Extra Darling

Chapter 6: Deep Plunge

White spray bit at my cheeks as I plummeted down the side of the waterfall. The roar of falling water travelled with me, the only thing keeping me company as I fell. A slapping force of wind pushed against me and gave me the sickest feeling of nausea in my stomach. I saw rocks in the foaming mess of water beneath me, and said a silent prayer that I would not collide with them.

I was dropping fast, the swirling dark water sucking me down into it's clutches. The water looked alive -- jumping, and grabbing, and screaming at everything it could get it's hands onto. I feared the worst as I watched it get closer and closer.

Instead of painfully slamming into the water like I did the last time, I turned my body as I dove from the cliff and held my hands above my head like a diver. I hoped that this would lessen the impact, and I hoped that the only thing I impacted with was the water -- however ominous it may seem, it's better than a rock. I was diving with my stomach facing the inside of the waterfall, and as I stole a quick glance into the curtain of water, I saw my own reflection through the rippling fall.

My blonde hair was blown behind my head, a few stray pieces curling next to my cheeks. I had the most swollen lip I had ever seen! My bottom lip was cracked on the left side with dried blood, a dark pink swelling accompanied it. Dirt smudged my pale cheeks, scuffing up also my forehead and my temples. But as I stared into my own hazel eyes, I saw something that I hadn't seen in a very long time-- happiness.

Despite gallivanting through the trees, layering myself in filth, and wounding myself in the process, I was actually enjoying this. There was a certain thrill to it that my life had been lacking these past months. I finally felt like a human being again, not some discarded rubbish. I was playing games, and getting exercise, and I was loving it!

I smiled at myself, and when I looked down again the boiling mass of water was upon me. I squealed loudly before I hit the water, and then I plunged in, my hands clasped tightly together over my head.

I was immediately grasped by the cold sensation of the water as it engulfed me, and I dove down deeper. The water dragged me under and wrapped me in its tight hold, pulling me closer and closer to the bottom. I felt the swiftness of the water moving around me, the current rushing away, but myself only sinking deeper. I landed on the floor of the pond gently, the water setting me down on the soft sand and releasing me from it's pull. I could feel my arms slightly floating above my head, my dress and my long hair billowing out around me, and yet -- I did not float up, though I also did not fear drowning.

When I opened my eyes, I was greeted to a blue oasis beyond my wildest imagination.

The bottom of the pond was lit up as brightly as being on dry land. The sun shined down through the crystal clear blue water and left me feeling the most blissful kind of serenity. All around me was a new type of life -- aquatic life. Colorful shoals of fish swam through the vastness of the stream, their scales reflecting the sunlight and making them glisten as they swam away. Roots from trees grew under the water at the bottom with me, and small plants swayed in the gentle current. The water was cold but not enough to force me up to the surface, not yet.

I sat there under the weight of the water, utterly basking in the scene around me. It was like an entirely separate world down here. Up in the jungle there was the unending chatter of animals. The trees themselves moved and talked, whispering secrets with the wind and shifting while we watched. But down here, there was a calmness. The only sound came from the rush of the waterfall pummeling the surface of the pond, and even that was muffled by the heaviness of the water. The plants moved, but with a slower pace, as if they were in no rush to spread gossip. The animals were quiet, but equally as curious. A larger fish with golden scales and green fins swam passed my head as I looked up at the surface. He swam around me in circles a few times before deciding to take a nibble on my cheek. I laughed, tiny air bubbles escaping my mouth, and the fish swam away in a fright.