Routinely its water is filled with kids who swarm together like schools of fish. Perched in a tall white chair, like an eagle scanning prey below, is a lifeguard wearing a red bathing suit, a silver whistle hanging off her neck. Twenty feet from the shore, a floating rope marks where the shallow end stops and the lake floor bottoms into darkness. The shallow end is safe. My friends and I have lots of fun playing in it.
Life is easy and fun in the shallow end.
But I remember the day when the shallow end lost my interest. I was playing Marco Polo with my friends. That's when I noticed, as if for the first time, the dock floating beyond the guard rope, about 25 yards out. This is where the big kids played. They would stretch out, tan their sleek bodies and take turns diving into the water.