Chama Stories

“Don’t try to get up, just keep floating or you’ll hit your legs on the rocks.” I said. I knew. ‘The Flats’ was one of the places that I had almost drowned several times. I didn’t want to tell him that our only chance would be to grab the big tree branch that was hanging over the water. And that was only if we were lucky enough to come up for air after that big drop straight down from the flat rocks.

The water was getting louder and swifter now, so even if we wanted to go back, we couldn’t.  As we got closer I told God that I knew I didn’t deserve any favors but I would really appreciate it if He could make sure that Chato and I grabbed that branch, but if not, could He make sure my mom didn’t cry too much and could He tell her how sorry I was to always make her worry so much. And could He take care of Tippy. And if I, by some miracle of unbelievable proportions somehow made it to heaven, could I finally have a pair of new shorts? And then I thought, ‘would I even need new shorts in heaven?’ It’s crazy what goes through your brain when you think you might die.

The sound of the rapids was rumbling now and I could see the water turning white and foamy. I grabbed the back of Chato’s shirt and we both yelled as we slid down that big flat rock. And then everything became real quiet as we flew through the mist of the big drop. It was like we were suspended in the air in real slow motion. Then we slammed into the churning water and we were under it, trying like crazy to come up from that terrifying thunder and not wanting to let go of Chato because I had gotten him into this in the first place. I could feel him struggling too and I could also feel the current trying to keep us under water and send us downstream at the same time.

I finally came up for air and I tried to pull Chato up but he had become very heavy. I saw the branch coming up quickly and I knew I had to grab it. As I reached for it, Chato came up and grabbed me by the arm. When he did that, he turned my back to the branch so that when I reached up for it the back of my hand hit it and we both watched helplessly as it passed from our reach. Then I knew we were in real trouble. In about one minute we would be in rapids that were ten times crazier than the ones we had just passed. My brother had told me to never, ever go near them because he knew of people that had actually drowned there. I tried to pull Chato closer but he was getting heavier and his head kept going under. He came up and grabbed me with both arms.

“I don’t want to die Mario!” He cried, holding me tight. “I don’t want to die!”

I was going to say something when he went under again. I went under to try to bring him up, but I was so tired that I could feel myself being pulled further down and I knew that I was not going to come back up. It was so strange. There was no fear. Just incredible, overwhelming fatigue, extreme sadness, a strange quiet, and just knowing that you’re going to die. Well, as much as a ten year old can know about dying. I remember thinking, “I’m sorry mom. I’m sorry dad.” That’s it. Real simple. Nothing heavy. My lungs felt like they were on fire and then the second that I finally let my air out, the most remarkably, incredibly awesome, unbelievably miraculous thing happened.