The life jackets were on the steep river bank. John lifted his bloody hand and tried to grab one. If only he'd listened to his wife. She always insisted he wear his life jacket.

Now, the rushing river had him pinned against a log, barely keeping hold of Bill, his friend, who was unconscious. How was he going to get out of the cold river bed?

John grasped for a branch near the edge and pulled himself up the steep incline, out of the sucking current. He reached back to grab his unconscious friend. John scraped his knees on the hard rocks, but kept pulling hard on his friend. I’ll never make it, he thought, as his head bobbed in and out of the ice-cold water.

Finally, he was able to wrest himself and Bill free from the current’s grasp. The two fishermen lay on the ground. John gasped his last breath. If only he had listened to his wife...It might have saved his life.

* CCF does not publish authors' last names on the work they submit for publication.