Turtles on The Ladder by Jack Primiani

It was a hot summer day, we were sweating as we zoned out into the TV. George Russo was among us, he was a funny kid who found a lot of things to be a joke. Austin Reilly was there too, he and I grew up together and have known each other since before our first birthday. So we always hung out in the summer. Lastly, Jared Macloud was there. He was nice, but quiet. George blurts out in the silence, “Wana go swimmin at Jared’s,” We all nodded our heads and thought it was a good idea. So we walked to Jared which was only a couple blocks away in flip flops and sandals. We hopped in the above-ground pool which I found a little disappointing because I thought it was an in-ground pool. I have always preferred in ground pools, because they are always bigger and have a deep end that you can actually dive into. I walked into the pool slowly as the freezing water made my spine have chills. Everyone was in and we got all types of blow up rafts. We were playing ridiculous games that others would find childish. We took a raft, and latched onto it and fell backwards into the pool making us look like turtles on their backside. Then George pitched another idea and said, “We should totally make a whirl pool.” Once again we nodded and agreed it was a good idea. A few minutes later we got the water twirling. We ran around the edge of the wall jumping over the ladder each time we passed it. We got the idea to do tricks off the ladder as we run, almost like a scene of James Bond sliding over a car. We were going over and under it until we thought about going through it. Both Jared and I said, “That seems a little bit too dangerous.” Which George responded, “Fine, me and Austin will go.” George’s theory was to have Austin go first, so he would know for sure that he could go through. We all sat in the middle as Austin got a running start he got in and then stopped. His head bobbing like an apple to get air, and his waist stuck between the steps of the ladder. He just barely got his head out and screamed “Help!” We were all confused, besides George, who was laughing so hard he could not help. The whole time I thought Jared was worried about Austin but he only did not want the ladder to break or his parents would get mad. He kept shouting “be careful with ladder.” I decided to just pull Austin out. I grabbed his arms and pulled him as I was slowly falling backwards. He slithered out almost like a snake. Then all calmed down and got out of the pool. We then sat on Jared’s porch, Austin was shaking, and we looked at George and he puts his hand up and yells “My turn!”