The River

This is my descriptive paper I wrote for Comp 1. I think this is the most updated version I have but it may not be.  So beware, there may be a few errors. :)  However, this is my favorite paper and I hope you like it as much as I do.

The River

            Everybody has a favorite place to sit and think.  Mine is the river.  In the evening on a warm spring day I’ll set myself on one of the trees overhanging the river and allow myself to sink into the mood of my surroundings.  An occasional hawk cry or owl hoot will add the background music, paired with the gentle rippling sound of water flowing over rocks.  Here I am far away from the shouts of my parents and siblings, immersed in my own world that flows as gently as the river beneath me.  Eventually I will give in, remove my shoes, and slip my feet into the cool, clear water.  Memories of my childhood, and splashing in this very river, will make a chill of joy run through my body.  The water will tickle my toes and I will laugh like a child, a child delighted with the beauty of simplicity and peace. 

Sometimes I will close my eyes and just listen to the wind in the massive oaks above me.  Other times I will watch my surroundings, taking in the green of the grass and the blueness of the sky.  A splash of water around the bend never fails to startle me, though I know it is only a fish.  When I stare into the river it is so clear I can see the rocks at the bottom.  If I am lucky, I will also see tadpoles, minnows, or crawdads.  Fear of the crawdads vicious pinchers will cause me to raise my feet from the water.  Experience has taught me.

Slowly, so as not to overbalance, I will lay back on the log, staring in to the sky.  If it is one of those rare, perfect days, it will be an ideal sky blue, there will be a few clouds scattered about, and the warm sun will slowly be making its colorful descent from the heavens. Her I will sigh; my mind will drop, descending with the sun.  My eyelids will droop shut and my hand will drop limply into the river. 

I will awake a couple hours later to a whole new world, but one I love equally as much as the one I fell asleep to.  The breeze will have cooled as well as quickened.  The branches of the trees will make dark waving silhouettes against the gray sky.  Eeriness will have been added to the atmosphere, and an owl hoot will have more sinister tones.  The sounds of crickets and frogs cause shudders to run up my spin, I find it so easy to scare myself.  Thunder will break the spectral silence and lightning will capture my gaze.  An angry torrent of rain will rouse me off of the tree.  It will be time to go home, but I will always be back again to taste the beauty of the peace and simplicity of the river.

Lois Johnson, avid writer, tea drinker, and reader but first and foremost, avid Christian.