Up The Creek

Today is once again Theme Thursday, my how time flies. This week’s theme is HAT. I have a story I wrote some time ago about Trooper Bob and his Stetson Hat.  Go back to that story and read it for a laugh especially if you have ever been given a speeding ticket.  Go read Trooper Bob and The Cattle Truck. Now Theme Thursday is where the powers that be, don’t ask me who they are because it’s a big mystery, come up with a theme and then you volunteer to write and post your take on the Theme. I love this because it is an exercise in writing, which is my favorite kind of exercise. It is my favorite kind of exercise because I don’t have to do anything but tell you a story. My fingers get exercised and I can still drink my coffee. So read my story or in this case stories and then click on the link to Theme Thursday and click on any and all of the names at the bottom of the page and read what they have written, heck add your name and write one yourself.

She watched as the hat went floating down the creek. Damn it. She held the paddle in her hand and yelled “come on y’all, stick your oar in the water and row.” She watched as the young boy began scooping water with his paddle and the girl swatted with hers. They were going in circles. How do you explain to a hardheaded know it all teenaged girl how to row a canoe while instructing a pre-pubescent boy scout how to get his badge?

The boat went in circles. The girl would row and slap and pull while the boy would dig and push the water in the opposite direction. “Alright! Everyone STOP! Just Stop!” she yelled. “What we need to do is get together on this.” She was frustrated and hot and now her face was burning in the midday sun. “I HATE CANOES!” spat the teenaged girl throwing her oar in the bottom of the canoe. “I hate canoes, I hate water and I hate being out here in this mosquito infested swamp. I want to go home.” She smiled and thought to herself “I want to go home too”; but instead replied “I know you are frustrated but let’s just try this again.”

They each picked up their oars, positioned themselves and she yelled “row left, row right, row left…” Once again they turned in circles. “Look guys, we have got to get our strokes going all in the same direction. If I’m rowing you need to row in the same direction or we will continue to go in circles.” The teenaged girl looked at her and said “fine, I just won’t row.” She looked the girl down and said “okay. You just sit there while we row.” She picked her oar up signaled the boy and they began once again digging into the water.

The little boat began moving up the creek slowly. They paddled and sweated and sweated and paddled against the current. The boy dug deep into the cool murky water every once in a while tossing a few spittle of liquid onto the teenaged girl. The teenaged girl sat arms crossed watching her two canoe mates row. Then she picked up her oar and fell into rhythm. She dug into the water with her oar and the boat sped up. They glided through the water until they reached the check-in point. The girl took the lead and turned the boat using her oar as a rudder. Then she began barking her commands “row, row, row…” The little boat now in the current sped down the creek passing the tree swing which had taken them forever to get past before. They sailed past docks and piers.

“STOP ROWING” she screamed. The two children stuck their oars in the water to slow their descent. Then they too saw it. The girl turned the boat like a pro. She dug her oar deep into the water as the young boy moved the boat to the right just in time to retrieve the hat from the water. A little wet but still none too worse for the wear.

She was no longer up the creek without paddlers.