Read In Limbo for Free Online Page A

moment I saw a person in camouflage fatigues holding what seemed like a gun of some sort.  But, when I raised my hand to wave, the figure was gone.  I was baffled.
     
                  “Hey honey, I think I just saw one of the little green men Sam talked about this morning.”
     
                  But Tom was unimpressed, “Babydoll, the river and the heat are playing tricks on you, probably was just an ugly tree stump.”
     
                  “A tree stump with a gun and wearing a helmet?”  
     
                  Tom just laughed in response.  “Oh, come on now, babe.  You probably did see one of those guys, and now he's all distraught because his camouflage did not work.  You, a mere mortal, spotted him and waved at him.  His life won't be the same!”
     
                  Oh well, I thought, I like it when my husband is impressed with my observations.  I was still certain that what I saw had been a person.  Maybe Tom was right and the military didn't like it when a mere mortal could see them in camouflage?  I couldn't answer that, and it really didn't matter to me anyway.  I was relaxing and I was not about to let some snob in a green suit ruin this weekend for me.
     
                  I started looking for the dragonflies.  I may not like them, but they are impressive to watch.  This afternoon there were none.  Strange, I thought.  Did they all siesta at the same time? 
     
                  We must have passed some tributaries, as the river had gotten wider.  Behind me, Tom was humming some tune I did not recognize, and it sounded way off key.  Tom can't carry a tune, you know.  But humming is always an indicator that he is content with life at the moment.  So I pulled my hat down over my ears, leaned back, and closed my eyes for a while
     
                  I must have dozed off a little because I suddenly realized that the rocking motion of the canoe had changed.  I opened my eyes and looked around.  We were in a section of shallow, fast moving water.  Not white water, just fast moving shallow stuff, sometimes so shallow the bottom of the canoe scraped across the gravel. I sat upright and almost tipped us over. 
     
                  “What happened?”
     
                  “Whoa,” Tom shouted, “Just sit tight; we'll be through this stuff in a minute.”
    I didn't dare turn to ask him if he needed help, I didn't dare do anything, I just held on to the sides of the canoe and hoped he was doing as good a job as he thought.  Well, Tom had been right, of course.  A few minutes later the river widened and once again became the gentle, slow-moving body of water I had gotten used to.  Up ahead I could see Sam.  He was against the left bank.
     
                  “What's Sam doing?”
     
     
                  “I don't know.  Probably just waiting for us.  Maybe he had to pee.”
     
                  “He wouldn't stop for that; he'd just pee in the water.”
     
                  Tom was cracking up. “While he's paddling?  He isn't that well endowed.”
     
                  I grabbed a paddle and was just beginning to dip it into the water, when I heard Sandy's shrill laughter from behind.
     
                  “Out of my way slowpokes.” 
     
                  That's all it took!  We paddled furiously.  There is no way I would let Sandy and Ralph beat us.  We reached Sam's canoe first, but just barely. 
     
                  Sam had tied up to a thick branch, leaned back against it and had his pipe in his hand.  Marty had her oversized sunglasses on and the big yellow hat.  She seemed to be awake, but when I looked closer I could clearly see that her face was badly sunburned.  She looked puffy, red and uncomfortable.
     
                  “Our big rock is just up