Short Stuffs - 3. Fiction: The Waters of Woe

Cold. Wet. Dark. Fear.

“Help, I’m drowning!” she screamed, flailing her arms around wildly. She reached over to the bed stand, shuffling around in the moonlight, and turned on her lamp. Light flooded the room; her breathing heavy, she looked around as the darkness dissipated.

“Ugh. It was that dream again.”

She looked at the small, penguin shaped alarm clock on her stand. She groaned a bit, and pulled herself out of bed. Better late than never.

It had only taken her ten minutes to get ready. She walked out the small glass patio door. She stepped into the warm glow of the sun and smiled. In her mind, there was not much to describe the fifteen year old girl. She was average height, dark brown hair down past her shoulders. Around her neck was an elegant silver necklace that had “Shelby” on it in six individual letters, varying in sizes.

Shelby turned look to look out to the horizon. Dull. She looked at the dirty, gray cityscape and frowned.

“I hope we go to the cottage this weekend. We haven’t gone all summer and I could use the time to catch on my reading.”

She continued down the steps and looked towards her mother’s car, its glossy blue paint shining in the early morning sun. Eyeing her mother, she said, “Good morning, Mom!” Her mother turned around and brushed a wisp of hair from her eyes, “Morning honey. You look tired; did you have a nightmare again?”

Shelby looked away, recalling the terrifying images, as they flashed before her mind’s eye once again. For as long as she could remember, she had hated water. She closed her eyes and could see the images, still fresh, forming in her mind.
It’s a cloudy, murky, dark abyss. It seems like not even all of the light in the world could brighten this horrid place up. She looks around frantically for an escape, trying to gasp for breath. Feeling weak and heavy she slowly starts to drift down; further, further into the darkness when, suddenly, a hand dives through and pulls her out. Choking, gagging, and shivering, she sits there not knowing what was going on.

Her mother walked over, smiled and hugged her. She knew that even if her little girl was growing up, a fear like hers wasn’t easily beaten. She decided to change the subject.

“Dad, already brought everything up last weekend, remember? We’re supposed to meet him at the cottage; he’ll be up after work tonight.”

Shelby snapped out of her all too realistic dreams and got into the car. She pulled out her pink iPod Nano, from her sweater, and put the ear buds in, drowning out all other sounds, except what she wanted to hear. About halfway there, Shelby started to fall asleep.

When she awoke, they were just pulling into the cottage. She sighed to herself. No dream, this time. That was always a good sign. She got out of the car and took a big breath.

The scenery was exactly as she remembered. Hundreds upon hundreds of lush, thick green trees, wide open fields full of pink and purple wildflowers. This was Lake Ontario, and this was her paradise. She waved by to her mother, and ran down to the beach. She loved the smell of the seaweed and sand.

When she saw the lake, she felt a bit uneasy. The dream was still fresh in her mind from this morning. She stepped onto the dock. She loved the creaky sounds of the old, mossy planks beneath her feet. She sat down at the edge and made herself comfortable. From here, she could see people in canoes and kayaks float by. She took off her sweater and shoes and rolled up her jeans.

Shelby had gotten deep into her book, Breaking Dawn, from her favourite series of vampire novels, when she looked up to see a young man about her age fall out of his boat.

“Ouch, that looked like a hard fall.”

She looked by his canoe for a few more seconds. Nothing. A pang of panic hit her. What if that boy had hit his head? What if he didn’t know how to swim? She looked around, looking for someone to help. She saw the boy surface, looking unconscious, and about to go under again.
Time froze. This was it. She had to act, and it had to be now.
Shelby looked at the water, its dark tendrils reawakening the memories in her mind. She could hear its gurgle renouncing the claim it took upon her life many years ago.

The boy’s head was bobbing just above the water. Without thinking anymore on it, she threw herself into the lake. She swam vigorously, her heart propelling her like a speedboat. Shelby grabbed onto the boy as he was going under and she pulled the boy to the shore. She lay him down flat, and used CPR to resuscitate him. He spat up some water, and Shelby watched as he breathed heavily, each breath hazy and coarse.

After a few minutes, the boy sat up, with a small grunt. He looked at her with a dazed look.

“W-who are you?” he said, trying to gulp for more air.

“I’m Shelby. You’re fine now.”

“What happened? I could have sworn I wasn’t swimming.”

“You took the rapids too hard, and fell out of your boat. You hit your head.”

The boy smiled faintly.

“I’m Travis. Thanks for saving me, Shelby.”

He tried to stand up, shakily, and Shelby jumped up to help him. He stumbled a bit and fell on her, taking her back down with him. Shelby felt his lips brush against hers for the slightest moment.
She helped him up once again, and supported him better this time. They walked along the beach for a bit, and found a bench until he was rested enough to support himself. Shelby picked up the last of her belongings from the dock, and rejoined Travis on the bench.

“Will you be okay to go home like this? It‘s almost five, and my Mom will be expecting me to check in.”

He nodded a bit, and replied “After you check in, would you like to go for some ice cream?” He looked at her, and started to blush afterwards.

Shelby giggled. “Of course I would! Give me ten minutes, and I‘ll be ready.”

She walked a bit further up the beach, and took the pathway leading towards her family cottage. Once up the steps, she called for her mother to make sure she was still there. Shelby decided to do a little extra before her outing. She tied her hair up in a neat pony tail, putting a black zip-up sweater and a dry pair of blue jeans on. She looked out of her window towards the gorgeous, sparkling lake. She took it as a sign; the red of the sunset gleaming off of its radiant waters, had to mean good luck.

Her mother knocked on the door and walked in.

“How was the lake?”

“It was good; it really hasn’t changed much since last year. But there was a boy who fell in the water, too.”

“Is he alright? I hope his parents were there to watch him.”

“Yeah, he is okay. He wasn’t a young kid, he’s my age. He fell out of his canoe and hit his head. I had to dive in and save him.”

“You mean…you jumped into the water?”

Shelby nodded.

“Well, honey, I’m very proud of you.”

She hugged Shelby tight. Of all things, she didn’t expect her daughter to just throw herself into the water. Naturally, she expected it because someone else’s life was in danger. But to think she had overcome the fear so suddenly was interesting, and somewhat relieving.

“Travis, that’s the guy’s name, wants to take me out for ice cream. Is it okay if I go?”

“Yes, you can go. Not that I like the idea of you having dessert before dinner, but tonight is an exception.” Her mother winked at her.

Shelby beamed. She had beaten the water. No longer did the lake strike fear in her, nor did it send shivers down her spine.

She turned around and made her way back to the beach. Back to Travis. She smiled as they talked music and other interests while they started to walk towards the general store.

Maybe falling into the water isn’t so bad after all.