Acid Rain by R.D Rhodes (ebook reader txt) 📕

“Yeah? Well, it’s definitely cleaner here than London. Living in London is like smoking five a week.”

We scrambled down past the last tree onto the loch’s stony shore. The glass-like water reflected the blue sky and its passing clouds. It was so beautiful it didn’t even look real. On the other side, below the shrouded mountains, I saw the route we had come.

We had the whole glen to ourselves.

The water was so still I couldn’t resist, I launched out a stone and watched it splash into the blue. Ripples circled out. Harry skimmed another one along the surface and it bounced once, twice, five times, before sinking.

“I used to love doing this.” he said. “When I was a kid.”

“Me too.”

I bent down to get another, but caught my reflection in the water. I looked away, at Harry. “What’s your record?”

“About eight, I think.” He sailed another out. “The trick is to find the right one. Smooth, like this, and not throw it too ha-”

I thrust my arm back and kneeled low, letting the momentum carry into my swing, it flew out and bounced, seven times.

“Wow! Haha, you’re a natural.” he cheered delightedly.

We skimmed stones for a while, just having fun, like we were kids again. Then Harry’s eyes flashed. He unzipped his jacket with a cheeky grin on his face.

I laughed. “It’s about minus five in there!”

“Och, it’s fine! C’mon, race you in!” Without a second’s hesitation, he was stripped to his boxers and his bony body raced in, “Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! It’s fuckin freezing!”

“Of course it is!” I laughed loudly. He was ecstatic, bouncing up and down in the chest-high water like a child who’d just graduated from armbands. He dived under, “Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ!” he cried as he breaststroked away.

His joy was infectious. I got down to my shirt and pants and waded in. The water was painful, so cold it burned, but it felt good, and refreshing, like all the shit was being washed from my system. I stepped slowly, going further in as Harry came racing back out. I watched in hysterics as he ran barefoot through the woods, then I turned and kept going till it was up to my neck. I tried to control my breath, then dunked my head, counted to thirty, and sprang back up and went for a quick swim. It burned with pleasure. This is what baptizing is all about, I thought, and I imagined why people liked getting tattoos done. I got out, shivering, my skin purple-red. The cold shock gripped me to the core and I felt full of energy. I gave into it and started skipping through the trees. It was like the holy spirit was in me. I felt like I was seven again.

Harry was running under the pines ahead, laughing like a maniac. I felt it too- an intense delight spiraling out from my insides. I let the happiness take me over, I could imagine if people saw me now, but I didn’t care.

I stopped skipping then started running, then I dropped to the snow and did some press-ups. I imagined all the old skin cells and tired blood vessels being broken down and replaced by newer, fresher ones as I was renewed. I ran back to the shore and put my clothes on again over my skin turned white as the snow, and I heard a squeak behind me and turned to see two radiant-blue, exotic-looking birds flying just above the water.

Harry came dancing back, smiling so wide I thought his face might crack. While he was putting his shirt back on, I sneaked away, and thumped him with a snowball.

“Hey! You little bastard!” he laughed. “You just wait!”

I hid behind a tree, but then he was hopping on one knee, trying to pull his trousers up, and I couldn’t resist. The force of the throw knocked him off his feet. His hands went out, but he still landed with his face in the snow, his white hamstrings camouflaged.

The fun and the sight of him was too much- a childish joy cried out from me. I couldn’t remember laughing like that for a long time.

His shoulders were jerking with his own laughter as he got back up. “That’s it!” he threatened. He got on his trousers and shoes and came after me as I sprinted through the woods. The fight went on for ages. I hit him more than he hit me, and nailed him in the head with a beauty.

“Quits!” “Quits!” he shouted.

After that we made a snowman, joining huge rolled snowballs together and building it up. We gave him some antlers we found for ears, rosehip eyes, and a dead leaves wig. Harry gave him some branch arms, and a long thin branch for a cock.

“Pretty good.” He laughed joyously.

“It’s not bad.” I agreed.

“Want to knock it over?”

Harry went first, walking up the slope behind then throwing himself feet-first into its head. It didn’t budge.

He was impressed. “We’ve made it sturdy.”

“Not that sturdy.” I stepped up the slope and took a longer run, kicking my legs out. I booted the head clean off.

“Nice shot!”

We picked up some sticks and smashed the snowman to bits and rolled what was left of it down the hill. Then we went exploring- through the tall red granny pines that looked about four hundred years old, and the gigantic ancient oaks with their dinosaur skin. It all just felt so wild. So beautiful. Imagination and wonder could thrive. The world is glorious, I thought.

We crossed back over the road and headed up the hill through the forest. Patches of green heather and orange bracken showed through under the shelter of some thick boughs, but other than that the ground was ankle-deep white. We climbed over a fallen oak