Fred Aiken Writing

Their plane had engine failure over the Pacific. Daniel and Dustin, brother pilots who decided to visit Bali for the first time in their lives, skillfully landed in the middle of nowhere. But neither brother knew how to swim.

Born in the city, both Daniel and Dustin never learned. They always told themselves they would. But their mom told them that the public pools bred nothing but bacteria and viruses that would kill them. Also, none of the adults in their lives knew how to swim either. So they assumed that it never be a necessary skill.

As they sunk further down in the ocean, the brothers thought back on their lives. They thought about their accomplishments. The highlights. The low-lights. And then they each had the same thought at the same time that caused them to chuckle, though their laughter was muffled by the ocean water filling their lungs. But they both finally got the joke their uncle liked to tell at family gatherings, which was referring to Daniel and Dustin as Diane’s, their mother’s name, double-D’s. No one ever laughed at the joke other than their uncle. Until now.