Free Skinny-Dipping at Monster Lake by Bill Wallace Page A

nightbecause I fell asleep. I guess the rest of the guys slept in, too. The phone never rang. I ate, then watched TV for a while. At four I went back to my room for a nap. I had to be able to stay awake tonight.
    At supper Dad reminded me that our scuba classes started week after next. He suggested that I get my regulator and tank out of the closet, clean them, and make sure everything was in good working order. Since most of the guys were going to be gone on vacation, I was looking forward to having something to do. I promised him that I would. Then Dad helped me with the dishes and we went to watch TV. I was wide awake, but I kept yawning. Maybe it was contagious and Mom and Dad would get sleepy, just watching me.
    I thought they would never go to bed.
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    Really-n-truly, I never expected to see the Lake Monster. First off, I didn’t believe in monsters. Then, too, I’d had enough time to convince myself that whatever Zane and I thought we had seen . . . well, whatever it was, we really hadn’t seen it.
    Sneaking out of the house was something I had never ever done before—so I just had to do it.
    The instant I shut the door to my bedroom, I shot straight to the window. A little white wirecame through the ceiling and down to a tiny plastic rectangle on the edge of the window frame. There was a magnet inside. Another little plastic rectangle was attached, with screws, to the part of the window that went up and down. I stood there, holding my breath, until I heard the little beep, beep, beep that came from the alarm box in the hall. That meant Dad had set the thing for the night.
    Careful as could be, I eased the flattened gum wrapper between the two magnets. Holding it in place with my right hand, I raised the window with my left. The foil stuck to the magnet on the window frame. I guess it fooled the alarm into thinking that it was still closed.
    Once that was done, I turned out my light and waited. Mom and Dad had a TV in their bedroom. It stayed on for about twenty minutes, then everything got quiet. I gave it another twenty minutes before I sneaked down the hall.
    Holding my breath, and quiet as could be, I leaned an ear toward their bedroom door. There wasn’t a sound. After waiting a little longer, I listened again, then tiptoed back to my room. Using both hands and moving so slowly that the window screen wouldn’t scrape or squeak, I lifted it out of the frame and placed it gently on the floor. Only then did I take a deep breath. Careful and slow, soas not to disturb the gum wrapper, I eased through the opening and crept to the edge of our yard.
    I’m not scared of the dark.
    At least, that’s what I kept telling myself. There was no moon—not even a little sliver. The gentle breeze had just enough push to rustle the dry blades of Johnsongrass. The sounds made me pause and turn my light toward them. Moving carefully and shining the beam at each spot before I took a step, I finally made my way to the place where I saw the eyes. Sure there were no snakes crawling around the bank, I flipped the flashlight off.
    Water sloshed and patted against the shore. From across the lake, I heard a car horn and the sound of an outboard motor near the marina. The boat must have come from this side of the lake, because the waves started rolling louder and closer near my feet. It takes a while for a wake to make its way into shore. Still, I couldn’t help but flip the light on again, to make sure it was just water sloshing.
    A little rock knoll stuck up about twenty feet to my left. It was back a ways from the water and would give me a higher spot where I could see better. It would also get me farther from the water snakes or whatever else might be lurking aroundthe shore. I climbed to the top of it and found a flat rock to sit on. Once again I turned my flashlight off—determined, this time, not to risk scaring away the Lake Monster.
    The thought made me bite