteners come loose? I chose not to ask. But I thought it, oh yes I did.
“And you’ll love the way the boat rocks on the waves.”
Karyn sat ramrod straight. “Did she say WAVES?”
“Small waves,” Kim assured her.
Trinity was dashing around the cabin, cramming suntan lotion and a first-aid kit into her backpack. First-aid kit? What was she expecting? Then she added sweatshirts for both of us, and a couple of pudding cups for me.
Karyn was back to worrying about sinking. “Uh, what if the boat flips? Or crashes into a rock? Or hits another boat? Or it sinks? I just gotta ask, you know.”
Kim was so patient. “Okay, fair enough,” she said. “Let me answer you this way. How many of you had a rubber duckie or a toy like that when you were little?”