No bottom!

By Ted Smith

Submitted to Corner Post

When we were kids, I spent more time with my older brother and his friends than with kids my age.  He and his buddies were three years older, so they tended to have more fun and daring adventures than my peers did.  Sometimes we went out to an abandoned rock quarry that was surrounded by woods.  Rain and runoff kept quite a bit of water in the deeper end of the large pit.  I’m talking at least twelve feet, and sometimes much more.  Having been there plenty of times before, we knew that, as long as water reached a certain mark that had been scratched on a wall, the pool should be deep enough for us to leap from a high ledge into the pool below.  But as a precaution, nobody would make the big jump before at least a few boys had gone down to make no big rocks had fallen or been thrown into that area.  

Well, one time shortly after we got to the quarry and had checked the clearance in that pool, here came five or six girls.  They acted like they just happened to be out hiking and stumbled upon the quarry, but I’m pretty sure they had heard my brother and his friends talking about going there.  Keep in mind, this was the summer before they got to 8th grade.  We all got out of the water and scrambled up the rocks to the ledge.  With a loud yell, a couple of my brother’s friends leapt into the water below, much to the delight of those giggling girls.  Suddenly, my brother boldly ran to the edge and made a beautiful head-first dive into the deep.  He didn’t come up right away, but when he did, he began treading water and called out, “No bottom.”  The other boys and I looked at each other to try to understand what my brother was talking about. 

“A big rock in the way?” one boy asked. My brother shook his head and repeated, “No bottom.”  “You found a really deep spot?” asked another.  Again, a headshake.  “No bottom.”  Then he called my name and told me to clamber down to him.  When I got close, he said, loud enough for me to hear, but nobody else, “My shorts came off and I can’t find them.  Go home and bring me another pair.  And hurry!”