Chapter 1
Present Day
The sand was soft but cool under her feet as she ran kicking up the granular particles that blew toward the beach grass. The frigid lake water remained calm in the light breeze that came from the north across the low, rolling waves. Trying to keep up with Hank wasn’t easy especially since he was growing rapidly and was training for the upcoming basket-ball season.
“Hank, wait up would you”? Hazel cried out panting as her long thin legs stretched out trying to at least stay reasonably close to Hank.
“Come on, you can run faster”, Hank yelled back to Hazel over his right shoulder.
“You’re killing me dude”, she screamed only half serious.
Gliding to a stop kicking up a cloud of sand, Hank caught his breath. “We’ve run about a half mile so I guess you can take a little breather”, Hank said laughing at his sister. Running and exercising daily was a routine he had gotten into in order to stay at the top of his game while also helping his sister stay in good physical condition. Running in the semi-soft cool sand on the southern shore of Lake Superior was the perfect place to train. Resistance in each step while his feet sunk into the grainy surface was exactly what he wanted, it helped to build his leg muscles and helped his breathing rhythm.
Catching up to Hank, Hazel, in admiration of her brother, told him she was proud of his accomplishments over the last year. His physical fitness improved as well as his academic level. Hank learned a lot from Hazel through observation and it stuck with him. She was a good teacher and mentor, at least for an older sister. “Let’s jog back to the house” Hank requested as he moved over to the water splashing through the icy fresh Lake Superior water on the compacted sand surface. As the waves lightly rolled up onto the beach, the water compacted the sand as the tide ebbed back into the deep but clear, near freezing lake.
Stopping briefly to continue the conversation with Hazel, they both waded out into the water till the surface level was up to their knees. With a bit of excitement in her voice, Hazel said “Wow! This water is icy”.
Hank replied, “I know, Papa said the water is so cold that it will never give up its dead”.
“What”? Hazel asked.
“That’s right, the water is so cold that if a person drowned here, they won’t float. Sink right to the bottom”.
“Well, that is just morbid”, Hazel said as she gave her brother a cringing look.
“Just sayin’ “, Hank replied as he began laughing and kicked up a spray of freezing water on Hazel as he took off running back to the summer home on the beach.
“Hank!” Hazel screamed as she wiped the unwelcomed cold water from her eyes and began chasing Hank back to the house.
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