As a young boy, I liked to venture out into the forest behind my house. I always went alone. I pushed through a crowd of prickly trees then came to a clearing full of litter and old car parts. After rummaging through the mess, I kept walking and arrived at a small pond. It was dirty and its depth was unknown to me.

On a certain fall day, I aquired my usual slight scratches from pushing through tree branches, checked out crushed bottles and broken tires, and stared down at my reflection in the murky pond. My entire appearance screamed lonliness. My untrimmed brown hair, dull colored clothes, and sullen baby face hinted at my sadness that I had no friends. I stared for a while and then found my spirits lift a bit when I noticed another face in the water. Someone was standing behind me. I whipped around and faced a thin blonde boy staring blankly at me who looked my age. He was wearing a dirty blue t-shirt and khaki pants, both of which were drenched.

“Who are you?” I asked him. The boy formed a small smile.

“I’m Jason. What’s your name?”

“I’m Matt,” I responded, smiling back. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Not long,” he answered, “But I’ve been here forever. I’m glad I finally have someone to play with.”

I looked around at the pond as well as the bushes and tunnels of trees that surrounded it. “Do you live in a house near here?”

“I did.” He began walking away from the pond and summoned me to follow him. We started walking through the clearing. I watched him occasionally pick up branches and rocks and throw them.

“I live around here. My house isn’t far,” I told Jason.

“I know,” he responded as he touched some sap on a tree.

“What? How do you know?”

“I’ve seen you before. You come here a lot.”

I smiled, saying, “Yeah, I do.” I then chuckled as I said, “I guess I’ve just never seen you when I come here.” I picked up a small rock and chucked it. My smile then faded as I became nervous. I asked, “Why haven’t I ever seen you?”

Jason stopped at a big rock and sat on it. “Because, I’m usually watching from a place where you can’t see me.”

I joined him on the rock, asking, “Where do you watch from?”

He pointed to the pond in the distance. A chill trickled down my spine. “You mean, from under the water?”

Jason nodded, sighed, and looked at me with a glum countenance. “I drowned in that pond.”

“Wow,” I remarked. I was talking to a dead boy. That was so cool! “When did that happen?”

“It was a few months ago. I really wanted to be like a fish. But I couldn’t swim. I’m only seven. But I can now. I’ve had lots of time to practice.”

“I can’t swim, either,” I replied. Now I knew not to try to swim until I learned how.

“I’ve been living there ever since. Sometimes I come out and walk around. Other times I poke my head out of the water.”

I asked him, “How come you didn’t come see me when you first saw me?”

“I wasn’t sure if I was ready to try and make friends,” he answered with a sigh. “I was used to being lonely, but after seeing you for a while, I realized I wanted someone to talk to.”

I smiled. “That’s good. I’m glad we can be friends now.”

“Me too,” said Jason. “Let’s play tag. You’re it!” He lightly swatted me on the shoulder and then ran away. I laughed and ran after him. He was so fast and there were so many trees everywhere that I lost sight of him. I stopped running to catch my breath. I then looked around and couldn’t see anything except the natural environment.

“Jason?” I called out. A breeze brushed against my cheek and I shivered. I thought that maybe Jason realized he didn’t want a friend anymore.

“Boo!” he shouted in my ear from behind. I jumped and my heart raced.

“You scared me!” I shouted, exasperated and terrified.

Jason laughed and said, “Sorry, it was funny. We should go play in the pond. Come on.” He started running toward the pond.

“But I can’t swim,” I yelled to him. “And it’s freezing in there!”

“I’ll teach you,” he said as I came closer to the pond. Reluctantly, I agreed to go in. I took off my shoes and walked into the water next to him. My feet shivered and I felt the coldness as the water reached my shins, then my knees, then my thighs, until I was standing waist-down. Jason was ahead of me and was wading in the deep center of the pond.

“I can’t do it, Jason. I’m heading out,” I said. He just giggled.

“You can do it, Matt! Come on,” he reassured me. As I had turned around to leave, he grabbed my arm and slowly pulled me in towards him. I kicked my feet as he held on to my arms.

“Hey, I think I’m actually swimming,” I said with a smile. He grinned back.

As I kept kicking, Jason slowly loosened his grip on my arms and moved them up to the top of my head. He pressed down on my head to push me down and help me try swimming underwater. As I went under, I felt the refreshing swoosh of water on my face and I let myself take in this moment of serenity, adventure, and friendship.

I was ready to come up now. I tried to push my body upward, but Jason wouldn’t let go of my head. I laughed a bit and saw the bubbles emerge from my mouth. I tapped on his hand but he wouldn’t budge. I pushed harder and got up a little bit, but then his hands moved to my shoulders, pushing them down. Jason was taking this game too far.

I screamed, hoping he’d get the message that I was running out of breath. I kicked, flung my arms around and tried moving out of his grip. The more I tried, the harder his grip became. I saw bubbles all around me from my desperate movements and my ears rung from my own screams. Eventually, my screams got quieter and my movements got slower, and I couldn’t do anything anymore.

I awoke at the bottom of the pond. Jason wasn’t there. I arose and floated up to the surface. I could swim fine now. I walked out of the pond and saw Jason sitting on the shore. I said hello and sat with him. We then stared out into the woods, hearing my mother’s distant cries for me, as we searched for our next friend.