To celebrate their first year in university, six friends went camping in the wilderness.
After driving for several hours from the nearest town, they discovered a lagoon, nestled beside a cliff ideal for diving. They set up camp in the woods nearby and spent the evening swimming in the warm, clear water. As the sun sunk below the trees, one of the friends went up to the highest point on the cliff and jumped off, while the other 5 watched.
Their laughter slowly subsided as they waited for him to surface. It only took half a minute for them to dive in after their friend. Struggling and sputtering among the reeds in the lagoon, they searched hopelessly for him.
Finally they disentangled themselves and came up, but they never saw their friend again. Heartbroken they returned to the city and passed a strange and lonely year in which their only solace was the knowledge that they would return to the lagoon to honour the anniversary of their friend’s death.
A year passed and they returned to the lagoon as a memorial, but as they approached they saw their friend standing there, head bowed. Excitedly they called to him and began running towards him, but he didn’t turn. As they got closer they called him more desparately, but still to no avail. With joy they ran towards him, but stopped dead when they saw not one but five crosses on the waterside.
If you didn’t understand: The Five passed away when they dove in to find their friend who jumped, “Struggling and sputtering among the reeds in the lagoon.” When they returned to the city, “passed a strange and lonely year.” They return only to realize it wasn’t their friend that died but all five of them.
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by reddit user graduallyaghost
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