Monday, July 14, 2008

What Lies Beneath

Lake Powell in August. 11:00 PM. It was almost time for bed, but hours after the sun set, it was still too hot to relax. My brother David and I devised a brilliant plan. Let's take one final dip in the lake to cool off so we can sleep. We were on Grandpa's houseboat, which was still in the slip at the marina. Everyone else was down the dock at Aunt Celia's boat, so we had The Donner Party to ourselves. (Yes, that's the name of Grandpa's houseboat. You have no idea how appropriate the name is.)

Here's the problem. David had just watched the horror movie, What Lies Beneath. I am not a glutton for punishment; therefore, I do not watch scary movies. Ever since running out of the theatre while watching The Sixth Sense (sorry Steve), I can't even watch a commercial for a scary movie without peeing my pants. (I know that creepy girl is still under my bed. Every time I get up in the middle of the night - and that's often these days - she and her ankle-grabbing ways are top of mind.) Bottom line - I had not seen the movie, but David had told me about it anyway.

He had described the eerie ghost woman, dressed in white, floating in the water. And here we were, at the edge of the platform, poised to jump into a murky, black lake.

We had established a rule: do not think about the freaky ghost lady. Just relax and enjoy the cool water. Do not mention anything scary at all. This cool-down ritual was essential to our nocturnal comfort. The dip had to be done. Don't screw it up!

So we counted, "One, two, three!" and jumped in together. For about 13 seconds, we exchanged pleasantries.

"This feels so good!"
"What a great idea we had!"
"I needed this!"
"Ahhhhhhh..."

Then, a shift in the atmosphere. I looked at David and he looked at me. Our eyes became wider, and a look of dread descended on both our faces. Suddenly, we darted to the ladder, screaming and splashing. We both grabbed the bottom rung and attempted to hoist our panicking, shrieking selves up the narrow ladder at the same time. Finally we fell, gasping and laughing, onto the houseboat platform.

What a bunch of pansies!

Meili & David, Lake Powell, August 2000

7 comments:

stevecramer said...

Ha Ha! I totally remember that Sixth Sense experience! And now it's scarred you for life. Is it weird that I'm sort of proud of that?

Sarah Garner said...

I'm a pansy right with you... but my fear is even lamer! Everytime I'm in deep water where I can't see the bottom I start hearing the "Jaws" theme and get freaked out that some huge, clumsy mechanical great white shark is going to pull me under! Honestly who is scared of a beast that is dumb enough to jump up out of the water when the sharp bow of a ship is pointed right at it?!

driley said...

wait... What Lies Beneath was a horror movie?

Rachel said...

What? You RAN OUT OF THE THEATER when you went on a date with Steve? That's a whole other level of sad.

Brit said...

yes yes...I actually saw What Lies beneath with Steve. What is it with his fixation on scaring us? (and scarring us???)

Quela said...

I don't watch scary movies either. Although I did see one little part of What Lies Beneath where an eyeball is peeking out through the fence. It freaked me out! You haven't seen it so you probably don't know what I'm talking about... but it was freaky.

Megan said...

Remember the witch that lived in the chimney at the cabin? Do you have scary experiences with everyone?

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