Exercise #3

Bryce knew what they were doing wasn't very smart, but she went along anyway. Sasha and Katie talked her into going, and she was excited at first. Now she wasn't so sure.

As if the woods they were walking through weren't dark enough, the gathering clouds were making it feel like night was settling in on them.

She caught up to Sasha so that she could reach into the bag on her back. She decided the only thing that was going to get her through this was a little liquid courage. Then again, that probably wasn't making their outing any safer. She zipped Sasha's bag up and cracked open the beer can.

"It's about time you started to loosen up!", Katie quipped, as Bryce took her first sip. "I think I can see the clearing now. Come on, before this storm gets here"!

No sooner had the words left Katie's lips did the girls hear the first clap of thunder. As they made their way to the rock ledge, a bolt of lightning blazed across the sky.

"Ok, we're going to have to make this quick", Sasha told them as she sat the bag on the ground and began peeling off her t-shirt and shorts. Bryce walked over to where Sasha was standing and looked down.

There, below, was the resevoir they were about to jump into. It was something they had talked about doing time and again, but now the time had come. The "cliffs', as everyone called them were rock ledges that stuck about fifteen feet over the water. One ledge was appoximately twenty feet high; the other was thirty five.

Another clap of thunder startled the girls. They all looked at one another. They had come this far; had talked about it so many times. It was now or never. Bryce pulled her t-shirt off and walked to the edge of the lower cliff. She turned towards Sasha and Katie, smiled and jumped, feet first.

The next thing she new, she was swimming to the surface of the water. It was cool and refreshing, and completely exhilerating. "Do it! Come on! It's great!", she yelled up to her friends that were still standing there, gaping at her. She swam out of the way, towards the shore, so she could watch her friends jump.

As they made their way up from the depths of the resevoir, she smiled to herself. She had beaten them to the punch.

They each made one more jump before the storm chased them out of the water. Grabbing their clothes, they headed back to the path that would lead them to their car. Very satisfied with themselves, and their bold feat, they drove to a friend's house to recount their daring adventures to anyone who would listen.