K.B. Fugitt

He heard his name.

“Buddy!” Tommy shouted out. “Over here.”

Buddy saw his friend over by the blankets where the girls had been relaxing before Richard caused the big upset. He picked the football back up in his mouth and headed for Tommy. Enough of a breather. It must be time to play again. He reached Tommy, but maintained a safe distance so Tommy couldn’t grab the football back from him. Buddy’s buddy, however, wasn’t really interested in the football any longer.

“Come on, Buddy,” Tommy said as he picked up the potato chips which were scattered about and put them back in the bowl. “Let’s go take a dive off the dock.”

At the south end of the beach, outside the parameters of the roped-off swimming area, was a wooden dock that people would dive off of. It was just far enough away down the beach that most people thought it was private. The locals knew better. It had been there since the beginning of time and no one knew how it got there or why it was even put there in the first place. It didn’t matter. More than one generation had used it for sunning and diving. It wasn’t being used now and Tommy thought he would take advantage of that; swim the thirty feet out to where it was anchored, and dive into the lake. It was something he had done countless times over the years.

“You want to swim out there with me, Buddy?”

Sure.

Buddy loved the water. The air was starting to get hot and sticky and he felt overheated from all the running around he had done. Tommy didn’t have to ask Buddy twice. They’d done this many times before in past summers. Buddy jumped in and with paws paddling, headed for the dock as Tommy followed. 

The dock, about fifteen feet by fifteen feet square, had no ladder. So, when Tommy got to it he had to brace himself up with his arms and elbows, lifted himself onto his chest, then swing his legs over and roll onto the decking. Over the years as he had grown bigger and stronger, this procedure had gotten easier with time and age. Now, it was all done in one swift fluid motion. No problem. When he was on the dock he got down on one knee, saw his friend paddling around, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, and hoisted him up. No easy task considering how big Buddy was. Once Buddy was up on the deck and shook himself off, he knew they would both jump back into the lake like they’d done a hundred times before and swim around until they decided to get back up onto the dock or head for shore.

“Good boy, Buddy!” Tommy said, congratulating his friend on a mission accomplished.

Tommy stretched and pondered for a moment what dive he would like to do. What’s it going to be this time? The cannonball? A basic head first? Na, too simple. A twister? Maybe a back flip. He actually had never tried one of those. It might be worth a shot.

OK, let’s go for it!

Tommy walked to the far end of the dock where the water was deepest. He turned his back to the water and extended his arms.

“OK, Buddy,” Tommy said as he decided to broadcast his dive to the world. “Here we go for a Gold Medal at the Olympic Games. Tommy Franklin needs to get a perfect score on all the judges’ score cards in order to win it all. The crowd is deathly silent.”

Tommy bent his legs and sprang upward and backward as Buddy watched. When he flipped back and started to come down, his head hit the edge of the dock, knocking him out cold. He floated face down in the water as Buddy stood on the dock looking down, sensing something was not right.

I don’t think this is a game or play time. Something is wrong with my best friend.

A red tinge surrounded Tommy’s head. Buddy recalled that smell. He couldn’t remember where or when in his life, but that smell meant trouble. He began to whine and panic, then jumped into the water and paddled to an unconscious Tommy whose arms were both afloat. With his adrenaline flowing, Buddy grabbed the left forearm in his mouth and struggled to swim toward shore. It was not that far, but it was physically awkward trying to tow the human toward land. Instinct told Buddy that he had to get Tommy as close to shore as possible. They finally hit shallow water which was about a foot deep. Buddy could drag Tommy no further. A small wave pushed Tommy over on his side. Buddy knew something wasn’t right. He stared at the youth lying in the water for a couple of seconds, then Buddy became a dog in despair.