In My Head

Traveling ~ Jake

I drop my bag on the side of the court, sprint down toward the net, and shoot a lay-up. The ball goes up and bounces in. "Traveling!" Kaden calls out as I rebound my ball.

"Free throws or rebound jumps?" I ask.

"I say we do both," Kaden says as he grabs his ball. Kaden shoots an underhanded lay-up that bounces in.

"That works. You first?"

Kaden dribbles back to the free throw line. He turns, spins the ball, dribbles twice, and holds the ball. His arms jerk up, and the ball flies out of his hands, bounces across the court, and rolls down the hill toward the river.

"Holy crap!" I burst out laughing. "What did you do that for?"

But Kaden is staring down at his hands with a frown on his face. "I didn't do that."

"You didn't do that?" I repeat. What does that mean?

"I swear I didn't do it, my arms just jerked up all on their own." Kaden pumps his arms up and down. "God, that was weird."

I turn back to the river-Kaden's ball is bobbing in the water right off the bank. I point. "Uh oh."

Kaden runs for it. I set my ball on the court and follow him down the hill. His ball floats downstream at a slow pace.

Kaden stops on the edge of the bank and stares. I follow him up to the water.

Kaden pulls his shoes, socks, and shirt off.

"Dude, just tell your parents you need a new ball."

"You gave me that ball, Jake!" He gapes at me. "How could you say that?"

Jeez, I had no idea he cares so much about that birthday present.

Kaden runs into the water up to his knees and reaches for the ball. He's about three feet short. He dives in for it, making waves that send the ball out into the current. My heart skips a beat as I watch Kaden follow his ball out there, huffing and panting from the cold shock. What's he doing?! If he gets caught in that current he'll end up stuck out there without any energy, swept downstream toward the waterfalls.

"Kaden! Come back!"

"Relax . . . Jake," Kaden shouts back. "I'm . . . okay." He looks so awkward out there, like he never learned how to swim. He splashes after his basketball and lunges for it. He throws the ball back toward the shore, sinks under, and comes up coughing and sputtering. The ball lands right on the edge of the water and splashes my legs. I jump forward and grab it, but it doesn't even seem important.

I suddenly realize that I followed Kaden downriver pretty far. I can't even see the river court around all the trees.

Kaden flails out there, trying hard to move, but unable to break free of the current. I start jogging to keep up with him. "You still okay?" I call out to him.

He doesn't answer. Maybe swimming is taking all his concentration. He works really hard, but it doesn't get him anywhere except further downriver.

Screw this. I'm not going to watch him go down the waterfall. I race downriver a little bit and drop down to untie my sneakers. Before I can chicken out, I get to my feet and sprint into the water.

Holy crap, it's so cold! My foot slams down on a rock, but I ignore the pain and dive in-but it feels like I hardly have any momentum as I take to the water and struggle to fight the panic that shoots up from deep inside. The water is so cold, I can't breathe and my body won't move right.

Where did Kaden go?

I don't see him up river or down. "Kaden!" My voice sounds small. I fight to take a breath. "Kaden!"