Page 2 of Wolf's Midlife Baby

“I feel like I’m going to fall right through this hole.”

“At least no one can look at your ass now,” Dahlia said with a bright smile. “Come on, honey. It’s fine. If drunk college kids can do this, we can do this. If you pretend you’re enjoying yourself, eventually, you will.”

“Let’s hope so.” She forced her shoulders to relax, pulling them down so they weren’t up around her ears anymore. She tried to trust a piece of plastic full of air to hold her up. It was holding everyone else up, after all. The most important thing, though, was that she didn’t look down. Holly didn’t want to know what was waiting for her in that water. Could she ignore it enough for the fear to go away? She doubted it.

Holly checked her senses, something she did often while working on a piece. As a long-form journalist, her writing was more than just a quick bit of information about what happened and where. It was an immersive experience, an article that would allow the reader to feel as though they’d actually been a part of something else for a while. Acknowledging all five senses in a piece and doing it artfully was one secret to success.

Holly took in the scenery around her, the trees waving breezily from the shoreline. Every now and then, she’d catch a peek at a roofline. It reminded her that she was right there in Eugene, yet in a whole different world from those going about their lives at home or work.

She inhaled deeply, her inner bear’s senses coming through. The water was a tad fishy, but it wasn’t bad. She picked up on coconut-scented sunscreen and the patchouli Dahlia had worn, even though it would probably get washed off.

The sound was much like a day at the beach. People were talking and laughing. A bird cried overhead. The water was different, making a trickling noise as it licked at the dirt on either side of the river instead of crashing onto the shore.

Then there was feeling. Her backside was more than cool enough, suspended in the water, but the rest of her was quite warm in the sunshine. Floating was a little like flying, and every now and again, the water would push her one way or another like a bird in the breeze.

Taste? Well, she didn’t taste anything yet.

“Doing good?” Dahlia asked.

Holly allowed a small smile to cross her face. “Yeah, actually.”

“You’re not thinking about it like it’s an article, are you?” Dahlia raised a brow over her sunglasses.

“It’s a work trip, isn’t it?” Holly challenged. “Besides, you told me to enjoy myself.”

“Fine, girl.” Dahlia laughed as she stuck her fingers in the river and splashed a bit of water at Holly. “As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.”

There was nothing to do but sit there and take in all the scenery. Holly rarely found herself with that sort of chance, and she started to imagine just what kind of article she might be able to make out of this. Would Marshall even want to publish it since it happened at their annual meeting? Probably. He was pretty cool for a guy who produced several magazines, blogs, and podcasts and even owned a few local papers.

She could compare and contrast how modern people see the river as fun, but early settlers saw it more as a tool. Or she could discuss the benefits of relaxation and letting the mind wander, something that rarely happened in today’s busy world. This was a modern-day adventure, and Holly knew she could tweak it into an account that would work well.

“Holly!”

She snapped her eyes open, wondering just how long she’d had them closed. That daydream had gone further than she’d thought. Alarmed, she realized that her tube was suddenly much further away from everyone else’s.

“Come back over here!” Dahlia cried out, waving her over. She and the rest of the group were all the way toward the right side of the river.

Holly, however, was toward the left. Panicking, she paddled her hands and feet, but it didn’t seem to make any difference. Everyone was still shouting and waving at her, but now, she couldn’t understand anything they were saying. She was just getting further and further away from them. Holly made arcing swoops in the water with her arms. Why was she so bad at this? She was from Cape Cod, after all.

Then she noticed the ripples weren’t just from her movements. The calm surface of the water was breaking up into little waves, each with a crest of white at the top. Shit. She’d hit rapids! Her speed was picking up, and she careened further to the left.

What had Kevin said about this? She swore she’d heard something about it, but fucking Kyle had been boasting in her ear, and she hadn’t heard any of it. There was no stopping. There was no changing direction. She couldn’t do anything! Holly gripped the handles on her innertube for dear life.

“Forty-three years, and this is how it ends?”

Holly had relied on her bear instincts many times in her life, but they weren’t helping right now. The beast inside her didn’t know anything more about this than she did. Even if she were to shift right there and expose her secret to everyone, the current would probably just continue to carry her downstream. This was bad. This was really bad.

And then it got worse. Just ahead, she spotted a tree limb. No, it was more like a whole section of the tree that’d fallen down into the water. Smaller branches reached out from it like a net, waiting to grab her. Should she aim for it, hoping that someone could rescue her? Or should she try to paddle away? Her mind was full of fear and nothing else.

“Maybe I can push off of it,” she reasoned to herself. If she could hit it just right and use it as a springboard, it would send her back toward the rest of the group. It was a long shot, but it was the only option she had.

Holly held on tight and hoped the river wouldn’t take her too far to the left or right before she reached the tree. She picked up her left foot and set her heel on the tube, getting it ready for a hard kick. The raft wobbled as it sped over the rapids, and her heart had a permanent home in her throat. This was it. She was getting closer. She was going to do it.

Then, the raft tipped upside down. She clung to it as hard as she could, but it slipped from her fingers. She reached out, flailing in the water, but it was long gone. She was spinning, flying, swirling. She heard a hollow thump, and everything turned black.

“There she is.” A calm voice echoed near her head. “Her eyelids are fluttering. She’s coming back to us.”

Something moved under Holly’s shoulder and lifted her. It turned her to the side as she coughed up disgusting river water.

---