Disclaimer: see Chapter 1: The Painted Man for disclaimers, notes, and ratings.
Sparkle
by Karolyn Gray
The water sparkled in away he had never seen before; beautiful hues of color and light that danced on the surface of the lake. The soft ripples from the boat's wake and the paddling adding to the mesmerizing dance before his eyes.
He leaned over the side wanting a closer look. It was so intriguing, so many patterns and colors, he felt inexplicably drawn to the water. The splash of the others into the water from the boat didn't break his fixation. In fact the new ripples from their thrashing simply added to the panoply of color and now sound.
The sparkling water started to move away, gurgling and bubbling as it went. He wanted to join them, wanted to be a part of the watery rainbow. He heard shouting from behind him, near the lake's small boat launch, but didn't care. He just wanted to watch the water. Panicked at being left behind, he flung himself into the water, into the colors and light.
It was cold. So cold, but so beautiful. His lungs burned as he reached out to touch the light, a smile on his lips.
A hand crashed through the water above him seizing his arm and yanking him painfully out of the water. He groaned as his head painfully thunked onto the bottom of the boat. His vision now was of blue sky and a smattering of white fluffy clouds and a strange man about his dad's age with a preacher's collar unfolding a blanket.
"Are you okay, son?"
Nate nodded suddenly feeling like a fool, a 'damned fool' as his dad would say. He sat up in confusion, seeing that the unusual sparkling water was gone. He could hear the other two men in the boat peppering him with questions he was asking himself. Why had he jumped in the water? Where were the others?
"Simmer down you two," the preacher hushed the other men who went about paddling them back to shore. He turned back to Nate, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders. "Can you tell me your name?"
"Nathan Wuornos," Nate replied, finally shaken out of his shock by the simple question. "Nate."
"Officer Wuornos' boy?" Nate was not sure what the measured look the man gave him was for and wondered if he had done something wrong. He simply nodded at the man's question, earning a small, kind smile.
"I'm Pastor Driscoll."
Nate blinked in surprise when the pastor offered his hand in greeting. He couldn't remember anyone aside from 'Uncle Bob', his dad's deceased partner, ever doing so. He shook the proffered hand, holding as firmly as he could.
"Do you think you can tell me what happened?"
Nathan frowned as he realized his memory was fuzzy.
"We saw…something and went over to look. I…think- think we fell in?" Nate shook his head in frustration, concern rising over the other kids in the boar. "We fell in! Are they okay? Did you get the others?"
"Calm down, Nathan," Driscoll's tone was surprisingly reassuring and Nate found himself settling down. "There are others checking on your friends right now. I'm sure everything will be fine."
"I don't know why we fell in," Nate said forlornly. He hardly even remembered getting in the boat now.
"Well, God must be looking out for you, Nathan." Driscoll smiled at Nate's puzzled expression. "Otherwise we wouldn't have been close enough to save you."
"And the others?" Nate asked hopefully even as they now neared the docks where dozens of people were milling around as the cops and paramedics were arriving on scene.
Driscoll glanced briefly over his shoulder before giving Nate a grim expression. "I'm not going to lie to you, Nathan. It's doesn't look good. But I want you to remember something."
He waited until Nate nodded his head in response to the unasked question. Driscoll smiled slightly as he rested a hand on Nathan's shoulder.
"God works in mysterious ways and I think he chose me to be here for you."
Nate found himself frowning at that. "Why me?"
"I don't know. You've suffered, so you understand more than most the burden that God's gifts can demand upon a soul," Driscoll replied with a distracted expression. Shaking his head he smiled again as he addressed Nate directly once more. "Do you understand?"
Nate didn't and shook his head. The older man just smiled and patted his shoulder reassuringly. "You will. Now, let's get you back to Officer Wuornos. I'm sure your daddy will be relieved you're all right."
The pastor boosted him onto the docks and ushered him over to awaiting paramedics and his dad, who looked as pale and shaken as Nate now felt. Before the pastor could leave, Nate tugged on his hand and thanked Driscoll for pulling from the lake. Strangely, Pastor Driscoll merely smiled and walked away but Nate forgot about the minister a moment later as his dad engulfed him in a hug.
The Herald later said the incident was a terrible accident citing improper maintenance of the boat, the lack of flotation devices, and no proper adult supervision. While Nate never forgot the incident his memory lapses on the details were put down to traumatic stress and his sudden eagerness in attending church (when previously he had complained about going) was greeted with agreeable shrugs from his parents.