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Water Slide

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Posted by Pete on October 18, 2023 at 03:45:23

I wondered to myself why I felt pressed to share this story. I think its because its the first time that I can remember actually acknowledging that I really wanted to wear clothes in the water. Up until this point I really hadn't thought too much about my choice of swimwear. My friends and I pretty much always swam in whatever clothes we happened to be wearing that day. It was just what we did and I didn't think twice about it.

Until this time. I wasn't in high school yet, and neither was my older brother, so I'd guess this happened towards the end of the school year when I was in 6th or 7th grade. Earlier that year, my mom took us "shopping" for 2nd hand clothes. I ended up coming home with a pair of really nice jeans, that seemed almost brand new. They were dark blue and pretty heavy-duty. And, over the following weeks, I kept getting this thought in my mind... I want to wear those jeans in the water. Not just gym shorts or cutoff jeans, but that specific pair of pants.

Unfortunately for me, there weren't a lot of opportunities to get wet before summer rolled around. Our house had just one bathroom, and there wasn't even a good way to take a fully clothed shower without the risk of someone discovering a stash a soaked clothes afterwords. So, I bided my time, and patiently waited for the weather to warm up, at which point I'd get back to my usual summer activities of swimming in the lake, wading in the river, getting into water fights with my friends, and the usual summer fun. Until one Saturday, when we were in for a heat wave. It must have been right at the end of the school year, and it was forecasted to be so hot that the news had been talking about it for at least a week. I wasn't excited about this, as we had no air conditioning at home, and nowhere else in town did either. The day before, my brother Cole and I talked and decided that we'd be spending a lot of time at the river or lake to hide from the heat. And, that got me to thinking... I'm going to wear those jeans. I also had a t-shirt, it was made with heavier fabric, and it was black, with a big blue and white stripe across the middle. It was go perfectly with that pair of jeans. Now, what about shoes? I don't think I'd ever really worn shoes in the water before - shoes were expensive. My parents didn't care one bit if I got clothes wet or dirty, but ruining a pair of expensive shoes would have put my life in danger, as my mother would have killed me. BUT, I had a few things going in my favor - the pair of shoes I had were practically falling apart, and plus I was going through a growth spurt and this pair of shoes wasn't going to fit me for too much longer. So, I was going to take a calculated risk. I was sure my parents wouldn't be pleased with me if I wore these shoes in the water, but all things considered I hoped they wouldn't murder me.

So when I woke up that Saturday morning, I was feeling pretty good. It was one of those mornings when you just KNOW its going to be hot and miserable within a few hours, but when I woke up, the temperature was pleasant, and there was a nice breeze coming in through my bedroom window, and I spent a few minutes laying on my bed thinking about what the day would have in store. We'd have to start by going to my friend Wiley's house to work on a school project. I would have just blown it off, but my parents wouldn't allow that. Even though Cole and I were in different grades, we ended up in the same class in our tiny school, so we had to work together on this project. Hopefully, that wouldn't take too long, then we could head up to the lake for some swimming.

I rolled out of bed and went to get dressed. For the first time that I can remember, I felt a very specific kind of excitement as I put on my jeans and t-shirt. Then, my plan hit a small snag: I opened my sock drawer and found that it contained only a single old sock, that was more holes than sock. I groaned, and noticed the pile of dirty laundry that my mom's been hounding me to wash. I hate when she's right! So I headed downstairs barefoot, carrying a pile of dirty laundry towards the laundry room. My mom was in the kitchen, and I felt a little nervous, like I was very conspicuously over-dressed. On a normal summer Saturday, I'd be in a comfy pair of gym shorts and old t-shirt. But if my mom found my attire odd, she didn't comment. She did, however, comment on my dirty laundry. "Doing laundry, eh?" she teased. "Yup," I said nonchalantly. "What did you run out of? Socks? Or underwear? Both?" I sighed, and gestured at my bare feet - "socks," I confessed. "Tut tut, one day you'll learn to be responsible." I rolled my eyes and got on with doing my laundry. When I got back to the kitchen, my brother Cole had arrived, dressed similarly to me - a grey t-shirt, blue jeans (not as nice as mine), and no socks. It wasn't unusual to see Cole wearing jeans even on a hot day - I think every morning he just wakes up and randomly selects an outfit with his eyes closed, not the least bit concerned about the weather. It might be the dead of winter with a foot of snow on the ground and he'd be in shorts and bare feet, but then on a day like today he's in jeans.

At any rate, after a quick breakfast, we hopped on our bikes and pedaled down the hill, through town, across the river, and up a big hill to our friend Wiley's house. Wiley's house was kind of interesting - it was probably the biggest house in town, set up on a hill that overlooked the whole town, and was painted an incredibly ugly shade of orange. We figured back when we were a mining town, it was probably where the big boss lived. Today, Wiley's family lived there, and they were "eccentric." The house kind of felt like a haunted house - only certain rooms had electricity, so the house was always dark and gloomy. And, like most structures in town, it wasn't in great repair. My parents weren't in love with the idea of having Cole and I go over to Wiley's house, but since it was for a school project, they were OK with it. We found Wiley on his front porch, and he pointed to a huge roll of heavy-duty plastic. "I figure we can make this into a slip-and-slide!" Wiley said, in greeting. That sounded good to me - it was starting to warm up, and I was already starting to sweat after the bike ride over there.

We got through the school project, I don't even remember what we were having to do. Our other friends, Link and Jilly, located us, and we started burning off some energy with a game of football - which is made more difficult when you're playing on the side of a steep mountain. It wasn't long before we collapsed on the ground panting. My friends were talking about this and that, and I was getting impatient, I either wanted to get the water slide going, or head to the lake or the river. The waterslide sounded like the best option, because I was too tired to hike anywhere else.

"Its soooo hot today," I exclaimed, hoping my friends would take the hint. "Well you're wearing jeans and a black t-shirt, of course you're hot," Link teased me. I rolled my eyes. A few minutes later I asked "Hey Wiley, you got that tarp thing for a water slide." "Oh yeah..." Wiley said, making no move to get up off the ground. Link laughed, "I think Petey's saying he's ready to cool off," and got to his feet to retrieve the tarp. That got the rest of us moving, Wiley hooked up the hose to the faucet, and we got the tarp unrolled down the hill. Jilly got put in charge of the hose - and began the festivities by spraying me right in the chest. I was so hot that it didn't bother me, and I dove down the slide. Unfortunately, there wasn't quite enough water on it yet, so I skid to a stop before getting too far down the hill. Wiley procured some dish soap and within a few minutes the slide was sufficiently wet and slippery. Link wanted to go next, and picked up quite a bit of speed going down the steep hill, throwing up a wave of sudsy water when he hit the dip at the bottom of the hill. Wiley was next. Jilly was still working the hose, and Cole, as usual, was just calmly watching the action, so I took another turn. While I was standing at the top of the slide, Jilly again turned the hose on me, pouring the water straight down on the top of my head. He probably thought he was annoying me, but to me it was a great feeling, and I hopped up and down a bit as the cold water drenched me. Then, I lost my balance and slipped, going down the slide on my butt, and splashed into the dip at the bottom of the slide, that was now quite full of water, and I was submerged up past my waist. The water was cold, I felt great, my friends were laughing at my clumsiness, and I felt no need to move. Unfortunately I wasn't paying attention, and didn't notice that Jilly started barreling down the slide towards me. He tried to swerve out of the way, but as he spun around, his toes connected with my chin, sending me splashing backwards and Jilly flying in the opposite direction. Our friends of course thought this was hilarious - and even Cole had a good laugh before he went down the slide himself.

There was a bit of a ditch at the bottom of the slide, and it turned into something of a pool, and after we got tired of sliding down the slide and running back up the mountain, we decided to sit in the "pool," which kept us cool for the rest of the afternoon. Finally, the party was over, and I felt like I'd thoroughly broken in my nice pair of blue jeans. Cole and I biked back home soaking wet, and Link came with us. I was again a little nervous that my parents would comment on my soaked clothes - they never said anything or seemed to care at all about a ratty pair of shorts and t-shirt, but maybe they'd be unhappy about me getting these nicer clothes soaking wet. Well, luckily they said nothing, just as per usual expected us to strip out of our soaked clothes in the back yard before going inside for a quick shower and to change.

My mom was getting sick of the heat herself, and she talked my dad into taking us a few towns over to a shopping mall with air conditioning, and a dinner at a restaurant. This was a big occasion for us, but I felt we deserved it based on how ungodly hot it was. Overall it was an excellent day - I experienced some new "feelings," I had a great day with friends getting soaked, and had a treat for dinner with my parents, my brother and my best friend. I wish I'd had a few more days just like that.

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