We Were Once All Commuters: Chapter 6

Intuition can be a funny thing.  Most often we joke about a woman's intuition or a mom's intuition.  However, sometimes an intuition can be more than a feeling or a passing thought to avert disaster; it can be a part of a bigger plan as we learned about Jake's demise and communication with a beautiful woman in blue.

The sky was still dark when when Jake was pulled on to the beach.  His eyes were closed, and he was not breathing.  He lay lifeless on the sand.  Quickly his rescuer compressed his chest and turned Jake's head to the side.  Jake awoke.  Water exploded from his lungs.  His head once again hit the packed, water soaked sand as his eyes opened.  He saw Laddie and smiled.  Jake could not speak..  He still struggled to breathe comfortably.  Jake was alive.  His best friend had pulled him from the water and saved his life as the beautiful woman told him.

Laddie, as he rode his bike over the bridge he had a horrible feeling as he approached the draw bridge, the site of their mishap with the radio and the semi.  He thought about Jake being alone at the beach and worried that Jake may not be safe.  He spun his bicycle around and pedaled hard to return to his friend as quickly as possible.  As he rode back toward the beach, Laddie knew something was wrong.  He didn't see Jake.  The sky was too dark, but a glimmer of moon light reflected off the rear reflector of Jake's bike, and Laddie ran to it.

Jake was not there.

Laddie yelled, "Jake!"

There was no response.

Again he yelled, "Jake, where are you?"

No reply.  Only a loud silence.

So, without thinking, Laddie ran into the water.  He didn't think about the waves or the tide.  He knew his friend was drowning, and he had to find him quickly.  Laddie dove under the waves and splashed the surface of the water with his hands hoping to grab hold of Jake, the pal he had left behind.  He found nothing. He dove down into the waves one more time.  He held his breathe and with his eyes closed he reached out to touch the sand floor of the ocean and felt something.  He opened his eyes to see as he grabbed what he could not see, Jake's hand.  He pulled him up close to his body and stood up to walk ashore while dragging Jake to the beach.  He plopped him down and compressed Jake's chest three time before rolling his dearest friend over to spit out the water and to welcome him back to earth.

Jake smiled.

Laddie smiled back and said, "I am sorry I left you."

Jake struggled to breath, but nodded his head in forgiveness, and in a low, scratchy voice he replied, "Me too."

The boys were exhausted and fell asleep in the dry sand close to the dunes, happy that they were finally safe and together.  Although wet and cold, the boys did not worry about getting home just then, but would deal with that tomorrow.

Til then, I will see you on the road.