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Dousing the Flames of Passion
In my teens I had this crush on one of the girls who spent hers summers at the Pond. Like many of us she was frequently in The Bayview Hotel or around it's dock. Not being that shy, I worked at it until we were soon doing all of the things teenager couples considered fun back then. Me having a boat gave us many additional options.
One day while boating to the Bayview I spotted her hanging on to this good looking older guy. (At least 16 or 17) They were standing next to a new J.C. Higgins inboard run-a-bout that I would have given my eye teeth just to drive. Then they jumped into that runabout and almost run my little outboard over. To add insult to injury they were having such a good time they didn't even notice me.
When they returned I was tied up in the spot they had vacated. I was "Hanging Out" and they had to go by me to get off of the dock. When they reached me she introduced me to her new friend. The conversation was short and then they walked hand and hand toward the Hotel. I felt like the little kid who lived next door. I was fuming.
I would have liked to knock her new friend on his butt. But, him having 2" and 40-50 pounds on me did not make that an option. So, once they were out of sight, I tied as many knots as possible in his mooring lines. I waited for their return. I then doused them with a bucket of cold water and jumped in my boat and headed for safety.
As I sped away I chuckled to myself. He had jumped in his boat asking her to untie the lines. I would be back at camp having lunch before she had the first knot untied. Then I heard the noise. It was the inboard, and it wasn't tied to the dock. It could do better than twice the speed of my boat and there was no way I could reach camp and safety. He probably had cut his lines.
I headed for shallow water. The inboard couldn't go there without damaging its prop. By the time he caught me I was hugging the shore. He knew what I was doing. He tried getting closer but could see the shallow water. He shook his fist. He told me that if he ever returned to Sandy Pond he would be looking for me.
He then gunned his engine and raced away to my howls of laughter. Then he turned. He was heading straight for me. At the last moment and just before the shallow water he turned so sharply that his boat went up on its side sending what seemed like tons of Cold water over me, my boat, and everything else nearby. The last thing I heard was His laughter as he sped away.
The beautiful inboard did not return for years. The girl of my dreams returned within two weeks. I introduced her to my new girl. Life goes on.
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