The Rushing River

Nysa County Sheriff's Department reported the discovery of a dead body floating down the S. Lette River, a popular camping and fishing destination during the summer months. Even though it was summertime the body was blue and bloated, the ice pack had been particularly good that year prior to the thaw. Forest Rangers were advised to notify in person any and all campers of the incident and remind them of being safe and responsible. The cause of death and identity of the body were unsolved.

The white haired child points and dips her little big toe into the flowing river water. She taps the surface with a tiny slap before jerking her naked leg back onto the bank. A half smile sneaks up to her face as she cranes her neck around to see if any adult eyes may be monitoring her moves. Aside from the quiet gurgles music notes dance among the trunks carried from some distance, the only company nearby the little body in an orange bathing suit with a brown belt in the late afternoon sun was a black dog sniffing and digging up rocks with his nose behind her.

"Hercules!" she whispered.

The dog was at her side before the exclamation point attentively wagging his tail. The little girl patted the top of his head, grabbing his soft ear in her palm always reassured her. The little white girl with her pale freckled skin and the shiny black dog, purple and wild stood like the illustration in a fairy tales book at the side of the Rushing River, something magical was about to happen, the music echoing from the nearby campsite predicted so.

The little girl put her arm around the dogs shoulders and was saying something into his ear, his head was cocked to the left and they seemed to be in involved in a conversation...it's a shame how many of us neglect this skill or simply lose this ability with atrophy.

Her right arm dropped to the ground as she fished around through the rocks, the dog closely watching each rock she dismissed. Finally, one stone in particular the little girl rubbed in between her hand before dipping it in the water. It looked as though she were going to keep it before she suddenly with a spasmodic jerk thrust the rock into the water, immediately inciting the dog to retrieve it,
"Go get it Herk!"

Again, the dog was in the water nearing its target before the girl could finish her command.
The dog made it just outside the rapids, raising his haunches before diving down and disappearing for a long moment then reappearing, repositioning his body toward the shore and paddling with all his might, he reached the shore and before shaking dropped a stone at the girls small feet. She squealed in delight confirming it was the rock she tossed and praised the proud pup.

The dog and the girl sat next to each other watching the water dance and sing entranced with the show of the massive melting ice flow churning white and sapphire.
The next second a flash of white-blond hair, a streak of orange, a thunderous splash, water fell in on itself and it was as though she were never there- were it not for the nervous black dog racing down the bank, circling, barking and prancing.
A tiny hand or twig, broke the surface enough for the dog to know where to go and he dove off a small ledge after the nearly drown frozen girl turning slowly from white to blue and whose contracted muscles gave up helping her fight for the direction up.
The swirls of water ate around the rocks hungrily, only the sharp water was happily slicing through life.
Minutes passed, the girl and dog were gone.
An hour later searching voices or disharmonious song came echoing from the treetops.
Pahhh-if----uuhhnnnneeyy!
Peh--suh--neeeeee!
Paah--tiff----eyyy!

The girl shivered next to the dog's limp body downstream in a patch of sun. Scrapes on both legs that did not hurt, her chest ached and waist sore from being pulled by her brown belt, a small canine tooth puncture on her side poured diluted blood down her side as she lay quietly humming to the dog who was not dead, just dog tired.

Image by By Phil Mieszkowski (talk · contribs), Merced River in Yosemite, California, 2007 [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.