Rain clouds began to tear themselves away from the jagged peaks of the Koolau range and rays broke through the clouds and beat down on the muddy water of Pearl Bay. Bobby glanced toward them, but his mind was elsewhere. He paced back and forth along the isolated stretch of the narrow beach. Now and then he would kick at loose pebbles along the muddy grey shoreline. For the moment, Bobby was still in his private world, consisting of little more than a strip of mud flat along one small section of the bay.
But his world was about to be invaded. Chris, his best friend since kindergarten, would e showing up any minute. And Bobby knew that before this afternoon ended, their two lives, so entwined these many years, would forever be changed. Bobby clutched a smooth black stone in his fingers. He leaned into the light breeze, preparing to skip it across the harbour waters, but stopped abruptly, remembering that the gods did not like land removed from the island.
As the stone slipped from his fingers, his eyes followed the ripples that glided on and off the grey beach where he stood, then rose almost by habit to gaze once more at the Arizona Memorial stretching white nd graceful, remembering painfully that this would be the last time that he would ever walk along this beautiful beach. As his eyes watched the waves, and how they caressed the muddy shoreline, he began to think of the future. His thoughts were quickly disrupted. Hey bud, how’s it going? What was so important that you had to talk to me about? Chris asked. It’s to hard.
I can’t go on with it. What? What can’t you go on with? Chris demanded urgently. It’s just, that, that, this will be our last weekend together. Wait a minute. Slow down, your not making any sense. None at all. What do you mean that this will be our last weekend together? We have the whole entire summer planned out. Fishing next weekend, canoeing to Ford Island next month, our bike….. NO STOP!!! You don’t understand. My dad got transferred. We’re moving. But why now. School doesn’t start for another two months, and colleges start even later than that! Chris replied. I know, it sucks.
I can’t do anything about it. I’ve tried everything. I’ve even asked my parents if it would be okay to move in with my grandparents for the rest of the summer. But it’s no use. They say I have to get used to the town, meet new friends,and get a job. Okay then. I guess there’s nothing we can do about this. So let’s make the most of it this weekend. Chris said softly. The clouds began to form again. The rays of light that had once beat down upon the water had now disappeared once again. Bobby looked at the end of the bay and watched where the water poured through Maxis’s cave.
Suddenly an idea hit his head like a jolt of lightning. Let’s do something outrageous, something that we’d never do otherwise. Bobby said excitedly. Well what do have in mind? Chris asked, holding a puzzled face. As Bobby raised his arm towards the cave Chris began to see what he was pointing at. His eyes widened in disbelief. Your not serious Bobby. You’re gonna get yourself killed! You better believe it. I’m going, whether your coming or not, well, that’s up to you. Wouldn’t you rather just go fishing? Chris asked questionly. Fishing. It’s my last weekend here, and you wanna go fishing!
Bobby retorted. Fine, let’s do it. I’ll rent some wet suits at the scuba shop, and um.. you can get the inner tubes. Meet back here at 2:30. Chris said excididly. Finally 2:30 came around. By then, the sun had broken up the clouds and you could now see the jagged peaks of the Koolau Mountains. The two boys had shown up. They decided to meet up at the top of Maxis Funnel. When they got there they encountered a man fishing in a near by creak. You boys have a death wish or something? He asked. No sir, Chris said. Were just looking to have a little bit of fun. That’s all. Chris replied in a polite manner.
They hopped the 13 foot fence, and the warning signs. Nothing was going to stop these two boys. They hopped into the cold murky water and wiped down the funnel like greased lightning. Suddenly, the sun disappeared. They were now in the cavern, cries of laughter and excitement rang trough-out the cave. Till suddenly one of the cries turned bad. One of the cries had a shriek of pure terror in it. Bobby didn’t notice it. He was to busy trying to dodge the large rocks, until finally the trill of their lifetime came to a stop. Bobby was sitting in the middle of the bay, alone.
He looked back to see if Chris had come out yet. He didn’t. No one did. Until he noticed a discolour n the water. He rushed over and scooped up a hand full. It was blood, Chris’s blood. And Bobby knew it. Bobby jumped off the tube and ran up the muddy beach in hope to find someone. But no one was there. He knew deep in his mind that no one was around for miles, and with that fearful thought in his mind he collapsed. His head sank down between his knees till it hit the soggy mud of the beach. He turned sick, in thought that he had killed the love and friendship of two people.
A love and friendship which he could never bring back, and he knew. That this was his fault. He thought to himself that he couldn’t live any more with such a heavy burden on his shoulders. He cried aloud on that isolated beach. Until he was out of energy and fell asleep. He knew he had to go home. He went home that night and told his parents what had happened. Everything. They were shocked at how irresponsible he could be. They called Chris parents and they called the police. News trucks and TV reports rushed up and down their road all night, asking Bobby what had happened.
He had a hard time excepting what had happened. He couldn’t believe that he had illed his best friend. And for what. A trill of a life time. It’s been 3 years now. My stomach still hurts once in a while. My head spins out of control, kind of. But only now and then. Like at night in my bed, when it gets real quiet. And dark. First, my mind goes around in slow circles for a little while, then sinks back down into that foggy place where I lived for such a long time. That dark misty place where you can hardly see anything. Where there’s nobody else, just me. And Chris’s face, of course, always in front of me.
It looks right at me the whole time. But till, I can’t help feeling so terribly alone. Sometimes when I feel like that, I can hardly fight my way back out of the mist. But now I manage to clear my head before morning at least, before Mom and Dad catch me and send me back to the hospital. I hardly go to the hospital anymore. So, I guess I’m getting better. It’s been a whole 3 years since Chris left. 3 years since the pain started. A year since we took that plunge down into the dark murky water. I’m not dumb. I know what made it happen, what it was all about. But I don’t think I’ll ever understand it completely.