The chirps of birds and a feeling of warmth on her back was Kate’s alarm clock.
She lifted her head, and dirt fell from her cheek. She was back at the campsite on Red Squirrel Lake. It was late afternoon. Everything was right where she left it. The tent and motorboat were there, but something else was in the water waiting for her. It was Ihaan’s canoe.
Soon after he returned to the Afterlife, he decided to pay the favor of the Spirits forward by giving her a gift of her own.
Ranger Kate circled the canoe a few times under the late afternoon sun and ran her palm across its smooth, white bark. She wanted to try it out but was still a little nervous.
Kate thought back to all the times she canoed before the accident. She always had so much fun. Should she try it again? Wouldn’t it be rude not to use a gift the Spirits of the Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park gave her themselves?
After a few minutes, Kate decided to muster up all her courage and love for canoeing she had been hiding for ten years. Ihaan was where he belonged. She finally had the opportunity to see him again, all grown up. That was all that mattered. To thank him for the incredible 24-Hour Challenge, she had to give canoeing a go.
Ranger Kate picked up the paddle and pushed it into Red Squirrel Lake’s still water. It was so beautiful—she found it hard to believe she and Ihaan had gone up against a storm earlier.
Kate settled down in the canoe’s stern. She put the paddle in the water and steered the canoe forward.
For five minutes, she shivered like a madman, but then she started to get used to the feeling of canoeing again. Was that weird? Kate enjoyed herself. The further she paddled, the more she found herself laughing.
A few loons took off in flight, but Kate was having too much fun to notice them. She was not just a ranger but a mother. She was the mother of the Ghost of Ontario.
58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmO0xIapF4
Final Word Count: 6,785
ns 18.68.41.146da2
