It was a beautiful day in late July, bright and sunny, and most of all, hot. It was in the eighties, the kind of weather that makes a person jump headfirst into a pool. Or, in the case of a certain 4 girls, a river.

They were eighteen, fresh out of high school. They had spent their whole lives in a small town, and were ready to be free. Before they left for good though, they had one last summer to do all their favorite things with their three best friends. Today, to escape the heat, they were river tubing.

The waters appeared uncharacteristically high as they pushed off from the bank in their inner tubes, ready for a fun, and cool, ride down the river.

"Look how high the water is!" one called. "I bet the rapids are great."

The rapids were great. As the four drifted down the river, the currents tossed and bumped and splashed them. Nothing dangerous – levels 1 and 2, hardly moving – but boy was it fun.

"Woo!" they screamed in unison as they were spun around a rock. Then they came across a calm patch.

"I can't believe it, guys. College, in just a few months."

"It's insane," another remarked.

The other two nodded in agreement.

"Things change so much. It all seems so sudden, too. We have no idea what will happen."

"Uh oh, look out," the first said jokingly, "here come some level twos. Get ready girls!"

One by one the girls were pulled into the rapids. These were faster and stronger than the others so far, but still nothing they couldn't handle.

"This is so much fun! Hey, you alright back there?"

The current had pulled one of the girls to the side, and she had fallen behind.

"Oh, worry about yourself. I'm fine! This is nothing I haven't done before." As she spoke, the current spun her around so that her feet faced upstream. Anyone who had done this before knew that was a problem. She turned all her attention to straightening out. Spun around and distracted, she couldn't see the rock she was headed for – until she slammed right into it. Her tube flew up and she flew out of it. The current caught her, dragging her under the water before she could stop herself.

She was calm. This had happened before, she knew what to do. Feet downstream, head up. She tried to position herself.

This time, the rock hit her in the head.

She woke seconds or minutes later. She was being dragged through muck and leaves, sticks and stones. So many stones, hitting and bruising her. Her head killed. She tried to kick, but her ankle hurt to bad, and her arms felt strangely heavy. She tried to scream but only got a mouthful of water.

Where are the others, she wondered, why haven't they saved me yet? She managed one short scream before she was pulled under again.

She gave up fighting; it was simply too hard. She had no energy to go against the current. Black spots filled her vision and her head pounded.

My friends will save me…they have to…

Everything was black.

When the others saw the tube without her in it, they wondered what happened.

When the saw the blood in the water, they feared hearing the truth.

When they saw the looks on the faces of the cops that came, they knew

A little danger is what makes things fun. The excitement, the thrill – it's all part of living.

No one goes into things expecting to die. Yet it happens, all the time.

Life isn't life without risk.

/

AN: Inspired by the recent drowning of an 18 year old girl while river tubing in my county.