Dave and Mike powered their bicycles through the melting March snow, sending slush splattering onto their jeans and the sidewalk. The beach was deserted and, in the narrow harbor inlet, heavy ice flows creaked and groaned as they rubbed against one another. Farther out in Lake Michigan, however, the waves were free of ice and the damp wind mild.
Dave settled his tall, sinewy body gingerly down onto a dry spot on the cement steps of the empty beach store, while Mike, square-shouldered and with a bush of sandy hair, practiced jump shots with scattered trash into a nearby trash barrel.
Dave, idly watching his friend, asked, “Want to play a little B-ball with me behind school Sunday morning?”
“I’ll be at church Sunday morning. You know that,” replied Mike, his face showing signs of annoyance. He paused mid-throw to look at Dave.
“Why don’t you come with me? You’re not allergic to church or anything, are you?”
“Nah,” Dave shrugged. “Church and me don’t get along; too stuffy. I gotta hang loose.” He glanced up at Mike. “Why do you go anyway? Your parents make you?”
Mike looked thoughtful. “Maybe at first that was it; not anymore, though. Knowing the Lord up close and personal has changed my life, made me feel happy and peaceful. He’s done so much for me – and for you too. And we have fun. In fact, our church youth group is having a pizza party tonight. Come with me.”
“Nah. Give up, Mikey boy.”
“I’ll never give up on you,” said Mike emphatically. “You’re my best friend.”
Dave jumped up and smiled at that, thumping Mike jovially on the back.
“Come on. Let’s head back. This wind is getting to me.”
But Mike was squinting into the setting sun on the lake.
“Hey, Dave, isn’t that Mr. Langley’s Starfish out there?”
Dave looked in the direction Mike was pointing and, sure enough, he could see the blue and white sail of a small sailboat swing crazily in the wind.
“Why would Mr. Langley be out sailing today?” Dave wondered. “The water is freezing.”
“Yeah,” said Mike. “But you know what a sports nut he is.”
Mr. Langley, who was 68, ran a sporting goods store in town. And he hunted, fished and sailed like a much younger man.
Dave was puzzled.
“Looks like there is nobody in the boat. That sail is swinging free.”
“Look, Dave, there’s a head!”
Sure enough, Dave saw a faint pinkish oval bobbing behind the boat.
Mike tore off his coat and shoes.
“Dave, he’s in trouble.”
And before Dave could speak, Mike ran into the water and swam towards the boat. The boy watched numbly as his friend pushed Mr. Langley up onto the boat’s surface. Then slowly the boat moved towards shore. When it stopped 20 yards out, Dave frantically dove in the water.
Upon reaching the boat, he saw Mr. Langley lying over the hull. But Mike was nowhere to be seen. Somehow Dave pushed the little craft to shore and propped Mr. Langley up against the boat. Then he ran soddenly down the beach, screaming wildly for help.
Two fishermen heard him.
“What’s the matter, son?” they said.
“You’ve got to help,” Dave choked out; his lips blue. “Mr. Langley’s down the beach by his boat. And Mike … you’ve got to find my friend.”
A few days later everything had calmed down. Dave was checked out and released from the hospital that same night. Mr. Langley stayed in the hospital for two weeks. He didn’t remember anything about the incident, not even going sailing that afternoon. The police thought a large wave may have knocked him from the boat. The boat had suffered no damage.
But Mike was missing. Though divers checked that area into the night and for the next two days, they found nothing.
“It can’t be. I still can’t believe it,” Dave said to Mike’s dad as they waited for news of Mike in his parents’ living room.
“It was his time, Dave,” murmured Mike’s father in a faint, flat voice, his face ashen.
“But Mike was so strong. And he was a good swimmer.”
Mike’s mother nodded her head in agreement. Mike turned his face from her red-rimmed eyes, and she reached for and held her husband’s hand.
“At least we know he is with the Lord.”
Dave suddenly noticed an open Bible on the table with a balled-up tissue beside it. He knew Mike read the Bible.
It took another seven days for Mike’s body to wash ashore. Dave was glad for Mike’s parents the agonizing wait had ended. Sometimes Lake Michigan held onto its bodies for a year or more if they were caught somewhere underwater.
When it came to rejoining the everyday world, Dave found his life was like a jigsaw puzzle lying on the floor with pieces that just didn’t fit anymore.
How can I avoid memories of Mike? Dave wondered. We did everything together: school, sports and just hanging out. After a few weeks, Dave realized he was at a standstill. His life just couldn’t go on like it had before; he couldn’t live it without his best buddy at his side.
Depressed, Dave began to skip school. Most days it was hard just getting out of bed. Dave’s parents were worried. Dave began to think there was no way he could go on. Then, while lying on his bed staring up at the ceiling, Dave thought of something. He bolted up and began rummaging through his closet.
“There it is,” he murmured, turning the dusty paperback over in his hands. “It” was a small paperback Bible Mike had managed to force on Dave three years ago. Dave had thrown it in the closet and forgotten about it until now. As he thumbed through the pages, the words of Luke 11:9 caught his eye.
“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
Mike had said that the Bible helped him to know Jesus and to find peace and happiness. Though Mike was gone, this part of him remained.
“Jesus,” Mike said softly, “wherever you are, I sure could use some of Mike’s serenity and joy right now. You say if you seek, you will find. Well, here I am. And I’m ready to start seeking now.”
And Dave began to read.
Enchanta (50,000 words) is an imaginative young adult fantasy novel for children eight to thirteen that adults could also enjoy. The story has lots of magic, adventure and surprises.
