Pallas and his older brother Pez stand on an old dock next to a half-sunken, wooden, fishing boat. The peeled and faded BOAT RENTAL sign is behind them.
Pez: This one should rent cheap. Points to the swamped boat in the water.
Pallas: I wonder why that one is still here.
Pez: The rest might be at the bottom of the lake.
Pallas: I barely recall going out in one of these boats. Dad was duck hunting.
Pez: Oh yeah! That was the only time he hunted on a boat out in the lake.
Pallas: I think he fell in.
Pez: Yeah! He told us that he spooked some mallards from a sand bar. He stood up and shot, but the blast made him lose his balance.
Pallas: Then he did fall in the water. I barely remember. Gosh, I must have only been a toddler.
Pez: I guess you were three or four. Not in school yet.
Pallas: Why would I be in a boat in the middle of the lake.
Pez: I think Dad was working third shift. He was babysitting you while Ma was working.
Pallas: I remember it a little better. He was swearing and smacking the water.
Pez: He lost his shotgun in the lake. Oh god! Pez's eyes snap wide open.
Pallas: What is it ?! Pallas looks around and sees nothing.
Pez: That's when he found the body.
Pallas: What?
Pez: Yeah. He fell in the water, lost his shot gun, then tried diving down for it.
Pallas: You said he found a body?
Pez: Oh yeah! It was some guy who was murdered.
Pallas: Murdered!? How?! What?!
Pez: The guy was only under the water a dozen feet, but a rope was around his legs and his hands had been tied. Somebody dumped him with a couple cement blocks to hold him down.
Pallas: And I was there?!
Pez: Yeah, but I'm sure he wouldn't have told you; a dumb kid.
Pallas: I was there?!
Pez: He never did get his shot gun back.
Pallas: What about the dead guy?
Pez: I don't remember.
Pallas: Was he someone anyone knew?
Pez: Sheriff Shawn knew him.
Pallas: Sheriff Shawn. That guy shows up when people die.
Pez: Yeah. Somehow we weren't surprised that law enforcement was interested in a killing.
Pallas: Who was the dead guy?
Pez: I never found out, really. It was all handled on the QT.
Pallas: So we never knew who this guy was?
Pez: Maybe, but who remembers? It was a lifetime ago.
Pallas: Where was I when I was a kid? I feel like I must have had blinders and earmuffs on.
Pez: People protected kids back then. They didn't have to know all the crap in the world.
Pallas: I must have lived in a bubble.
Pez: Bubbles are good. They mean life. It’s when the bubbles stop you’re done. Then it’s just time to take the boat into the shore.
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Author Notes
Image from Google
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