Never Want to Leave

The drive is long just like it always is but it doesn’t bother me. For me it’s a time to unwind and remember. Remember the memories that I have created in the lake house I just left. Remember the sights, the smells, the joy and laughter and the hard times too. This drive home is my safe a place to lock away the memories before I leave, not knowing if I will come back again. It’s the time for me to pull out my key and open the safe.

***

“Wake up its time we’re here.” Calls my mother from the front seat. My sister and I shuffle in the back lazily opening our eyes. Immediately my heart fills with joy as I see my grandparent’s beloved lake house. The small two story building made of wood and brick with a pointed roof, the window sill’s frail and the paint coming off near the ends, brings back all the memories and joy from ties before. I jump out of the car my feet landing in the soft grass and sand mixture below. I walk around the car carefully watching out for the aunt hills that spot the ground like a chocolate chip cookie. We pull out our suitcases and pull them along until we hit the small wooded deck. My grandma rushes out of the house to great us helping us put our bags in the house. Quickly I run up the narrow steps to the top floor being careful not to bump one of the many pictures that line the wall. I turn the corner quickly and throw my bag on to the small futon bed.

“It’s mine.” I yell down the stair to my little sister who shoots me a look. I laugh at her and crawl to the end of the bed where a rail meets the sofa. I carefully peak over looking down on the living room below. My mother sits on one of the couches resting her feet.

“Honey be careful up there we don’t want you to slip through!” she yells up to me and I nod.

“Here put this pillow in the crack,” says my dad from behind me tossing me an old pillow. I take it and stuff it in the crack.

“Can we go down to the water now?” I ask him.

“Not tonight it’s too late. We’ll go tomorrow.” I put at him but nod and unpack my suitcase pulling out my PJ’s. I put them on and slip into the soft sheets of my bed.

“Come on hurry up.” My sister yells at me from out side the bathroom.

“I’m hurrying girl.” I yell back, pulling on the last strap of my bathing suit. I fling the door open and rush out of the house with my sister. We run along the deck our feet echoing on the wood. Descending the concrete stairs, we rush past the hammock tree and down the hill to the dock. My sister and I stop abruptly at the invisible boundary line.     “Daddy come on.” Kate yells up to my dad who is descending the concrete steps painfully slow.

“I’m coming did you put on the sun screen?” both of us sigh in annoyance and go to grab the bottle from the metal table on the dock. We help each other put it on and I spit out a glob of the gross tasting substance that she accidently shoves in my mouth. Finally, my dad reaches the dock and sits on one of the three lounge chairs. Kate and I pull out our little chair to the edge of the dock and look out on the lake.

Our dock area is one of the only spots on the lake with a beach, something both of us have pride in. The water laps the shore as a boat passes by avoiding one of the many stumps that sticks up from the lake. Suddenly the bringing of a timer fills the air and we jump into the water. I open my eyes under the murky water and immediately find a shell.

A few hours pass before our neighbors come out to play. Sally, Tom, Grant, and Elen run into the water, Tom tackling me on the way. I laugh as I reach the surface and shove him down. Eventually Grant and Thom disappear like they always do and we wait in anticipation for them to appear and pull us under the water. As the minutes tick along, agonizingly slow, I begin to wonder if they left. Suddenly, two hands grab my ankle and I sink down below the water. I try not to gasp but fail and taste the muddy fish water fill my mouth. When I reach the surface shouting out the water, I hear Tom’s laughter. Glaring at him, I jump on to his back and we begin to fight. The dinging of a bell fills the air and we all turn to my house. My dad stands on the porch.

“Dinner is ready!” he shouts and we spring from the water going our separate ways. Dad has made ribs my favorite. I pile on a rack and go to sit on the deck. I brush off the aunts crawling on my seat cushion and sit down. Papa Ed and Mimi come out to join us and Papa Ed convinces me to join him in singing an old war song as we watch the sun set over the lake. It colors the sky with a yellow orange glow hitting the trees above my head shining rays down on us.

“It’s beautiful.” My dad says from behind me. I nod.

“I wish I never had to leave.”

***

The familiar statue of Sam Huston speeds by and I smile sadly. Another year has come and gone at the lake house. As my grandparents get older and our time with them gets shorter. I will cherish these moments more and more because I will never know if I will come back again.