Summer of '71 Chapter 10

So I'm swimming across this lake, and it's a lot farther to this thing floating in the water than I thought, so my arms are getting tired. I'm getting closer to it, but I still can't make out what it is.
It's round and dark, and it sure looks like moss of some kind in strands floating off of it.
My arms are tired, and I'm tired, but I'm determined to see what it is. Good thing the water isn't very cold or else I'd never have made it this far. They're calling out to me from the shore, asking if I can tell what it is yet.
I'm just feet away, and it occurs to me that the part that's sticking above the water line is looking more and more like a head - a human head, and what I thought was moss is looking more and more like hair.
I'm inches away now, and just under the surface I see what looks to be a body with its hands tied behind its back, and the hands are a ghostly shade of white. It has a blue and white striped T-shirt on, and for now that's all I can see. That's all I need to see.
My brain is trying to comprehend this. My heart is racing, and I think, "Man, this must be some sick practical joke, you know?"
"Like, this must be a dummy somebody put here to scare people."

I yell out to everybody that it's a body floating in the water. I'm not sure if it's real or not, but it's definitely a body.
I'm a little reluctant to touch the thing, so I swim back to tell everyone what I've seen.
"That's a body floating out there," I tell them. "It's hands are tied behind its back, and they're a chalky white, and I don't know if it's real or not, but man, I'm telling you there's a body out there!"

Of course, no one believed me.