Emmanuel's Visit: Day 3

The third day I had with Emmanuel was spent hiking at Tangerine Falls. We arrived at 10:00am so we could avoid the crowds. The beginning of the trail was flat and the rocks crumbled beneath my feet. The air was fresh and brought a cool breeze. Emmanuel and I hummed along to the croaking frogs to distract from the inclining path. The trail went with an up and down pattern, so Emmanuel and I both raced on the curved path with our arms out wide. The roller-coaster like track ended with a steep up hill. Boulders loomed from around the corner and I knew Emmanuel might have trouble climbing them with his leg, but

apparently I took him for granted. He used the corner    of his prosthetic to wedge in a crack in the rock and  hoisted himself up. I followed and we continued on our way. Two our right we spotted a couple pools so Emmanuel suggested we take a dip. Since Emmanuel was my guest  I catered to his desires. As I peered into the spooky, moss filled pond, Emmanuel bravely plummeted into his death. A little worried and frantic I searched the brinks of the pool. "Come in!"Emmanuel hollered, splashing chilling water in my face. Relieved, I unexpectedly jumped in next to him. The cold water flowed throughout my body and took my breath away. My feet brushed the muddy ground and I launched through the air. The calmness of the pool rippled and sent waves in Emmanuel's face. We both screamed and bounced with the current. Numbness quickly overcame our bodies. There were no towels, or a change of dry clothes to look forward to, just more hiking. We gathered our stuff and followed the path as we dragged a trail of water behind us. Before we knew it, the bottom of Tangerine Falls was in view. Emmanuel and I hugged the boulders trying to avoid the thought of death inviting us to take one false step and slip. We both made it across alive and sat in on a leveled section of the rock and ate lunch. The waterfall next to us shimmered and covered our bodies in mist. The trail descended the whole way back so it took only about 10 minutes. Exhausted, my mom picked us up and we drove home soaked and thankful for a warm shower awaiting us at home.