{"id":258365,"date":"2026-07-13T16:13:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T13:13:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1kitap1.com\/en\/deep-water-jamie-sumner\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T16:13:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T13:13:32","slug":"deep-water-jamie-sumner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1kitap1.com\/en\/deep-water-jamie-sumner\/","title":{"rendered":"Deep Water – Jamie Sumner"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Arch was being kind letting me in on the action. But it was all his idea. Not that he would ever say that because that\u2019s not the kind of person Arch is. Not like me, who always has to make sure everyone sees my time lit up on the board during meets and hears my answer in history class and watches me race down the steep driveway at school in my Rollerblades.<\/p>\n

If I were a knight, I\u2019d demand they make the round table a rectangle so I could sit at the head of it. If our family had a motto, it would be: \u201cEvery person for themselves.\u201d The real reason I agreed to help was because I did not want to be at home. Mom hadn\u2019t left yet, but we might as well have been camped on top of a mountain of doom\u2014 the air stretched so thin it left you light-headed.<\/p>\n

To be home was to be alone with a dad who disappeared behind his computer screen and a mom who disappeared behind her phone and her exercise routine. At least Dad was doing his job. Mom was making a choice. I didn\u2019t know it then, but I was six weeks away from her disappearing for good. I wish I could go back and sled forever on a roped-off hill where everything is safe because I know somebody is looking out for me. OceanofPDF.com What\u2019s in a Name During art class this year, we had to look up our names in a baby book covered in pink writing and blue ABC blocks.<\/p>\n

And then we had to draw a self-portrait based on the definition we were given that showed whether we agreed or disagreed with the description. \u201cTully\u201d is my mother\u2019s maiden name. According to the pink baby book, my name means \u201cquiet\u201d and \u201cpeaceful.\u201d You can imagine what my mother said when I told her that.<\/p>\n

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My Mother Told Me The problem with letting someone else tell your story is that they always get it wrong. They\u2019ll shove their morals and personality and biases and blind spots and irritations into it. Which means the one thing you can never do is let another person speak for you.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what she said one day before she left. I\u2019ll never know her story because she never gave me time to ask. Now that she\u2019s gone, while I\u2019m out here on the not-so-still waters, almost all alone, there\u2019s no one to tell my story to. Because nobody listens to a kid. Instead, they tell you what you did or didn\u2019t do. What you are and are not about. The thing about being twelve is that all anybody thinks to do is talk at you.<\/p>\n

At least out here, the water drowns her silence and the rest of the world\u2019s noise. OceanofPDF.com OceanofPDF.com HOUR ONE OceanofPDF.com How It Starts Air temp: 44 degrees. Water temp: 68 degrees. Body temp: 98.3 degrees. Mental state of swimmer: Calm. Loose. Ready. Mental state of support crew: Unknown and highly variable. Arch looks like he\u2019s going to puke\u2014 hands on knees, head down like a dog, orange life vest bunched around his ears.<\/p>\n

Poor Arch. He wasn\u2019t meant for the open water. He\u2019s a worrier. You can\u2019t be a worrier and a swimmer. The water demands trust. Whatever conditions\u2026 Whatever\u2019s below\u2026 Whatever your head tells you\u2026 You have to believe you\u2019re going to make it to the other side. The minute you start to doubt yourself, you make mistakes. The water doesn\u2019t forgive mistakes.<\/p>\n

Me? I\u2019m a believer in the power of the water and in myself. I don\u2019t make mistakes. While we\u2019re still on shore, Arch adjusts his life vest and breathes in through his nose. I check his watch. \u201c5:58 a.m. You\u2019ve got two minutes to get it together,\u201d I say, and look out over the dark blue of Lake Tahoe, which is just beginning to twitch awake.<\/p>\n

\u201cTully, I can\u2019t,\u201d Arch says, like he has a choice. \u201cYou have to. You swore it.\u201d I don\u2019t remind him when or why he swore it. He picks up the kayak, drags it to the water\u2019s edge. He remembers. Behind me, Cave Rock would cast a shadow if the sun were high enough.<\/p>\n

They call her Lady of the Lake. If you squint hard enough, the rock looks like a woman. I think it\u2019s a stretch. If you try hard enough, anything can look like anything. Unless it disappears, and then all the imagining in the world won\u2019t turn it into what you want, which brings me back to today. \u201cOne minute,\u201d Arch whispers, and swipes his dark hair out of his eyes.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.<\/em><\/p>\n

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