Chapter 4

Tom wiped the sleep from his eyes and glanced at his crumbled piece of paper as the bus

rolled into Harrisburg.

"Sign ups - 10:00 A.M. - Riverview Pavilion - City Island"

"City Island?" he thought, "Pennsylvania doesn't border the ocean. This must be on the

Susquehanna River."

It didn't take long for Tom to figure out where to go. As far as the eye could see - on street

corners, outside of Starbucks, loitering on the stairs of state buildings - were college

students wearing neon green E.T. tee-shirts.

"This is insane," thought Tom. "They must have invited every college in the area."

Tom stopped the first person he saw. A hot redheaded chick.

"Hey, how do I get to City Island?"

She pointed to the sky. "It's up there, man."

Sure enough, floating about 20 or so feet above the Susquehanna River was a large island.

"Well, gee," Tom said innocently, "how do I get up there?"

"There's a ladder on the other side. Good luck, there's a huge line."

It took about 20 minutes of walking, and close to a dozen people trying to bum cigarettes, before

Tom could reach the other side of the island. A rickety, wooden, fold down ladder was swaying

back and forth with people climbing.

"Ah crap," thought Tom. "I don't know if I can do this. Maybe this was a bad idea."

Tom always had a mild fear of heights. Nevertheless, he waited in the line to get on the

ladder. And wouldn't you know it, standing right in from of him was this guy from one of his

English classes.

"Hey, do you go to Penn State?"

"Yeah! We had English together last semester, right?"

"Yeah, heh, that class was a joke."

"Oh I know. I didn't even download the book."

"Heh, yeah."

The line moved about 3 people.

"This island thing is pretty wild, huh?" Tom asked, keeping the conversation going.

"Yeah, it's crazy. I heard it's some sort of magnetic pull or something. Like the Bermuda

Triangle."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah this redhead was telling me."

"You mean the smoking hot one hanging out by the bus stop?"

"YEAH!"

The two burst into laughter. Tom didn't feel as nervous now about climbing up the ladder.

"So what's your name, man?" Tom asked.

"Chris."

"My name’s Tom."

They shook hands.

"I don't know about climbing this ladder, Tom," Chris said wryly, "I hope we don't fall off."

"Yeah," Tom chuckled nervously, "that would really bite."

Finally it came to their turn. A chunky, dark haired man with a clipboard instructed them.

"Ok fellas. When the person in front of you moves up a rung, then you move up a rung. Keep a good

rhythm, hold on tight, and don't look down."

Chris climbed on, then Tom, then the person behind Tom. The ladder swayed, but they did as they

were told and got up to the island. Chris was waiting with a high five for Tom.

"Awesome man! We passed the first test!"

The two new friends walked over to the sign up table. A pretty girl was sitting there smiling.

"Hey guys! You made it up the ladder, huh?"

The two nodded.

"Well your packets are over there. We'll be meeting again at noon outside of the capital building.

Until then you can explore the city, do whatever you want. What else…right! What size tee-shirts are

you guys?"

"Large," said Tom.

"XL," said Chris.

She tossed them two neon green shirts. Chris immediately took his shirt off and put his new

shirt on. Tom was a bit shy and just held onto his.

"Go ahead, Tom. Put your shirt on," Chris insisted.

As fast as he could Tom took his old shirt off and put his new one on, trying to hide his body.

"That a-boy, Tommy!" Chris said, patting him on the back.

"Just one more thing," Tom asked, his face still red. "How do we get back down?"

The girl at the table put a huge smile on her face. "Why the slide of course! Hope you boys

brought your bathing suits!"

Tom and Chris just looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. This is going be an

interesting summer indeed!