This one time I was down to the marina with my friends and after circling the park stopped at the busy stream that fed into the sound. Going to the marina is one of the few things we could do on our own in ninth grade and while we appreciated the freedom it was still boring as hell. We watched the water rush over the stuck logs…”bet you can’t walk across that log without falling in,” my friend said.
I studied the log…it looked sturdy enough. The stream was not that wide, but this section was at least waist deep. I placed a foot down and just as I suspected, the log really was sturdy. It didn’t budge under the weight of my body. I carefully took a few steps and glanced back at my friend and grinned.
Neener neener.
What I hadn’t considered was how slippery that sturdy log might be. I mean…I DID consider it…but not until after I fell in. The freezing water took my breath away as I broke the surface for oxygen.
My friend.
Dying laughing at the bank of the stream.
She was right.
I couldn’t cross that log without falling in.
Gigi says
A lot of valuable lessons have been learned all with the help of “I bet you can’t do…..”
Twisted Domestic Goddess says
Does this fall under the old adage of “If you friends told you to jump off a bridge?”
hillary says
Hahaha! That sucks! Made for a good story tho :)
Elizabeth@Set In My Ways says
HAHAHA! I have a similar story that involves two tree branches across a river swimming hole that in the spring was a gator spawning hole… needless to say 1. I’m glad it was late summer and 2. I’m grateful I knew how to swim! LOL
Karen and Gerard says
At least you tried! Me, I would have known it was slippery AND that my balance isn’t all that great so would have agreed with the friend right off the bat. Rocks get very slippery too, be careful when crossing streams using them as stepping stones.
Marta says
Oh I have definitely fallen off a log before but I don’t feel like I learned anything from it =)
Jen says
Fall off logs there were over rivers or creeks was a great fear of mine when I was kid. I never took the bet when other kids bet me I couldn’t cross. I simply said, “You are right” and turned the other way and went home.
Yes, I was an interesting child.