It was finally summer and the Bryer family had been looking forward to a vacation in the mountains since last summer. They go to the mountains every year and stay in their family cabin. Mr. Bryer was laid off from his job in August and the family was not sure if they would be able to go to the mountains this summer. His employer called him back to work right before Christmas. Mr. and Mrs. Bryer surprised their two sons Emerson, age 10, and Caleb, age 8 with the good news!

    The morning finally came when it was time to pack the car and head for the mountains! The boys grabbed everything they could think of that they 

may need during this vacation including fishing poles, a life jacket for Caleb, and hiking boots. The car was packed from top to bottom. There was barely any room for the boys! During the ride to the mountains all Emerson and Caleb talked about was heading straight to the boating dock for their first boat ride of the season. Emerson teased Caleb most of the ride about not being able to swim without his life jacket. This always made Caleb angry and ended up in a sibling spat.  

    The car pulled up to the cabin and Mr. and Mrs. Bryer started to unpack the car and put things away in their rooms. Emerson and Caleb went right to their rooms to put on their swim trunks. Mr. Bryer  

usually grabs Caleb's life jacket and goes to check the boat out for damages and then goes on the first boat ride with them, but he was extremely tired from the car ride up. Mr. Bryer had to work the night before and didn't get much rest. The boat has been sitting on the Bryer's property covered with a tarp since their trip last summer. Mr. Bryer told the boys to wait and go on the boat tomorrow when he has had some rest.

    Shortly after Mr. Bryer fell asleep, Emerson and Caleb snuck out to the boat. They pushed it 10 feet into the water and jumped in. The view of the lake was beautiful and the sun was starting to set. About 30 minutes into the ride, Caleb felt his feet getting 

wet. He notice a hole in the floor of the boat. Caleb was panicking because he realized that he didn't have his life jacket with him.  Emerson told Caleb to calm down and that he would swim back to the cabin to get help. It was getting dark quickly and Caleb was also afraid of the dark. He began to cry and call out for his mom.  Emerson jumped in feet first and began to swim towards the cabin. It was dark now and Caleb could no longer see Emerson in the water. It began to get cold and windy and Caleb thought that the boat was going to go under or the wind would blow him off the boat and he would drown before Emerson returned with help.