Bennett The Brave

Chapter 30

Chapter 30

The summer Neal and I spent at the lake, sticks with me for many reasons. Going on 14 years of age, standing on the brink of adulthood; it scared and thrilled me at the same time. I could not be described as anything but madly in love. I craved to be close to Neal at every turn, I didn't care whether we were out adventuring, exploring woods and hiking trails, hanging out with the kids at the state campground, helping out with the Saturday night cookouts on the beach or participating games with the kids from the other cabins. It was as carefree an existence as you can imagine for two boys, barely into their teens, discovering true friendship and love.

During the week after Independence Day, Neal and I climbed to the abandoned fire tower once more, had lunch and meandered our way down the mountain, stopping by the old Indian cave for a quick, naked romp. Afterwards, while soaking up the warm afternoon sun, I found myself feeling strange, sort of disconnected from the world. The sounds of nature around me seem oddly amplified and resonant. When I turned my head to look around, it seemed like it took my vision a moment to catch up. A wave of nausea overtook me, and I suddenly found myself barfing over the edge of the rock ledge.

"Holy shit, dude!" Neal cried out, "Are you alright?"

"I think so," I said, spitting the remaining vomit from my mouth. Neal bent over me, his hand on my back felt comforting. Neal felt my sweat-slicked forehead.

"Did you get overheated or something?" he inquired gently, "Mayebe the Mayeonnaise went bad in your sandwich?"

"Don't think so," I said, dragging my arm across my lips, "it came on so suddenly, like all at once." I slowly stood on quaky legs and felt very unsteady. Neal pulled his shorts and T-Shirt on in a flash, and helped me dress. Together, we made our way down the trail and by the time we got to the base of the mountain, I felt much better. The bike ride back home proved uneventful, and for the most part, I forgot about the whole thing.

About a week after that is when things started to go really jinkey. My mom, dad, Neal and I were eating dinner around the table. Neal chattered on about our day's adventure tangling with a huge snapping turtle. Sometime between the main course and dessert, I heard a strange tinkling sound, almost like bells, but more distant and muted. I couldn't quite place it, so I started moving my head around, listening for where it might be coming from. The sound seemed to be coming from wherever I looked. I shook my head, and wiggled a finger in one of my ears, and then the other.

I wrinkled my nose at an unpleasant smell which suddenly invaded my nostrils. I thought, at first, Mayebe Neal or my dad had farted or something, but it didn't exactly smell like that. More of an acrid odor, like something burning, it started to become intolerable so I pushed my chair back from the table to get up and flee. My feet felt like they were tangled up in themselves and I stood only briefly, falling back into the chair at an odd angle. Looking around the table, I saw everyone staring at me with concerned faces.

"Bennett?" I saw my mom's mouth move, "What's the matter?" Her voice sounded far off and kind like she was underwater, or as if I were underwater; I felt extremely disoriented. The last thing I remember is everybody standing up abruptly from the table, looking very upset.

A shimmery cloud of silvery sparkles lifted slowly from my eyes as a sharp, keening whistling sound faded from my ears. A bright light shone in one eye, then the other; a thin sounding voice from overhead said, "Paging Dr. Samuelson, ER stat." I felt very nauseated, my head throbbed, my limbs felt leaden and I felt a cold dampness in my pants.

"Well hello there Bennett," a familiar voice hovered over me, "welcome back to the living." I squinted towards the voice, trying to place it. Trying to move my hand to wipe my brow, I found myself bound by a blanket. Blinking away the clouds from my vision, I focused on the face of the person talking to me.