Seeking Adventure

After Penelope Simmons's boyfriend of seven years suddenly dumps her, she decides to go back home to the family farm. It wasn't just any farm, it had been in her family for more than three hundred years. Her brother loved being on the farm and stayed but as an artist, she sought out the industrial walls of New York.

She had been really lucky and had done well in New York. The lifestyle wasn't without its stressors though. There were always deadlines and picky clients. When Jason dropped the bomb that he was seeing someone else, it just gave her the opportunity to take a break from the whole scene!

Even the flight home was just a boring stepping stone to the next adventure for Penelope. Boring just didn't sit well with her creative flare. She had a strong urge to paint the ceiling of the plane or something. Even as a child she was always into something. Being a middle child had a lot of disadvantages but she was proud to have inherited her Dad's raw artistic genes.

On the approach to the airport in Charlotte, North Carolina Penelope could spot the little farm. Just outside of town it was just a speck on the landscape. The old place had a little bit of everything. There were fields of corn, beans, watermelons, and livestock that covered the subtle hills. The main staple was the cattle but there were also chickens, llamas, pigs, goats, and anything else that needed a home.

Stepping off of the plane Penelope immediately spotted her long time friend Clarissa who was waving at her frantically. Nothing much had changed with her, she still acted like a schoolgirl and looked like she never aged.

“Girl get on over here”.

“Now calm down, people might think we are a little strange”.

“Honey, people here are strange”.

“You mean to tell me you drove your Daddy's pickup truck?”

“Well, he wasn't using it and you know how much I hate putting gas in my car”.

“You are a silly girl”.

Penelope and Clarissa settled themselves in the old run-down Dodge pickup truck. The conversation, of course, turned to Penelope's recent breakup. There were no tears she just wanted to move on. They turned into the long driveway lined with crepe myrtles. They were in bloom and they were beautiful as always. It was quite a sight! It had been an old plantation house back in the day but now just looked old and worn out. Still, when you saw it you were not likely to forget it. Bet those large columns could tell quite a tale if they could talk and what a conversation the walls would have.

They got out of the old truck slamming the doors to let someone know they were there. Penelope's brother Nathaniel walked out of the barn with a small paint horse at his side. Now all the girls in town were after Nathaniel but he had eyes for only one thing, the farm. It was his legacy he would always say. Not an obligation but a legacy. That didn't keep them from chasing after him. He was a handsome sort in a country sort of way. You know blue jeans, straw hat, manure on his boots!

“Well, well. Look what Sis drug up!”

“Nate, enough of that. Clarissa won't be staying long.”

“What are you doing back here anyway?”

“Let's just say the wind blew the right way.”

“Oh yeah, who dumped you now?”

“None of your beeswax!”

Nathaniel Webster might have been the hottest bachelor in this town but the one girl who wasn't interested was Clarissa. She had eyes for Scott Branigan, the local veterinarian. Right now she just wanted to have fun. Being Scott's assistant definitely gave her an advantage.

Penelope's Dad was at the dining room table when the girls walked in. With his dark-rimmed glasses nestled on the lower part of his nose he sat staring into a large pile of papers with a calculator at his side. Paying bills was one task he despised!

“Hi, Dad.”

Penelope went over and hugged her Dad. She sensed he needed a distraction anyway. Clarissa also spoke to him and stood close by smiling. Graham Webster was a proud man and like most of the farmers in the area had become an expert at finding ways to keep the farm alive.

“Well, well, what are you girls up to? Penelope I wasn't expecting to see you for months. Who broke your heart this time?”

“Oh, Dad!”

“Are you going to be home long?”

“Don't really know yet. Just kinda playing it by ear.”

“Well, will be upstairs getting caught up. I'll make supper tonight and we can have a long chat.”

“Go ahead, girl. I'll be around.”

The two of them ran up the old staircase to Penelope's old bedroom. She opened the door to find it still like it was when she left. It had been almost a year since she had been home. The girls flopped down on the bed like two teenagers giggling. Well into their twenties, you would not have expected such behavior.

“So you got dumped?”

“Well, guess you could say that. He showed up for our last dinner date and announced that he was in love with someone else! You would think he could have told me that a few years earlier instead of waiting until I had so much time invested in him.”

“What a creep! What you need is some adventure. How about white water rafting?”

“Well, it's something I have never done. Have you?”

“No, it's perfect. I hear there are always some cute guys on those trips.”

“Well, I'm not exactly looking!”

“Nonsense! We are always looking. Besides life has been really boring since you left.”

“Okay. We'll give it a try.

Clarissa called the outfitter company and made arrangements for their trip for the next day. They spent the next hour researching white water rafting and making plans for the next day. They would have to pack and lunch and snacks.

Clarissa went home while Penelope threw herself into helping her Dad on the farm. There was no shortage of chores and things to do. She fed the goats, groomed the horses, and gathered the eggs while Nate and her Dad harvested the corn and cut new fields.

By 5PM Penelope was done and headed for the house to start supper. There was always fresh chicken and beef so tonight it would be steak. I fired up the grill on the back porch and seasoned the steaks. Onto the grill, the steaks went along with corn in the husk. When they were close to done, she would throw some cornbread on there as well. Hmmm... she couldn't wait till it was done. You would pay a pretty penny for a steak like this in New York.

Her Dad and Nate came in from the fields covered in dust and washed up at the outside sink. They could already smell the steaks. Penelope was in the kitchen making the cornbread that would go into a cast-iron form that would sit right on the grill.

“Land sakes girl I had forgotten that you could cook.”

“How long before it will be ready?”

“About another ten Dad.”

“Just enough time to read the paper.”

Penelope and her Dad had a nice supper together. She told him about her plans for the next day and he agreed she needed a little adventure in her life. He fell asleep watching TV and she went off to her room to ponder her adventure plans.

The next morning Clarissa knocked on the door just in time for breakfast. She then let herself in and seated herself at the table. Penelope handed her a plate. They ate quickly and said goodbye to her Dad. They could hardly contain their excitement as they climbed into Clarissa's truck. The outfitter was only about five miles away so it didn't take them long to get there. Penelope had researched it the night before but even that did not prepare her for what was to come.

There were a number of people there already. There were people in their twenties, middle-aged adults, parents with their kids, and yes some single men. We were given a list of instructions and a consent to sign before we boarded the raft. Penelope was reading the instructions while Clarissa was checking out the single men.

“Look at this guy.”

Clarissa pointed out a guy that was walking toward them. He was tall, very well built, had long wavy hair, and a mustache. I mean what more would you want. His name was Jeremiah and he was our guide. How lucky were we? He went over the instructions and the do's and don't s of rafting.

The girls already felt like they were in good hands. They had watched a few rafting videos so they were excited to see if it would meet their expectations. Jeremiah finally instructed them to board their raft and take their positions. Clarissa was seated in the second position on the right and Penelope was seated on the left opposite her.

Jeremiah was standing at the front of the raft with a paddle in his hand. Clarissa and Penelope had never even seen a paddle much less have one in their hands. They pushed themselves away from shore and following Jeremiah's instructions eased into the center of the Nantahala River. Looking ahead it was already intimidating.

The first set of rapids was not that bad, just a slight “bump” in the river. They paddled forward down another straight stretch to the second set of rapids. This set of rapids was more like they saw on the video. Water began to splash over the sides and front of the raft as the front of the raft raised up and slammed down while winding around boulders in the river bed. This was becoming work now. The team of ten frantically paddled to forge ahead. Slowing up might mean slamming against a rock or turning over so letting up was not an option. If Clarissa thought she was going to have time to mingle with the guys on this trip, she was wrong. It was all she could do to hold onto the paddle.

For eight long miles, they paddled ahead as a team. Each stroke was important and there was no room for error. An error in judgment could cost someone their life. The worst leg was just ahead. The river was churning and would drop down about three feet before it settled into the balance of the river. Jeremiah continued to shout instructions to the team as he too took his place with a paddle on this leg of the trip. Penelope grabbed hold of her paddle that much tighter as the raft shuffled back and forth and twisted around more rocks in the riverbed. You could not see the small fall but they knew it was ahead and they had to be prepared for it. Suddenly they hit it! Down they plunged! It was all they could do to hold onto the raft and their paddles.

As intense as it was, in just a matter of minutes they were through it. Back into calmer waters now, they paddled slowly to a clearing about a half a mile down from the falls. Clarissa and Penelope were both feeling a sense of relief that it was coming to an end.

A large van was waiting at the landing to take them back to the parking lot. It was an adventure all right. Maybe not for some people, but for Penelope and Clarissa it was just the beginning of many more adventurers. This trip was definitely a good start. They thanked Jeremiah and said goodbye to their fellow rafters and climbed back into Clarissa's truck.

“Oh my God. Was that a high or what?”

“Penelope girl, I just don't know why we haven't done this before.”

“Yes, it was a good trip.”

Driving back to the farm, they laughed and relieved every moment of this journey. Now, what in the world would they do to top this?