Not Just Another Competition

It started out as just another competition between the two of them. They were long time rivals since they were in public school. But Mark began to realize that in this instance it was going to be so much more. Mike had been talking, bragging really, about his ability in a canoe. He used the term ‘master paddler’. Mark could not take much of that, so he was drawn in, questioning out loud whether Mike was really any better than anyone in the room of drinkers that was Mike’s audience.  He eventually came to see that the bragging was kind of set up, a trap.

           Mike issued a challenge, “If you think that you are even close to being as good in a canoe as I am, you have to prove it in a race.”

           Mark just said in reply, “sure thing”

           Mike then described how the race was to be. Obviously, there had been some prior thought behind this.

           “We start at the shore down there where the canoes are now, cross the lake, head up the river to the bridge before the dam.  I’ll be on the right, you’ll be on the left, where you will be left behind.”

Mike laughed at his own words like had had just told a particularly dirty joke.

 “What do you say to that? Are you with me, or are you going to suck out, be all words and no action like you usually are?”

           Mark gave another short reply, “Sounds fine to me” It was fairly obvious to him now that Mike had planned this all along. He knew that this was about more than just a canoe race. The cottage that they were staying at was that of a mutual friend. Both were not pleased when they saw that the other was there, and would be for the whole week’s holiday. Mike wanted to have the upper hand in the remaining days.

           There was also the matter of Madelaine. She was staying at the cottage next door. She was friendly, a bit flirty, and likely available. Mark and Mike were both single and available too. So for the first few days they competed for her attention and possible admiration. And Madelaine, noticing the way that the two competed with each other, saw that she could throw scraps of attention their way like they were two dogs in an enclosed space. And they would act like two such dogs, with words that had a lot in common with snarls and growls. She had recently been nastily dumped by a long term boyfriend. Her initial sadness had turned to cynicism about men and relationships in general.

The Day of the Race

It wasn’t long before all was ready for the big race. Canoes and paddles were volunteered by their host, who never used them himself. They were inherited, like the cottage. The two boats were the same, so neither competitor would have an equipment advantage. The shore where the race would begin was soon crowded by the start time of ten o’clock in the morning. Some had witnessed the challenge at the party the night before, and the news spread across the lake like a creeping mist. They didn’t favour one over the other, as the two of them were strangers to the lake crowd. They just enjoyed the obvious intensity of the competition. Grudges can be fun when you are an observer, not a participant

           Madelaine was the starter. She walked down to the end of the dock, and the crowd became silent. They knew that she had borrowed a gun from her brother for a starter’s pistol, not particularly legal, but it certainly added atmosphere to the event.

           She held the gun up high, and fired into the sky. “Bang”, they were off and paddling. They were equal, bow to bow right from the beginning. Both of them were good in a canoe, that much became obvious. And the adrenalin rush of their intense desire to beat the other made them paddle quite quickly. The crowd was appreciative and cheered them on with whoops and hollers.

           While they were racing across the lake, Madelaine got into her car, a bright red Mustang, and sped off to the designated finish line of a small bridge a short distance before the dam. She had taken upon herself the job of the judge of who was the winner.

           As the two approached the end of the lake, with Mark having a very slight lead, a smile spread across Mike’s face. He had scouted out the territory the morning before the night of the challenge. He knew the features of the river well, and had seen how that knowledge would give him an advantage. There were fairly deadly rapids before the bridge. They were on the left side of the river, where the water ran wild over stones of many sizes.. It had rained heavily three days before, so the rapids were especially wild now. On the right side there was sand, not rocks like on the left, and there was a gentle arc to the flow, as that part of the river led itself away from the rapids. Mike would be able to glide through there while Mark would be floundering in the rapids, thereby losing the race, and the bragging rights that went with victory.

           But he had reckoned without Mark’s ability to read the water ahead. He had learned to canoe in a rivers. He soon saw the danger that lay in wait for him, and realized what Mike’s plan had been from the start. He took advantage of his lead and steered directly in front of Mike’s canoe. This forced Mike to turn his canoe sharply to the left. His boat soon rolled over, and before he knew it, the canoe went beyond his reach. So he could not use it to help keep him above the water. He was bobbing, up and down with little control over what was happening to him. 

Mark realized that his rival could possibly drown. It was a matter of life or death, with seconds possibly deciding which it would be.   He couldn’t let that happen, even to Mike, so he turned his canoe to the left. He tipped over too, but he held onto the boat with one arm and both legs.. With the other arm he reached for Mike, who saw him, and reached up for the hand that offered him a chance of survival. But they were not out of danger yet, far from it.

           Meanwhile, on the bridge, Madelaine saw that the two young men were in trouble. She had to do something, or both could drown. She saw a rope tied to the bridge at one end and to an inflated inner tube at the other. She yelled a warning to Mark and Mike and then threw it quickly and accurately to the young men then going with increasing speed downstream with the canoe as their guide. Mark grabbed onto the inner tube, and Mike held onto him. They lost their hold on the canoe, which continued onward ever-faster. The men held their position gripped tightly to the inner tube. But they were still far from safe. Their arms were growing ever more stiff and sore.

           Luck was still with them though, as members of the crowd had hurried into their cars to see who would win the competition. Lending their strong hands and arms to the rescue, they hauled Mark and Mike up to the bridge, which, again fortunately, was not much higher than the water in the river.

           Madelaine shouted out “I declare this race a tie.” Mark and Mike nodded their wet heads in vigorous agreement, and then shook hands for the first time ever. This was not the only relationship to change that day.