I stand on the old boat launch dock,
Directing my dad’s giant Silverado down into the water.
“STOP, you’re good!” I shout up to him.
His camouflage door opens and then slams shut.
We climb below the truck to untie the boat,
trusting it to not roll back onto us.
But the breaks should work, and the ropes should hold.

We carefully wheel down our new boat from the trailer,
and let it slowly slide down into the water.
I watch, and the second it fully hits that water,
I jump into the boat.
Not wanting to be the sucker left on the docks.

Dad comes running down the ramp and into the boat also,
Leaving my not so little brother to jump in at the last minute,
And untie the ropes,
A task that has never seemed so difficult.

We slowly push the helm out deeper,
so we can start it with out hitting the shallow cement below.
My brother begins to untie the ropes that he accidentally super tied together.
A task that has never seemed so difficult.

The motor is acting up, and not starting right away.
So we slowly drift farther and farther to shore.
Dad keeps on trying to start it, unknowing that we are floating off.

“DON’T LET GO OF THAT ROPE!” I shout to my brother,
over and over again.
“OK. Got it” Jake yells back to me.
And at that exact moment I watch as he let go of the rope into the dirty water on the deep end of the dock.
He is fully clothed and not willing to jump in to get it.
“JAKE?!” I scream at my brother.
“Oh, ops?” my brother whimpers.

And we continue to drift away…