The Big Dipper

The water was cool on her feet. She let them dangle in it while her courage grew. The “chirps“ and ”har-umphs” of frogs... bullfrogs, tree-frogs, every kind of frog... filled the night air. Millions of them. Mia would never have believed there were so many frogs in the whole world, much less in this one, shitty place, and her here in their midst.

She didn’t have her suit on, but that wouldn’t have stopped Brandi, would it? Mia liked to tease Brandi about her “big, brass ones”. She missed Brandi, and wished she was here now. Brandi would probably even like it here, she was the kind of person who could make anyplace seem cool. Mia crushed out her cigarette and glanced around. It was so dark! It never got this dark back home. She was not as rebellious as her friend, at least not yet, but she was learning fast. That was why her parents had sent her down here to Uncle Bob’s farm in Florida, so that she might cool some of the steam that was buiding up pressure inside her... and to get her away from Brandi, no doubt. Shit, Florida was a real let-down too, nothing here but red-necks and ass-holes. She looked around once more, then she slipped out of her shorts, flipped the halter-top to the dock beside them and performed a quick, but well practiced dive which left barely a splash in her wake. Perhaps she was a rebel after all. Brandi would be proud!

Oh, God! The water felt delicious on her naked skin, tickling her every inch with cool fingers. The deeper she dove the colder the water, tingling those untouchable places that only Brandi liked to talk about. She broke the surface with some angst, the night sky nearly as dark as the lake water. What if someone had heard the splash, and had come to investigate? But there was only the darkness... in every direction the darkness. Shadows covered the shed on the dock and the trees on the shoreline. Far away to the east the white sand of the beach gleamed in the starlight, but there was nothing here, only the darkness, even the water was ominously dark.

She rolled to her back, floating, her barely submerged ears roaring like seashells. Her toes and nipples delighted in the lap of gentle waves. Occasionally a lap broke on her chin, filling her mouth so that she had to spit it back out again.

It was a rustle of water that stilled her heart. A rustle from the direction of the dock. A fish? It would have been a big one, but it could have been a fish, or one of those bullfrogs. She thought then about an alligator. They had alligators down here, didn’t they? She peered into the blackness while she tread the restless water. This was a bad idea. She was going back.

Was that movement? Her eyes strained into the blackness. Was that someone on the dock? Shit, it was! Someone big. “Who is it?” The crack in her voice pissed her off. “Who’s there?”

“Nobody here but us chickens!”

Mia’s blood froze so that her arms and legs struggled to tread the water. “Who is that? Who are you? Is that you, Uncle Bob? Go away and leave me alone!”

“Don’t have to do it... I ain’t “Uncle Bob”, and it’s my dock. You are trespassing, Missy.“

The voice sounded young. He was probably slightly older than her sixteen years. “Please go. I will get dressed and leave.”

”I use this dock for fishing. You are my best catch yet! I’ve got to see if you are a keeper!”

“Well, at least toss me my clothes.”

“I reckon not.”

She was closer to the dock now, swimming warily. She could still make out nothing in the darkness. It was hard to even pinpoint his exact location. Could she pull herself up, grab her clothes and run she wondered, all before he caught her? But she was being silly. He wouldn’t try to catch her, would he?

But what if he did try? What then? It dawned on her that she could die here tonight. She was alone, she was naked, and a stranger stood between herself and safety. If she screamed would anybody hear? Would anybody come?

She looked out across the water. There was a far away light across the lake, probably a boat ramp. She would be just as alone, and just as naked there. She looked toward the beach. Could she outswim him? It would be her best chance. She heard what sounded like an outboard motor starting with a pull rope. It didn’t catch, and was pulled again. A generator fired off, it was not an outboard. The noisy generator roared out over the water. Seconds after the generator started roaring bright lights flooded out from the dock, spotlighting her in their beams. Suddenly exposed she pushed herself away from the lights and toward the shadows.

“Ah! You are a pretty one!” She could see the whites of his grinning teeth through the lights. “I see you now, Missy. Come on up here, be a sport! I’ll give you your clothes.”

She saw him, too. He had shaggy red hair, and a matching beard. He wore denim bib-overalls with no shirt beneath, and no shoes. His muscles strained the shoulder straps and the cotton seams on the work pants. “Jesus,” she thought, “he would make two of her.” There was no way she could fight him off if he was to catch her. She continued pushing herself further from the dock, and further away from him, putting as much water between them as possible.

“Well, if you won’t come to me, I reckon I’ll have to come to you!”

Mia heard excitement in his voice, eagerness. She pushed the water away faster, pushing herself away from the dock. He unsnapped the buttons on his coveralls, letting them drop down around his ankles. He pulled his feet out and stood massive on the dock, his body and thighs thick with muscle, his excitement making itself obvious in a stiffening shadow.

He made an awkward dive toward her and then surfaced with a splash. His arms flailed the water. He was not a good swimmer. He hooted and laughed, then he dove under for an impossibly long time. Was he swimming underneath toward her? Frightened, she began to circle around him, trying for the dock. When he came up he was further out, out at the edge of the light. He hooted again, seemingly oblivious of her. Was he crazy? She wasn’t hanging around to find out!

The lights were blinding as she hurried up the ladder, the white lights exposing her to him, and to the world.

Her clothes were still there! She slipped into her shorts and held the top to her breast.

“Awww! You leavin’? It’s just gettin’ fun!“ He looked more normal with his hair and beard plastered to his skull. He looked kind of cute, even, like one of those Scottish men in “Braveheart”. He hooted again, delighted with himself.

“You’re an asshole!” She slid into her top.

“An asshole would have hid them clothes.”

He had a point. She started away, eager for safety, eager to get back to Uncle Bob’s.

“Bye-bye, Pretty! Come back tomorrow night for a swim?”

His overalls were there on the dock. She picked them up, and hurried away.

Maybe she would bring them back tomorrow night. Maybe.