"I'm going to wait here," he said a little breathless.
"Okay," I answered, also a little breathless, and kept swimming to the other side.
The edge of the river didn't seem so far away. I found a ledge and pulled myself up. My friend left the log, swam up and climbed up to the rocky shelf above us. I sat for a moment on the ledge to catch my breath and marveling in the swim and how good and open and alive I suddenly felt. I heard him oohing and aahing about something, but I couldn't hear him over the din of the rush of water.
"What is it?" I called.
He said something again, but it was muffled, so I pulled myself up over the ledge and went to him.
"What is it" I asked again, dripping wet.
"It's a rainbow!" And he pulled me over to see a small arc of color in the waterfall flowing before us. I smiled. I had seen more rainbows this year than I have since I was a child--two with Indigo Boy and now with my blue-haired faery.
It's been a good year so far, I thought.
The swim across the channel was just the first indication, though, that I could overcome obstacles and meet my fears face-to-face. My friend and I joined some of the other boys sitting in the sun on a slab of rock 20-feet above the water. One by one the boys jumped in. My blue-haired faery chimed in that he was also going to jump. I looked at the water below, churning around the ledges and tried looking for a spot that didn't have a pile of rocks waiting for me to crack my head open.
"It's not that far," I kept telling myself. "I'll be fine. I won't hurt myself." My blue-haired faery jumped in and suddenly I was alone on the rock. All the other boys gathered on the opposite side of the river waved to me. So I leapt. Feet first, preparing my stomach for a freefall, and then I was in--the cool water embraced my body and I swam up easily from its depths. I emerged into the air and then realized I still had to swim across the river again. The current was stronger, but as I swam I could see and hear Ragmar and the other boys erupt into cheers and clapping. I laughed and smiled broadly, swimming against the current and finding my rhythm again. I swam the breaststroke across the middle of the river and then relaxed as I got closer to shore. I flipped over, looking at the skyline above me--the silhouette of the rocky, wooded mountainside, the sky and sun shining through the trees. Then I felt the water change and move faster around me as I got closer to shore. I broke into a freestyle and pulled myself through the current toward the edge of the river. I found my footing among the rocks and joined the others feeling strong, sun-drenched and relaxed.
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