| Both men clicked their flashlights off through the plastic bag covering them. They had two choices. They could go back toward the campsite they had left originally or they could keep moving to the west which was the way they would eventually need to go. George whispered one word. “Back”. It was all Jess needed to hear to know which way to swim. Jess thought about it as the two swam quietly back along the lake shore line to where they had set up their original camp site. It was a good decision. Yes ultimately they would have to travel west but it stood to reason they would be moving that direction which was exactly why going back was the best plan. There were other perks by choosing to backtrack as well. For one, and this was a big one, they could conceivably stumble upon their lost canoe. It was fat with their supplies. Jess thought how good a beer would taste right now. Second was they might have left some stuff at the campsite which they didn’t think to get loaded. At this point every extra resource was gravy. There was a quarter-moon that made an appearance which provided enough illumination to be able to see a figure swimming next to you but at no point could either man see the other’s face. Their biggest problem currently was figuring out when to turn and go back to the east. They had swam out straight from the south shore. At some point they needed to swim at a ninety-degree angle to get back to their original campground. They did the best they could at guessing when to change direction swimming. Eventually they found the east end of the lake shore. When they pulled themselves up on shore they didn’t want to give away their location so they did not turn on their flashlights. next page |  |