From up above came a heavy whirring sound. Jon Ward, Mark's father, was up in a large tree that loomed threateningly over his house. He had hoisted himself high up in its branches and started cutting off the branches with a small two-handed chainsaw.
Mark had decided to bring his friends home after school and the lot of them gawked upwards, watching in amazement as Jon maneuvered skillfully through the branches using nothing but a rope that he had tied around the trees trunk. Whenever it looked like a branch would fall and hit the house it didn't, Jon had tied down the branches he had cut to the trunk of the tree before hand and whenever the branch would give it would swing down, harmlessly smacking against the trunk of the tree before he would lower it safely to the ground.
"Mark!" his father called up to him. "Tie that crimp to the rope so I can pull it up."
Mark, listening to his father, tied what looked like spiked shoe attachments to the rope and Jon pulled them towards himself.
"Go inside." Jon yelled down to his son and friends. "Your mother is preparing food."
Listening to him, the group made their way into the house. Emily, Marks best friend since childhood stared up at Jon for a little while longer before following her friends inside. Emily had always had a small crush on Jon, ever since she was younger, and he saved her from drowning.
When she was younger, the wards had taken her, her mother and baby sister camping to Okanagan lake when her father was away on leave. Mark was so happy that Emily was coming, he was bouncing around their driveway the entire time their parents packed the van full of camping gear.
On the second day of the trip Emily drowned. She loved the water. Even as a kid she felt more alive whenever she was swimming, ignoring her mother's warnings she waded into the water.
It was a cold morning and Emily had just eaten breakfast. Her mother had told her to wait at least 45 minutes after eating before she went swimming, and to always stretch, but she didn't listen. She hadn't swum too far out, only 5, maybe 10 meters away from shore. Emily was standing on the tips of her toes when the pain seared through the right side of her abdomen, grasping at the pain with both her hands Emily tried her best not to hunch over, the water already at her chin.
Slowly tiptoeing her way back to shore the water had receded and was now just below her neck when her right calf seized up and buckled under her, the weight of her body pulling her under the water. It was only for a brief second, but that's all nature needed to fill her lungs with water. Emily's body began to wail, she had lost her footing, her one good foot kept slipping on her large mossy rocks under her.
Everyone was busy with their duties. Mark was helping his father clean the fire pit, his mother was making sure the food was put away safely and Emily's mother was tending to her baby sister. Almost no one heard Emily when her lungs managed to get one full breath of air allowing her to let out one small scream before being muffled by the water.
Jon, turning his head saw Emily trashing about in the water. She wasn't too far out, but clearly, she wasn't able to keep herself afloat. Without missing a beat, he ran into the water ignoring everything, even the expensive cellphone in his pocket. It wasn't that deep for him, only up to his belly, but Emily was a small fragile child.
Scared and out of breath, Emily thought she was going to die. Just when her body was about to give as water rushed in to fill her lungs once more she felt large powerful arms wrap around her waist, pulling her to the surface. The sun was blinding, and she could feel the large arms that were gripping her tightly had forced the water out of her lunged. Coughing and wheezing, her body was desperately struggling to expel the water and quickly replace it with the air that she was having a hard time keeping down.
Making her way through the door of Mark's house Emily's memories were replaced with the disappearing sight of Jon, who was smiling warmly at her, waving as she entered his house.
Jon had been stuck working in that tree since noon, his wife was unable to help him since she was cooking, and his son was more focused on entertaining his friends than the safety of his own father. Jon was hoping that when Mark came home from school he would be able to help him, just like he had help his father when he was growing up, but alas all Mark cared about was his friends.
"Your Dad is so cool." One of his friends had said as they gathered around to watch. "He looks like he's three stories up, I don't think my dad could do this."
"Shouldn't you help him?" Another had asked. 'why, yes. Mark should help me.' Jon had thought to himself when his son answered.
"No, my dad likes doing this kind of work." Mark said flatly. "He always has his nose in some sort of project, if I help him there will be nothing for him to do."
'if I help him.' Jon sighed, 'some sort of project?' Jon could feel his blood boiling. How could such a well-educated child of his be so ignorant? Did he even realise that those projects were the ones that paid for his car, or put him through school? Did he even know that the work he did in architecture was going to put him through college next year? He had half a mind to take away Mark's luxuries, when Jon was growing up he didn't have the internet or access to a cellphone, let a lone a car.
"I think you should help him." Spoke a familiar voice. "What if he does fall?"
Jon knew that soft sweet voice anywhere. Emily had been the first friend Mark had made when they had moved to this town. Living just two doors down, Emily was like family to him, and vice versa. Emily's father had grown up in this town, so when he decided to settle down he moved his family here. Funny enough, the had moved into the house two doors down the same day that Jon and his family had moved in, Jon had introduced himself and the rest was history.
Jon knew that Emily had always had a small crush on him. Ever since she was a kid she would follow him around, asking so many questions about what he was doing and where he was going. It was honestly kind of refreshing. Unlike Mark, Emily clung to his every word. Whenever he warned her about doing something wrong, she would listen. When she was younger, and they would take the kids to the mall, she would always hold his hand, unlike Mark who just ran off. Whenever ever she had a problem that her mother couldn't fix, she would seek out Jon who would immediately solve it, putting him higher and higher on the pedestal she used to adore him.
Sometimes he wished that Emily was his daughter, because at least he would have a kid who would listen to him for once. As Emily grew up, the usual tendencies she had as a kid started to feel more sensual, sitting next to him during movie night, or sitting on his lap for fun even holding his hand started to feel like they were more than just what they were. Immediately, Jon put a stop to it.
Upsetting her, Jon had to explain that if she did those kinds of things now that she was almost an adult people would think that they were a couple, and the words "Only do that with the person you love" stuck in both minds.
Everyone was sitting around the table eating Mrs. Wards famous Macaroni, Cheese and Sausage when Jon came lumbering through kitchen door.
"I hope you saved enough for me." Jon laughed giving his wife a kiss on the cheek before saying hello to everyone.
"Of course, I did." Mrs. Ward laughed along with him, handing him a bowl more than twice the size of the ones everyone else was eating from.
