Saul's Choice - opening chapter

Chapter 1

“Hey guys,” Saul called to his two friends and younger brother.  “Let's go home and eat. I'm hungry.”

“I’m gonna go one more time,” replied his friend, Andrus.  He took hold of the stick and began the twenty-foot climb to the top of a large cedar stump.  Once he reached the top he paused to look down at his friends.  Andrus then leaned back as far as he could, lifted his feet off the stump, and let the rope swing carry him out high over the gully. 

The gully was one of Saul’s favorite places to go in the summertime.  It was a dry riverbed filled with huge boulders as big as throgs and lined with great cedar and eucalyptus trees.  Saul and his friends would sometimes come here to hunt for lizards, snakes, and skrugs; other times they would bring their slings and have contests to see who could be the first to knock a stone off a big boulder.  But their favorite pastime was swinging on the rope. 

The rope was just that, a rope.  It was tied to a large eucalyptus branch about 50 feet in the air and hung out over the middle of the gully.  At the end of the rope someone had attached a stick.  Saul and his friends would spend hours swinging on the rope.  At first, they swung from the bank, but as they grew braver, they swung from boulders and stumps.  Only Andrus, however, would swing from the cedar stump.  He was the oldest of the group, and the most daring.

“Yippee-cay-aye!!,” Andrus yelled as he swung out over the gully. At the top of his swing, he was more than 30 feet above ground.  A fall to the rocks from that height would most likely kill him. 

“He’s crazy,” thought Saul to himself, and he felt a surge of relief when Andrus gracefully landed again atop the cedar stump.

“I wanna swing,” said Beck, Saul’s younger brother. 

“No! It’s too dangerous,” snapped Saul.  “I told you when we came that I wouldn’t let you swing.  Mom and Dad would kill me.” 

“Let him swing,” said Andrus.  “Your parents won’t know.  It’s not that big of a deal.”

Saul thought for a moment.  His friends would think him a stiff unless he let Beck give it a try.  Andrus and Mathus, brothers, weren't too concerned about following their parents' requests.  They were constantly getting into trouble with their Dad.  Saul was different in that regard.  He always obeyed his parents--in fact, he feared not obeying them.  Not that he was afraid of his parents, but he just couldn't bare to think of being dishonest with them.  He was just a good kid--and he liked it that way.  Of course, being a good kid wasn't always popular with Andrus and Mathus, and he liked Mathus.  What would Mathus think if I don't let Beck swing?  If only Andrus weren't here--he always has to take things one step too far.

Mathus chimed in, "Just let him swing once--he'll be fine.  We'll push him off from the bank to make sure he gets enough momentum to get all the way back."

Saul thought some more.  It wasn’t that dangerous—none of them had never fallen; and Saul had first swung when he was about Beck's age.   

“Okay, but just once. And only from the bank.”

“Cool,” said Beck and he ran over to the side of the gully. 

Saul began to instruct Beck, “Now, hang—“

“I’m not stupid, Saul”, Beck interrupted. “Yippee-cah-eee”, he mimicked Andrus’ yell from moments before, then he lifted his legs and let the rope carry him out over the gully.   

Saul’s heart beat faster. 

“Just hang on and land safely,” he thought.  As Beck began swinging back towards the bank, Saul began to smile.  He remembered how exhilarating his first swing was, a mixture of fear and adrenalin. 

Suddenly, there was a flash of red light, followed by a loud “CRACK”.  He looked up and saw the huge eucalyptus branch fall from the tree.  Still clinging to the stick, Beck fell to the rocks below and the branch came crashing down on top of him.

“Beck!”, Saul screamed.