It was the middle of springtime and across from my house

where the incident took place. There was a lake there in

which my brother and I loved to explore from time to time.

The humidity and waterdrops where reminiscent of a fully

functional sauna. The onslaught of heat and burning glow of

the sun was relentless. Nonetheless, this fact did not

bother us one bit, but gave us more incentive to dance with

our cool and embracing "long-lost love".

The first step of this operation was making sure that our

neighbors had gone away from the house for at least two

hours. Since it was their lake and property, this made it

safe for us in not getting caught in the middle of our

escapade. Upon this, my brother and I snuck to their

backyard like two undercover police officers, until we were

in the clear. Nerve-wracking minutes later, flowed the

emerald green and ever-so lively lake in front of us. We

stopped and starred in awe. The lake had appeared so shiny

and reflective, it resembled a finely-cut diamond. The rare

and distinct fragrance enticed us. It smelled like

mother-nature herself, with aromas ranging from wildlife

and wet grass, to evaporated swamp water and healthy dirt.

Then, the time for us to find the desired vessel arrived.

We chose the kayaks, and set out for the water. Carefully,

with our torn-jeans rolled up, and shirts off, we dragged

the massive thing over the slope of grass and mud into the

shallow stream. We then hopped aboard, grabbed the paddles,

and floated and splashed into nowhere. The wavy current

sucked us downstream, periodically bouncing us off of

sandbags and sharp branches leaning over the water- Now

that was true adventure! Minutes later, my brother and I,

after passing under many pipes and tunnels, floated into a

huge "cul de sac" of water, with an island in the center.

In our amazement, we paddled there as vigorously as

toddlers learning to swim. We tied the kayaks to a thin

branch with the slimy green rope mysteriously attached to

them, and hopped onto the island. We basked in pure

amazement.

After the tempo settled, we started our natural brotherly

routine. My brother and I sat on the muddy bank, with our

feet dipped in water, and threw stones out as far away as

we could in our competitive nature. We set aside our

differences, and together, bonded. My newfound companion

and I sat, laughed, fought, played, and talked, as the sun

slowly left us.

At this point it did not matter what happened to us for

taking the kayaks, because whatever it was, it could not

replace the priceless experience we shared with one

another.