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The lake itself was called ‘Lake Crook’ It was a shitty, s yesterday Each time it rained, the water—a deep, ey brown

Today, after the rain over the last two days, it resembled red mud soup

But that didn’t mean the area wasn’t still pretty

Sure, our lakes didn’t coly lake water was s that didn’t have every available space covered with buildings, or shitty fu the air

I heard footsteps behind th of the dock

I hadn’t expected her to be out on the dock, andsun, not the Adirondack chairs that were on the dock

Meaning, she startled htly when she appeared when I hadn’t expected her to

“What do you think?” she asked curiously

I pursed my lips “I think that this lake would be so much prettier if we could find a way to make it look cleaner water-wise”

She rolled her eyes, then turned around and stared at the water almost shoulder to shoulder with me

“I used to swile day over the su right around this very dock and a pair of waterout from underneath the dock My papa slapped therab them with my bare hands” She paused “My papa had theht”

I snorted “That’s… invigorating”

I saw her smile out of the corner of her eyes “I think I’liness of the water since I’ators all over here like we did back in Alabama”

“Alabama?” I asked

“Alabama,” she confirmed “That here…” She hesitated “That here Beau and I lived ere engaged to be married After, I was taken to Arizona Then, after I was… I lived with my friend Traci and her husband, Kansas Kansas and Traci were stationed in California But there… I didn’t like the air I was breathing It was always smoky Even when there were no forest fires I just couldn’t handle the air anymore I needed freshness I ive the rental cabin thing a try”