The Doorway to the Forgotten Land : Part 1

The deeper she swam, the harder it was to see. Everywhere she looked water surrounded her.  Over there!!  She looked with a squint, pointing straight ahead at an opening in the rock face.  She started paddling faster to reach the hole, but all her efforts were in vain.  The harder she swam toward the opening the further it was from her reach.  A loud ringing noise began to overwhelm the young swimmer.  Was it the pressure of the water she thought? The ringing was almost debilitating, she couldn't move and she was almost out of breathe. She tried to hurry to the surface to get some air, but she couldn't, some unseen force stopped her from moving.  She started shaking uncontrollably and then a soft voice began to call her name, Michelle, Michelle.  Is this the end, she wondered am I being called to heaven.

"Michelle, Michelle, wake up its time to go home, the class bell is ringing", Amanda said as she gently shook her friends shoulders to wake her.

"I'm awake okay.  You can stop shaking me now!” Michelle grumbled.

"Alright geez, I had to wake you, it's time to go home", Mandy replied.

"How long was I out?” Michelle asked as she wiped the drool off her check, still groggy from the nap.

"You slept through the entire last period, good thing Mr. Rodgers likes you.  He just let you sleep since it was the last day of school." Mandy replied.

"Oh crap, I got to hurry.  My brothers outside waiting to pick me up and I don't want to hear it if I'm late", Michelle snapped.

 

She jumped out of her seat, grabbed her backpack and headed for the door. She was in such a hurry she forgot to say bye.  Halfway out of the school she heard a faint goodbye from Mandy, but didn't bother responding, knowing she would shoot her a text later.  Her brother George was waiting in the parking lot leaned up against his car.  "Hey dork, hurry it up", he yelled, half way across the school campus to embarrass his sister.

"Hey loser", she snapped back, walking over to punch him in the arm.

"Not so fast", he responded, as he quickly wrapped her in a headlock.

"Let go of me you idiot, don't you know how to treat a lady?” she snapped.

"You're not a lady, you're my sister", he replied while giving her nuggies.

She reacted quickly, throwing a hard elbow into her brother’s stomach, bringing him hard to the ground.  "Enough playing around" she said.  "Or I will tell mom you were bulling me again and we know what happened last time".

"My sister the black mailer, how could I forget, I've got to stop at the store anyway", he huffed.

They hopped into his black pickup truck and headed for the store.  He whipped the car into a spot close to the front door and told his sister to stay in the car since it wouldn't take long.  Her patience began to wear thin when she spotted her brother's crush getting out of her car.  This is perfect, Michelle thought to herself as she got out of the car and walked toward her.  "Samantha, Right?” Michelle asked, already knowing the answer.  

"Yes and you are?” Samantha replied, puzzled that this little girl knew her name.

"You don't know me, but I believe you know my brother George", Michelle replied.  "He has had a crush on you forever, I mean he talks about you all the time".

Samantha's face began to turn bright red as the two walked through the store door.  "There he is, right there if you don't remember him", Michelle said as she pointed to her brother by the register.  

George looked over to see his little sister pointing at him and who was there with her?  None other than his crush Samantha.  He had a gut feeling she was up to no good and was justified in thinking so.  

Quickly he grabbed his bags and change from the cashier, hoping he could stop what he feared had already happened.

"Hey Sis, I thought I told you to stay in the car?” George asked trying hard to hold back his anger.

"Well I saw your good friend Samantha and thought I would say hello", Michelle replied while grinning from ear to ear.

"Is that right", he replied.  "Samantha sorry that my little sister was bothering you, she can be pretty annoying sometimes".

"Don’t worry about it, she was just telling me how great of a brother you are to her", Samantha replied, giving Michelle a wink.

"Really", replied George all confused.  He knows pretty much all the things his sister would call him and great was not one of these.

"It's true brother, you're so great", replied Michelle.  She laid the sarcasim on so thick, it could have cut through steel.

"Well Samantha it was nice bumping into you, but we got to go, mom hates it when we're late for dinner", George replied.  Mom hates it when we're late for dinner he thought, I really look lame now.

"It was nice to see you too and you should stop by again if you ever need any more...Soda!” Samantha replied, as she looked down at his bag noticing the 2 liter. 

"Okay see yah later", George replied walking out the door scratching his head.

 

What did she mean by stop by again he wondered?  Ah it’s probably nothing, I bet she gets commission or something like that.  They jumped in his truck and headed home.  

They lived in a small town with windy roads, only a couple of stop lights and not many fun filled activities for teenagers.  There's trail riding if you were lucky enough to have an ATV or dirt bike.  You can also go mudding with your truck if it has four wheel drive.  George and Michelle Carter had neither of these.  For them and everyone else there was the lake up on the Blue Ridge Mountains. 

What a way to start off summer vacation than a day at the lake.   No rules, no parents and no little sisters, George thought as he pulled into the driveway.