Lost Summers

A Short Story Written by: April Aguilar

2001
“Hello?”
“Liz! Are you ready?!”
“Yeah, girl. I'm always ready.”
“Good. Three way Beth.”
“Okay. Hang on.”
I hear the dial tone.
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Scott, is Beth there?”
“Yeah, hang on.”

I hear the sound of her putting the phone down on the table. Then, without even saying hello, Beth singsongs, “You girls ready for the lake?!” We both hoot back, “Hell yeah!” Beth laughs and says, “Okay, I'm ready too. Mac, tell your mom to pick Brianna up on the way. Let's get this week started.” We all hang up and I grab my bag and head out the door. We have been waiting all year for my family's annual camping trip. It's our favorite thing about summer.

Actually, it's our favorite thing of the whole year. We pick the girls up and head down the road, but I quickly remind mom that we can’t go to the lake without first stopping by Mr. Cleary’s truck to get a watermelon. He grows the best yellow meat watermelons in the state of Texas.

We pulled up to our campsite thirty minutes ago. The girls and I unpacked and set up our tent in record time. We are on a mission. I call to my mom, “Momma! We're goin walkin.” Mom calls back from her lawn chair, “Okay. No smokin! And no boys!” We all snicker and set out on our very important mission; to do everything mom said not to. We walk side by side, the four of us taking up the whole road. As we round the corner,
Beth asks, “Liz, you got a cig?” Liz answers, “Hell yeah, girl. You think I came empty handed? I swiped two packs from my uncle. He'll never notice. He never does.” I'm pretty sure he does. Liz just does what she wants. She hands us each a cigarette and we all light up. We walk, smoke our cigarettes, and act like we're grown. Anyone can see we are underage, but nobody seems
to care.
Brianna surprises me by slapping me hard on the shoulder and says, “Mac! Is that
Mason Craft? Dude, here's your chance. You look freakin hot in that bikini.” I'm instantly blushing. I've had a crush on Mason for as long as I can remember. He's a senior, though. He would never go for me. Just as I finish that thought, he turns towards us and waves. When he speaks, I'm breathless. “Hey, yall wanna come hang out? Chris and Matt should be back in a minute, and Caleb is in the camper.” Oh. My. Goodness. Don't freak out, Mac. Of course Liz pipes up, “Sure!”

We hang out with the boys for hours, making smores, and getting to know each other outside of school. As the sun goes down, Matt says, “We should go swimming.” “In the dark?” I ask. Mason looks at me and says, “Yeah. Why not?” Then, he winks at me, and I'm an instant mess. Of course, I would follow this boy over a cliff at this point. As we make our way down the densely wooded path to the lake, Mason grabs my hand. The electricity in that small gesture gets me feeling all tingly, like I might start shining from all the glitter throwing a party inside my body. I take off my shoes, and step into the water. My toes sink
into the mud, and I wiggle them around in it. The water is still warm from the hot Texas heat of the day. We wade in about shoulder deep, and Mason takes my legs and wraps them around him. I'm a nervous wreck when he leans in for a soft, slow kiss; my first kiss.

I remember thinking, “This is what summer is all about.” Summer is about lake trips, cold watermelon, and falling in love. If I had known Mason already had a girlfriend things might have
been different. I'm glad I didn't know.

2026
My phone rings. I look at the screen in my car to see my husband's name showing. I press the answer button, and his voice comes over the speakers. He doesn't even say hello or ask how my day at work was. He just starts out with, “Hey, can you pick up something for supper? Scott has baseball practice and there are a couple loads of laundry to do.” I sigh. “Yes,
dear.” “Great. Thank you. Love you.” Then, he quickly hangs up the phone. I just got off of a 16 hour shift. I'm exhausted and my back is killing me. I seriously need a vacation.
I turn the music on and turn the volume up. Texas country music always puts me in a better mood. I roll the windows down and let the wind flow through my hair, even though it's 180 degrees outside. That's an exaggeration. It's really only about 92, but it feels like 180. Pat Green's Southbound 35 comes through my speakers. As he sings about Texas filling my soul, I think back to those long lost Summers with my girls. We still talk from time to time, but we don't
get to see each other much anymore. Life has just gotten in the way. It's all work, home, work again. I really do need a vacation.
An idea begins to take form. I need a vacation. I need my girls. I need my kids to know what Texas summers are supposed to be. What harm would a little lake getaway cause? None.

Absolutely none. As soon as I pull in the driveway I send a group text to the girls.
Fourth of July weekend. Our lake. Our spot.
It doesn't take long for each of my friends to text back.
Hell yeah!
I already feel better.
I have been buzzing around like a little honey bee the past 2 weeks. I just want
everything to be perfect for our first, hopefully annual, family lake trip. The car is packed. The kids are loaded. I’m more excited than a puppy waiting for a treat.
As we pull up to the campsite, I can already see my friends unloading and setting up tents. Brianna is pulling an actual air conditioner out of her trunk. The first thing that I unload is a huge, ripe watermelon. One of my favorite things about summer when I was growing up was my time spent with Mr. Cleary. Before I was old enough to work, I would help him pick watermelons and he would pay me here and there. I wasn’t going to get rich picking watermelons, but I sure got rich on Mr. Cleary’s stories. He’s been farming the same land, his family’s land, since he returned from World War II. Man, did he have some stories to tell. It didn’t even feel like work when I was hanging out with him. After we picked them, we would go into town and park on the side of the road to wait for everyone in town to come get a watermelon. Mr. Cleary passed away several years ago, but his grandson still sells the watermelons on the side of the road.

After devouring the delicious, sweet watermelon, we all decide to head down to the lake. It took the whole day to drive here and get set up, so the sun is already starting to go down. Normally, I would be ready to hit the hay, but this weekend is special. I wouldn’t miss these memories for the world. I walk behind everyone else so that I can absorb the view of my extended family. I realize how much I have missed them. I can’t believe it has been so long.

I stop a foot or so before the waters edge and take in the scenery. There are trees filled with webs from webworms lining the lake. The grass on the bank is dead and burnt from our dry, hot summer. I step in and feel the warm mud squish through my toes. The water is still hot, heated from the sweltering sun of the day. This lake is not fancy. It’s nothing but muddy water, mainly a place to fish. It’s also a place that so many of us think of as a home away from home. I watch as the kids wrestle each other while on their dads’ shoulders, a game we affectionately call chicken. Everyone is laughing and loving. My beautiful friends, sitting in lawn chairs inside
the water, are catching up on everything we have missed.

Heat makes people angry, and Lord knows, we have no shortage of heat in Texas in
summer. This, though. This is the recipe for happiness. This is what a Texas summer is all about. Family, night swimming, and watermelon. What else could a woman ask for?