Wondrous Waters

Water fills the floor and I’m freezing. It soaks into my shoes. My sandals slosh whenever I flex my toes. Flimsy red polyester, a lousy excuse for a raincoat, sticks to my skin. Teeth chatter as I rely on adrenaline to warm me from the inside out. Water slaps me in the face stinging me cheek. My body shifts hard jerking to the right.

“Everybody keep paddling! I can see it coming!”

As the leader continues to yell, those of us in the raft hold our positions. I adjust my grip on the paddle preparing for the drop. Feeling the raft tip forward I find myself staring into a rapid Poseidon himself could have designed. I see everything around me slow down and speed up, seemingly together. And I can’t help but to think, how did I end up here?

Desolation Canyon, Utah. Ninety miles from any civilization. I think back to this morning, remembering the rays of sun shining down on my face. The heat gives me false expectations of warm weather. I stretch my body out of its curled position inside the synthetic sleeping bag. I find the spot with no residual body heat and a cold shock run up legs my through my feet. I shiver, pulling my sweatshirt on and searching for my glasses. It’s then that I hear the murmuring of other voices outside and the flow of the river and remember where I am. Any and all supplies necessary for time on the river must be packed away onto the six rafts. I unzip the tent slowly, readying my body for the rush of cold air. As I step out of the tent I breathe in the crisp air heavily, still cool from overnight temperatures. I walk over to our ‘kitchen’ and grab a bagel and walk along the river bed looking for a sandy spot to sit and enjoy breakfast, saying a sleepy “Morning” to the other group members.

“Alright team! Hurry and eat. We’ve got a long day of rafting ahead of us! We’ll hit a pretty big one down the way. We’ve never flipped a raft before but today could be the day. Be prepared.”

The shrill scream of the girl next to me brings me back to the present. Making sure the sport strap on my glasses is secure I lean forward and push the paddle through the water with all of my force. For a split second I am soaked and feel nothing but a blanket of frigid river fall over me. The joyful screams of my peers and the droplets running down my face signal to me that we did it. Pure unadulterated joy and pride bubble over and I can’t help but to whoop and holler with the others; a moment forever contained in the mind desperate for more.