“Coach, you know I’m in Miss Pinch’s Remedial Writing.  My grades are bad.  College is out.  I’m about through with this place.”

“Tuttle, quitters are people without direction,” Coach said.  “I want you on that boat with us.”

I wondered what he had in mind.  On the boat, Coach handed me a soda. 

He watched me drink some, then said, “Look at you, you’re going nowhere.”

I crumpled the soda can and pitched it overboard.  Coach grabbed me by my sweatshirt for that.  He hauled me over to the end of the boat.  I thought he was about to throw me overboard.  Instead, he showed me how to steer. It made me think about the Coast Guard. 

Later that week, I went to see the Coast Guard recruiter, but I hadn’t thought about swimming requirements.  So I signed up for the Y’s “terrified of water” class.  I’m not, but that’s the only group lesson they had for people over 12.  And the guy who was “going nowhere” passed in five weeks.  Now I just have to swim a hundred yards in five minutes.

© 2008 Jennifer K. Lader. Original for CCF. (Lader grants CCF first electronic rights for one month; CCF may archive the material indefinitely and include it in an eBook anthology).