(This story may not be appropriate for younger children, under 6 years?)
The road through the mountains was a dangerous piece of highway. It had sharp switch-backs, steep winding hills and deadly drop off areas, with a canyon and raging river hundreds of feet below.
Jim navigated the challenging stretch of road effortlessly. Enjoying the back country of British Columbia, he usually traveled on very similar types of roads. None of them had pavement, and had limited signage and safety barriers.
In the passenger seat of Jim’s truck was Kirsten. She was mostly quiet, except for the occasional, “Slow Down!” message to Jim. She appeared to be driving the road in her head, applying brake pressure on the floor when needed and leaning left and right to assist in the driving.
They were both excited and tired, as it had been a long drive. But they still had a long way to go before they got to Tofino, British Columbia.
They had rented a fully equipped luxurious log cabin right on the beach, for a week long holiday. Their three young children had been dropped off at their Grand Parents house for the duration of this trip.
As they began their descent down from the mountains and finally onto level highway, they noticed the sun was setting and large black clouds were coming in from over the ocean. It was mid July, but on the West Coast of Vancouver Island the weather is very unpredictable.
Finally they came to a stop sign at the intersection between Ucluelet and Tofino and Jim pulled into a small rest stop and tourist facility. It was now 10:15 pm and the office was closed but the washrooms were still open. Both he and Kirsten quickly got out of the truck and hurried to use the facilities. As they came out, a little lighter now, the black sky was suddenly lit up by a bright sheet of lightning and then a deafening roar of thunder. They both jumped back into the truck and headed towards Tofino, which was still about a 30 minute drive. The road was freshly paved and had a well-marked centre line. There was no other traffic to be seen.
Heavy rain began to pelt down and then another bolt of lightning lit up the evening sky, giving the appearance as if it was in the middle of a sunny afternoon! Then a deadly roar of thunder and the wind picked up, blowing branches, leaves and debris across the once clean road.
Without being told, Jim slowed down as it was difficult to see in amongst the downpour of rain and debris flying everywhere. The wipers on the truck were quickly dancing back and forth on the windshield, like a Russian Polka dancer who had to urgently pee.
After about 20 minutes Kirsten spotted a sign and small muddy road which led towards the ocean. “This looks like it Jim,” she said. Jim slowed down, lowered his window and squinted through the blowing rain in attempts to see the writing on the sign.
“I think you are right,” he said, as he turned off the main road onto the narrow muddy trail like road. Branches scrapped each side of the truck as it bounced up and down in the deep pot holes and over small branches that had blown onto the road. A huge bolt of lighting again shot down from the black sky right onto the beach, followed by a blast of thunder. The sound of wind, sand and rain was heard hammering on the truck.
“Are we having fun yet?” asked Jim with a smile. The inside of the truck was in darkness but Jim got a glimpse of Kirsten’s face as it glared at him! Jim quickly stopped smiling and looked straight ahead as he quietly drove further down the road.
After another 10 more minutes of being shaken around inside the truck, they came to a clearing right on the beach. They could see and hear the huge waves as they crashed onto the shore. “This is it!” said Jim as he patted Kirsten gently on the head.
Just behind some trees and bush they saw a beautiful, but tiny log cabin. It had a dim light on inside and the curtains were open.
Jim said, “Wait here a minute and I will go inside to check it out.” He jumped out of the truck and hurried to the cabin, unlocked the door and went inside.
A few minutes later he came out and said, “Beautiful place, nice and warm they even have a small fire burning for us. Come on, I will help you in and then carry all our stuff inside.” He opened the door and Kirsten stepped out of the truck directly into a mud hole. Then a gust of wind blew a bunch of sand into her face and mouth. “Welcome to the West Coast Kirsten!” smiled Jim. Again he quickly stopped smiling as Kirsten dug the sand out of her nose and mouth.
After Jim helped Kirsten into the cabin, he carried all their supplies and equipment inside. He then stoked up the fire, put on some relaxing music and got a nice glass of wine for them both. They sat on a soft comfortable sofa in front of a huge window that faced directly at the beach.
Finally they both relaxed. It was now 11:20 pm. The rain had stopped and the clouds were breaking up a bit and the moon was making an appearance over the churning sea. Kirsten then made a little night time snack of good smoked salmon that they had brought, along with chips, pickles, crackers and other various goodies.
The cabin was small but solidly built out of sturdy west coast cedar logs. It had a tiny kitchen, bathroom and one bedroom. The sitting area was comfortable, located next to a rock fireplace. Shortly after midnight they both washed up and headed for bed. It had been a very long adventurous day and night for each of them.
Jim said, “Good Night. Our fun holiday can begin tomorrow. We are here now, unpacked and will be all rested in the morning.” Kirsten replied, “Good night. Thanks for getting us here safely.”
Just before Jim drifted off to sleep he said, “Well, we had it all tonight; treacherous mountain roads, thunder, lightning, rain, wind, blowing sand, and muddy roads. What else could there be?” Then he turned over and fell asleep.
About an hour later, Kirsten was awoken by a load roar and a slight vibration on the walls of the cabin. She turned over, swatted Jim with a pillow and said, “Hey, quit snoring so loud. You are making the cabin shake!” Jim rolled over and muttered, “Sorry,” and went back to sleep.
A few minutes later the weird roar and vibrations started again. Kirsten now got a little worried as she was about to throw another pillow at Jim, but realized that he was not snoring or making any weird noises.
She glanced out the window and up to the sky. It was a beautiful clear evening with twinkling stars and bright moon light. There was no wind blowing. She thought to herself, that roar couldn’t be thunder, but what was it? The sound got louder and the cabin began to shake even more. It was like something she had never heard before.
It was like a combination of a jet engine revving up high, thunder and a tornado vortex! She jumped out of bed and gazed out to the ocean. Everything was totally calm. There were no waves, the ocean seemed perfectly calm but it seemed to be receding out across the sand.
Then she heard a siren! A fire she thought. Maybe the volunteer fire department is attending a fire or accident somewhere around here? The siren kept blaring for a few minutes, stopped, and then came back on again, not like a normal fire siren. The sound also woke Jim and he too got up and looked out the window towards the ocean. Then that loud death defying roar came back even louder and the cabin shook violently!
“I think it is an earthquake,” shouted Kirsten. They both hugged each other and stood safely in the door frame at the entry to the bathroom. From their vantage point they could still look out towards the ocean and sand, which was still lit up by the moonlight, but they couldn’t see any water now.
“Something weird is happening,” said Jim. Suddenly it became pitch black, the moonlight was gone and the cabin continued to shake. Dishes fell and smashed on the floor, cupboards opened and the contents scattered all over the place.
The roar was deafening and heart wrenching. Jim looked out and got a glimpse of a wall of water coming in from the sea. It was about 50′ high and full of sea weed, logs and other debris. It was coming straight for the cabin.
“It’s a Tsunami! Quick! Get into the bathroom and lock the door. It is our only chance,” yelled Jim in a frightened voice. Jim remembered that the bathroom was the only room that didn’t have massive view windows, which would surely break if hammered by devastating water, wind and debris. No sooner had Jim and Kirsten got into the bathroom, closed and locked the door, when the big wave hit!
Kirsten screamed and Jim yelled,” Hang on tight and protect your head!”
The force of the wave knocked the little cabin off its foundation and pushed it far back into the woods. All the windows had broken and water poured inside and swept out most of the contents.
The bathroom was still somewhat secure and dry.
As a result of the direct hit on the cabin, both Jim and Kirsten were thrown violently backwards and knocked unconscious against the sink and edge of the bath tub.
About 10 minutes later the wall of water began to retreat back into the ocean, taking everything with it that was in its path, including the little cabin with Kirsten and Jim still in it. Then heavy rain began and the wind picked up. The ocean was littered with vehicles, wrecked boats, house parts and every kind of debris you could imagine, including the lifeless bodies both human and animal.
It was now 6:00 am, about 4 hours after the big tsunami hit their cabin and sucked it back far into the ocean currents, miles from shore. It was very quiet, except for the sound of small waves lapping at the sides of the floating log raft that had a partial roof, which used to be a beautiful little cabin.
Miraculously both Jim and Kirsten survived the giant wave and devastation, although they both lay semi conscience on the bathroom floor. Jim was first awoken by water coming in under the bathroom door, water that had been splashed into the cabin from outside. He rubbed his sore head, opened the bathroom door and was astonished by what he saw. He then checked Kirsten and gently wiped a little blood away from the back of her head and patted her face with a wet towel.
She too awoke with a headache and bruised head. They both peered out the bathroom door. The cabin had been torn apart by the wave and was now a log raft with a sheltered bathroom.
Everything else was gone, including all their food, supplies, cell phones and most of the furniture, except for a mattress in the bedroom.
The only thing remaining in the kitchen was the stainless steel sink hanging by a pipe.
“Holy Crap! Where the heck are we Jim?” asked Kirsten. “I don’t know for sure but miles out to sea somewhere. I can’t see land anywhere, but I guess we should be grateful we are alive and somewhat safe for now,” said Jim. Then they both came out of the bathroom and walked around on their newly renovated floating raft home.
“Thank goodness for good old West Coast Cedar Logs, they stayed together fairly well and will float high in the water,” said Jim.
“I’m glad you suggested hiding out in the bathroom before the wave hit, or else we too would have been tossed around and then thrown outside somewhere, probably not in one piece. I guess the siren I heard just prior to the big wave was the Tsunami Warning Siren, not the volunteer fire department!” remarked Kirsten.
Jim then said, “Well guess we don’t have much choice here. Let’s gather up everything we have left and try to make this raft as comfortable as possible until we are rescued. It appears the only things we have remaining is what was in the bathroom.”
Together they built a little sun shelter, a place to lay down where the bedroom once was and set up a little sitting area where the kitchen used to be. Jim managed to remove the bathtub and drag it out to an open area to collect rain water for drinking.
The next problem was food. Then Jim remembered last night he had snuck a big chocolate bar into the bathroom to eat when Kirsten wasn’t looking, but now he must share it and ration it carefully until they could find another source of food.
“I guess we should rig up some kind of signalling device in case we spot a boat or airplane,” said Jim. “Maybe we could use part of the mirror in the bathroom to reflect the sun?” said Kirsten.
“Good idea,” answered Jim as he went into the bathroom and attempted to remove it from the damaged wall. “I might be able to make some kind of stove or fire pit out of the remaining steel sink in the kitchen area. We could use it for cooking if we catch any food and also as a signal fire if we could figure out how to light a fire without matches. We’ve got lots of good cedar wood to burn.” remarked Jim.
By now it was getting late in the afternoon and starting to cool down. The wind picked up again. They both had a bite of Jim’s chocolate bar and laid down to rest in the bathroom area.
Jim laid where the bath tub used to be and Kirsten on the floor beneath the sink. There were a few towels and extra blankets that were stored in the bathroom closet that they used to cover themselves up with to keep warm. Soon it was dark and they both drifted off to sleep. It gives “drifting off to sleep” a whole new practical meaning, thought Kirsten, just before she too fell fast asleep?
The next morning they both woke up early as the sun was shining brightly on their craft. It was a beautiful clear day, hardly any wind and the ocean was calm. The bad news was now they had no drinking water or other food to eat.
Jim checked his make-shift rain water tub, but it was dry. They both were starting to feel a little weak now with no food or drink. Kirsten suggested that she might be able to make an S O S sign if she cut up one of the white towels and then Jim could lay it on the roof of their craft to alert any aircraft.
Jim said he would attempt to make a fishing line out of some electrical wiring that remained on the craft. He would also try and fashion a fish hook out of a bed spring from the mattress that was still onboard. Both he and Kirsten quietly worked on their projects as their craft slowly drifted in the dark blue ocean.
A few hours later Kirsten’s cutting creation was finished and Jim secured it to the roof of the raft. His fishing line was just about finished too. Kirsten was feeling a little dizzy and faint so she laid down to rest in the shade. Jim went into the bathroom and put a little toothpaste on his homemade hook and gently lowered it into the water. He thought to himself, if I do catch anything, at least it will have clean teeth.
After an hour or so of fishing and trying different bait, including toothpaste, silver candy wrapper, a cough candy and coloured string, he gave up the operation. He was also now feeling somewhat tired. Jim found a piece of shade and he too laid back and rested.
Both Kirsten and Jim were now sleeping and did so into the late afternoon. Suddenly Kirsten yelled, “We are here, over here! Help! Help!”
She jumped up, looked to the sky and yelled to Jim, “It’s Hannah, your cousin, flying in her bed. She came to rescue us!”
Jim immediately jumped up and gazed upward. “Sit down Kirsten, you are dreaming. That is a bird of some kind circling high above us.”
Kirsten then said, “I guess I was dreaming. Hannah’s bed really doesn’t fly, does it?”
“Not that I know of,” said Jim. Just then the bird overhead came down to the raft, grabbed the pack of cough candies that Jim was using for bait and flew off.
“Great, now that is gone, at least it was some energy to chew on.” remarked Kirsten. By now the sun was setting and it was a beautiful evening except the wind was getting pretty gusty. Jim and Kirsten made their way into the bathroom; each chewed on a little toothpaste for dinner and then fell asleep.
The next day the morning started off overcast and a slight mist over the ocean. Jim got up and checked his water tub. “Yes,” he yelled. There was about an inch of fresh rain water in the bottom. He found a cup from the bathroom scooped some up. He had a sip and refilled the cup and took it to Kirsten.
“I never thought water could taste so good,” said Kirsten with a big yawn. Jim then covered the remaining water to keep it from evaporating in the sun. He would uncover it again in the evening to catch any more rain during the night.
Then Jim spotted the cough candy thief circling high above the raft. “I have an idea Kirsten, please get me the toothpaste.” said Jim. Jim thought, if I can’t catch anything in the water maybe I will try and catch something out of the water.
He went to the end of the raft where he had left the cough candies yesterday. He smeared a bunch of tooth paste on the log and slid his fish hook inside the paste hiding it. He then strung the line along the deck and into the bathroom. Both Kirsten and Jim hid in the bathroom and waited. The big white bird circled lower and lower. Then it landed next to the toothpaste.
The bird looked around with curiosity. It then took a big bite of the paste and at the same time Jim yanked the line hooking the bird’s mouth. It tried to fly away but Jim pulled hard and pulled the bird to the floor. He then stomped hard on its head, and then wrapped the wire line tightly around its neck. A few seconds later the bird was dead.
“Teach you for stealing our cough candies,” said Jim. Then he turned to Kirsten with a smile and said, “Your dinner dear.” Kirsten wasn’t smiling, but realized that they had to eat something soon as their energy was fading fast.
Over the next few hours Jim used his shaving razor blade to skin and cut up the bird. He then sliced some small pieces of cedar for kindling in hopes of getting a fire going to roast his kill.
He went into the bathroom and took the batteries out of Kirsten’s electric tooth brush and joined them together in line with the battery he found inside a damaged smoke detector that was hanging just outside the bathroom door. He shorted the batteries out underneath the tiny pieces of dry cedar and they began to heat up.
A few minutes later smoke began appearing and Jim blew gently onto the pile of cedar shavings. Kirsten threw a few pieces of tissue on the pile too. Then like magic, Poof! A flame appeared and the wood started burning in the sink.
Both he and Kirsten hugged each other knowing they would be dining on real food tonight. They also now will have a signal fire to alert any aircraft or boats in the vicinity. A few hours later the fire burned down to nice hot coals and Jim laid a piece of sheet metal, he found in the bathroom vent window, across the top of the sink and laid the pieces of the bird on top to cook.
The sun was now beginning to set. Kirsten and Jim ate their fried bird treat and sipped a little of their water. It wasn’t quite a gourmet dinner but tasted fairly good and restored some of their energy.
The wind picked up fairly strong now and the raft began to rock.
Jim laid a bigger piece of wood on the fire hoping it would smoulder all night and be available for an instant fire if needed the next day. They both snuggled into their sleeping quarters and fell into a deep sleep, not knowing what tomorrow would bring.
During the night the raft rocked violently in the gusty wind, occasionally waking up Jim and Kirsten. Towards morning though, the wind subsided and all was quiet once more. At about 5:30 am both of them were woken by the sound of something hitting up against the side of the raft. They both had a big yawn and climbed out of their bathroom-bedroom to take a look.
“Yikes!” said Jim, as he gazed out onto a sea of debris and garbage. Then Kirsten said, “All this debris must have come from Tofino after the tsunami hit. It washed all this stuff back into the ocean, the same way we got washed out here.”
Jim reached up and unhooked the shower curtain rod and used it as a pike pole to examine some of the debris. “Hey, look! There is some floating fruit; oranges and a watermelon,” yelled Kirsten. “I will see if I can reach it and pull it in,” said Jim. He reached out and splashed the pole and finally managed to retrieve a couple of oranges and the big watermelon.
“This food must have come from a grocery store in Tofino that was hit by the wave,” explained Jim.
Kirsten scooped in the fruit and put it in the bathtub which still had a little water in it to keep everything cool.
“Seeing as our water is almost gone, this fruit will help with our food supply and hydration,” she said. Both he and Kirsten sat down and enjoyed a slightly salty orange.
Then Kirsten spotted a few potatoes, beets and other vegetables floating nearby. Jim continued scooping as much stuff up as he could. It was like shopping without a credit card at a floating grocery store.
Then Jim noticed some clothing in the water. “Looks like the general store also got hit hard, as there is an assortment of clothes floating out there too. A pair of pants, a coat, a dress, and pyjamas,” Jim said with an excited voice. “Men’s wear, ladies wear, underwear,” Jim giggled. Kirsten glared at him with her unmistakable look. His smiling face quickly turned serious and it became quiet.
For the next few hours they both fished around and poked at the various items in the water to see if they could salvage anything more of value to eat or help with their rescue.
It was now late afternoon and the wind was becoming brisk again and began pushing the raft a little quicker now through the debris field. Then Jim noticed a large blanket or tarp in the water. He thought it would be good to use as a sail or possible shade cover.
He reached out to pull it in towards the raft but the pole got tangled in material so Jim pulled harder. Suddenly there was a big gust of wind and it made the raft move faster but the large bulky material would not budge. The raft rocked violently to the left and Jim slipped on the wet wood and fell into the water in amongst other debris. He went underwater briefly but soon surfaced.
The raft was slowly floating away from him and he attempted to swim back towards it, but his foot got tangled in the blanket and he couldn’t move.
There was no way to stop the raft from moving away and no way for Jim to catch up to the raft. The raft was now just about out of the debris field and once out it would surely pick up speed and leave Jim alone stuck in the floating junk.
Kirsten panicked briefly after seeing Jim fall in and getting stuck in the submerged blanket. Then she remembered the fishing line Jim made for fishing and catching the bird. She quickly untangled the line out as far as it would go, rolled it up loosely and tossed it as hard as she could towards where Jim was stuck in the water.
The line just managed to land about a foot in front of Jim. He made a desperate leap for it but missed it. It was laying on top of the water now about 18″out of his grasp and getting further away. Kirsten hurried into the bathroom and got a large towel that she soaked in ocean water.
She quickly pulled in the fishing line, connected one end of the wet towel to the fishing hook securely, and called to Jim to try and catch the towel. With all her might she threw the towel and line as far as she could towards Jim, who now is beginning to sink under the water because of the heavy blanket wrapped around his legs.
The towel landed right on Jim’s head. He reached up and grabbed on tightly to the towel with both hands. For a moment the raft stopped moving and the line and towel became very tight. Then the sound of a ripping towel was heard.
Oh no thought Kirsten, the towel is coming apart! The ripping sound stopped when it got down to the bottom double sewed seam.
Jim’s face was barely above the water and he was choking as a few waves went over his head.
Then another gust of wind came and pulled the line and towel tighter yet. Kirsten was holding the other end of the line as tight as she could but her hands were getting cut up and beginning to bleed.
All of a sudden the wind changed direction and the line went slack, as did the blanket that was pulling Jim down under the water. Kirsten pulled hard and yelled to Jim, “Hold on tight and kick hard with your legs.”
Jim kicked frantically. The blanket floated off him and sank out of sight into the depths of the dark ocean. Kirsten continued to pull hard and finally she managed to drag Jim back to the safety of the raft. She helped him to get back on board.
“Thank You Kirsten,” said Jim as he laid in a semi shock condition on the floor of the raft. Kirsten brought him some orange juice and a slice of watermelon as he was still shaking. Kirsten, now very much relieved that Jim was okay, turned to him and said with a grin, “Are we having fun yet?” Jim just smiled and took a bite of his watermelon.
Soon the raft left the debris field and was once again out in open water. Then a gust of wind came up and it was another clear windy night. They both went to bed early as they were physically and mentally exhausted after their harrowing experience.
The next day was a very quiet calm morning with the sun just beginning to rise. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and ocean was almost perfectly flat. The sun shone through a hole in the bathroom where the fan once was. Both Kirsten and Jim tried to stretch the stiffness out of their bodies that had developed over the past few days from sleeping in cramped quarters on the cedar wood floor.
Suddenly they heard the loud roar of a speed boat and people yelling! Kirsten jumped up to look and said to Jim, “Yippee, we are rescued!” Jim then got up and looked too.
He said,” I don’t like the looks of that boat or the people on it, they could be Drug Smugglers.” The speeding boat was about a half kilometre away, going in circles with men laughing and drinking out of large jugs.
“What should we do Jim?” asked Kirsten. “I am not sure yet, let’s not let them see us right now,” said Jim. They both hid in the bathroom and peered out a small crack in the door and watched the boat. Then the boat headed straight for the raft at a high rate of speed and stopped suddenly right up against it causing a big wave to splash over the entire raft.
“Ah, there is nothing of value here, nothing worth taking on this old raft, lets burn it!” said one of the crew members on the boat. Seconds later someone tossed a few lit flares onto the raft and the dry cedar logs and siding immediately caught fire. The boat then sped away but one of the crew members was heard to say, “Lets have a little target practice.”
The bathroom soon began to fill with smoke. Jim then said, “Quick, let’s get into the bathtub for protection, I think they are going to be shooting at the raft. Keep your head down!”
In the cover of the smoke they jumped into the bathtub to hide. It was a little crowded as it still had a little fruit, water and towels in it. Seconds later they heard the sound of gun fire. Bullets were hitting the raft and then loud deafening dings were heard as they dented the outside of the bathtub.
The shooting continued for about 10 minutes. The entire raft now was fully engulfed in flames. Large cedar logs now were beginning to separate and drift off into the ocean as they burned. Finally the boat sped away with the crew laughing and shooting now up in the air.
It was getting very hot on the deck of the raft and it was listing at a steep angle. Jim and Kirsten were still in the tub when suddenly it slipped off the raft and into the water. “Oh, oh,” said Kirsten. “Amazing, it floats, just don’t pull out the plug,” said Jim.
They both now poked their heads up from the tub and watched as their raft burned to the water line and logs drift away. “I guess this is our new home Kirsten,” said Jim as he leaned over the edge of the tub and counted the bullet indentations on the side.
“Well, lean back and enjoy the cruise. I guess we have enough water and food for a few days, but after that, let’s hope we are rescued or find land somewhere,” said Jim.
“Do you have any idea where we are?” inquired Kirsten.
“Not really,” he replied. “We have been drifting for quite a few days now.
When the tsunami pulled us out, it probably screwed up the natural currents temporarily so we could even be on the east side of Vancouver Island now.”
Later in the afternoon it became quite hot and they erected a sun shade out of one of the towels and a piece of drift wood they found floating nearby. Both then fell asleep in the warm sea breeze.
Over the next few days they continued to drift. They kept out of the bright sun the best they could, tried to stay hydrated with their limited fresh water and nourished themselves with the last remaining bit of food.
On the 4th day in the tub they were out of food and water and both were becoming delirious and dehydrated.
Then on the 6th day Jim squinted over the edge of the tub and saw land! He tried to scream but his throat was so parched and dry he could barely talk. He reached over and shook Kirsten who was sleeping and almost unconscious.
“Land, land, land, Kirsten, look!” he mumbled. Kirsten slowly moved her head up and opened one eye and gazed towards the land.
“Oh good, hope there is a mall there. I need some new clothes!” whispered Kirsten, as she fell back into a semi conscience state, slipping deeper in the tub.
Suddenly they were surrounded by speeding bathtubs of all colours and sizes and larger boats. There must have been at least 60 tubs and it appears they were in some sort of a race. Jim looked up and thought he was hallucinating or dreaming? He shook Kirsten again and she finally woke up.
Then Jim heard a helicopter overhead on a loud hailer shout, “The Great Nanaimo International Bathtub Race is now on its final leg and approaching the finish line.”
Jim realized that they had drifted all the way to Nanaimo, British Columbia, and got caught up in its annual bathtub race. By now all the other tubs had passed them and were going in to shore to complete the race and run up to ring the Finish line Bell at Departure Bay.
Just then a big boat pulled along side Jim and Kirsten’s tub. An older fellow dressed like a pirate, leaned over the rail of his boat and said, “Having trouble there mate? Loose your motor? Need a tow into shore?”
Jim with a big smile, nodded his head and tried to say yes, but he still couldn’t talk. Before he knew it, a line was attached to the front of their tub and they were being pulled into shore near the finish line of the bathtub race.
Once they landed on shore Kirsten stirred and looked out. She whispered, “Where the heck are we?”
“We are at the finish line of the bathtub race in Nanaimo, at Departure Bay,” said Jim.
Within a couple of minutes two paramedics arrived to check on Jim and Kirsten as the fellow who towed them to shore thought they may need medical attention. They were both given a drink of water and a power bar to chew on and helped out of their tub.
They could barely walk but managed to stagger up towards the Finish Line Bell with the assistance of the paramedics. The announcer then broadcasted, “And the Winners of the Most Original Bathtub are Kirsten and Jim!” The crowd went wild, cheering and clapping as Jim rang the bell and both he and Kirsten were handed a Big Beautiful Trophy.
Kirsten and Jim waved to the crowd as they stepped down from the stage. Jim turned to Kirsten and said, “Are we having fun yet?” Kirsten gave Jim a big hug and said, “Yup!”
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Message to my Readers
Please visit
www.mountaindwellertunesandtales.com for more great stories, songs and videos.
Thank You for reading my books.
Sincerely,
Steve D. W. Romanik
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