“See?” Diego called. “Nothing to it!”
“Everything to it!” The terror in my voice sent a nearby bird airborne. “Everything to … oh God, another one!”
Water crashed over us again. Through my panic, I caught Noah watching us, that irritating half-smile playing on his lips as he floated backwards.Backwards!Like this was a Sunday stroll through the park.
I wiped water from my face, heart still racing from the so-called “practice” rapid. My wetsuit clung to me like plastic wrap, and my hair plastered all over my face.
“I feel like maybe we skipped practice, and you just threw me straight into the deep end,” I shouted back at Diego.
“Speaking of deep.” Diego’s laugh rumbled behind me. “Thunder Drop is coming up next, one of our signature rapids. Class III on a good day.”
“Class III?” The numbers meant nothing to me, but ‘Thunder’ and ‘Drop’ were not words I wanted to hear in the same sentence while trapped in a floating banana. “That sounds like a ride at Six Flags that makes people throw up.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve run these hundreds of times.” Diego adjusted our angle with a few quick paddle strokes. “Justremember what we practiced. Lean forward, brace with your knees, and …”
“Kiss my ass goodbye?” My lungs temporarily forgot to breathe as I spotted the white water churning between massive boulders. The river seemed to disappear completely at one point, dropping away into nothing like one of those infinity pools, except instead of a luxurious view of the mountains, there was just liquid oblivion.
“Oh no. No, no, no.” I gripped my paddle so tight my fingers went numb.
“Paddle hard!” Diego shouted. “Keep it steady!”
Noah shot past us again, this time his expression focused and with two hands on the paddle as he charged toward the rapids. Yeti’s tail wagged with excitement as they disappeared over the edge.
“Oh, my God.”
The current grabbed our kayak and we picked up speed, racing toward certain death. The thunder of falling water grew deafening.
“I changed my mind!” I screamed. “I want to go back to the practice one!”
The roar of rushing water drowned out my words as we approached what looked like a wall of white foam.
“Okay!” Diego’s voice carried over the noise. “When I say draw, paddle forward on the right!”
“What?” I twisted around to look at him. The kayak wobbled like a drunk person trying to walk a straight line.
“Eyes front! Draw! Draw!”
I dug my paddle into the left side of the kayak, and we veered sideways toward a boulder that looked suspiciously like a tombstone.
“Other side! Other side!”
I switched, but now we were heading straight for a rock.The current picked up speed like a roller coaster reaching the top of its track.
“BRACE!”
“What does that even mean?” I shrieked, lifting my paddle high above my head like I was surrendering to the river gods.
“No, no! Down! Put it ...” Diego’s instructions cut off as we spun in a complete circle. Water splashed over the sides, soaking my face. I sputtered and blinked rapidly, mascara surely streaming down my cheeks along with my tears. “Focus!” Diego called. “We need to …” Another spin. “…straighten out!”
I caught glimpses of shore, river, shore, river as we twirled through the white water. My stomach somersaulted with each rotation, my breakfast threatening a dramatic reappearance.
“Just tell me what to do in English!”
“Put your paddle in the water and LEAN. DOWN. STREAM!”
Everything was a blur of motion and cold spray. The kayak slammed into something hard. My world flipped upside down as I hit the freezing water. The current yanked me under, tumbling me like a sock in a washing machine.
River water rushed up my nose, tasting like dirt and fish. My lungs burned.Which way was up?The churning water tossed me around like I was trapped inside a tornado in the middle of a hurricane.
