I knew I was in trouble when the rain got so hard and gray that I couldn't see the front end of the canoe. That normally wouldn't have made me nervous, except not only was I already sitting in the front of the canoe, but it had been half an hour since we last saw shore.

I didn't bother asking myself how I ever managed to be in such a situation. For one thing, the waves were pounding so hard the answer would be tough to hear. For another thing, I didn't want to look like a chicken. And third, I knew the answer anyway.

Only one person in the world gets me doing things I'd never in a million years do by myself. And he was in the back of the canoe, bailing water more than he was paddling. It makes you wonder how someone like that can be your best friend for so many years.

Trouble was spelled M-I-K-E; it was Mike Andrew's fault we were in the middle of a lake, trying to survive a sudden and vicious thunderstorm.

Earlier, we have been paddling near the shore and Mike had said, "Let's head for the other side. First one to turn around loses."

"You're nuts," I'd said. "It's ten miles away."

Our parents had dropped us off with a few of our friends for the day. We had life jackets and, because they'd spent lots of time teaching us, we knew how to handle canoes, so they weren't worried.

They should have been.

Because Mike had said, "I guess anybody but a wimp could help me paddle to the other side and back in only a few hours."

"Mike --" but I knew pleading would have been useless. I gritted my teeth. Who was he to think I would turn around first?

"Okay," I said. "I bet you chicken out first."

"Not a chance, pal. In fact, let's say that the first one to chicken out owes the other guy a movie with popcorn."

"Hah!"

The journey was on.

It only took until land was out of sight for the rain to begin coming down like bullets.

"Mike," I shouted. "Don't you think we should turn around?"

"Hah, hah!" he laughed crazily into the teeth of the rain. "Are you chicken?"

For once I nearly said yes. Maybe, if we were lucky, we could get back to shore before tipping or filling up with water.

Instead, I acted cool, which can be hard to do with a lot of water running down your back.

"Only nerds are chicken," I shouted. "And I thought maybe you were getting scared already."

"Hah-haah! I'm not going to be the one to turn back. Unless you want to say uncle and lose the bet!"

"Not me!" I yelled and nearly choked on the wave that hit the front of the canoe and threw water into my face. "We both know you'll give up first."

He didn't say anything because I ducked the next wave and it got him right between the eyes. The rain and wind only got worse and both of us kept paddling for the far shore, miles away. I tried not to think about the worst that could happen as my arms got more and more tired and my skin got more and more cold.

Out there in the lake, fighting the winds and waves, my brother Joel should have been the last thing on my mind. But right then I envied him, somewhere back on land, probably in the campground shelter waiting out the rain.

And I remembered something else about Joel.

Once in a restaurant, Mom said she was proud of him because he never cared about other people's opinions.

Can you figure? There I was with the rain stinging my face so hard I couldn't even tell if I was crying and I could only picture Joel praying before the meal in a restaurant. He had solemnly folded his hands and prayed out loud the longest and slowest blessing on the food that you could imagine.

In fact, prayer is about the only time Joel really talks. And this prayer went on and on and I was getting embarrassed, especially because Joel's teddy bear was propped on the table in front of us. I was looking away so people around us wouldn't think he was my brother, and Mom stopped me with sad eyes.

"Ricky," she had said when he finally finished. "Promise me you won't fall into the trap of doing things simply to make other people happy."

At the time, I'd thought she meant saying no to drugs and smoking and stuff, but now I realized she'd been talking about even more than that.

And I wondered exactly who I was making happy by continuing to paddle for the far shore. Especially if it might kill me.

"Mike!" I shouted. "I quit! You win! Let's turn around!"

"What?" he shouted back.

"Uncle! Auntie! Nephew! I give up. Let's go back!"

"Too late!" he shouted. "We must be half way there already! It's shorter to keep going!"

What was he? Nuts? We couldn't possibly be half way there! He was going to kill us!

"No! No! No!" I yelled and ducked another wave. That's impossible! Turn us around!"

"Keep paddling!" he shouted.

We were in big trouble. Mike was in the back, and in a canoe, that's the place for steering. There was nothing I could do in the front to turn us around. And the rain got worse.

"Please, Mike!" I tried again. "Turn us around before it's too late! I'm scared!"

"Keep paddling!" he shouted.

It was the only thing to do besides pray. Which I did too. I prayed and I paddled until my arms fell off, then paddled some more because if we stopped..

Suddenly, I fell forward in the canoe and landed in the water! I didn't even have time to shout. Then I banged my nose into gravel. We had hit land but it was raining so hard we couldn't even see it. I stood up and shouted with joy!

Mike jumped out of the canoe and hauled it onto the beach. Then we ran under some trees and laid there panting. I decided even being wet and cold was fantastic as long as it wasn't being wet and cold out on in the middle of the lake.

When we could both breathe again, I turned to Mike.

"You were right," I said. "We were closer to the other shore. I owe you a movie for chickening out, but I'm so glad to be here I don't even care. Thanks for saving our lives by not listening to me and turning around."

He shrugged. "No problem."

That's when I noticed a pair of little legs coming out from behind a tree

"Aaack!" I nearly fainted. Then I relaxed. It was Joel. Naturally, he was wearing a jacket and didn't look cold at all.

"Did you catch fish?" he asked.

"No," I snapped. "We didn't catch any fish. We were lucky to.."

I stopped. Joel? Joel? We weren't on the far shore? And Mike had been in the back, steering the canoe the whole time out there?

Mike must have known what I was thinking. He stood.

"What am I, crazy?" he said. "If you were steering in the back of the canoe, wouldn't you turn around in a storm like that? But slow enough so that someone else in the front might not notice?"

He saw the look in my eyes and started running.

"And by the way!" he shouted over his shoulder. "Don't worry about buying me a movie!"

By that time my feet were pounding the ground harder than the rain, and Mike was lucky to be staying just out of reach.