Out of The Blue

Chapter 12

     I peek my head from under the water and gasp for air. A gasp for air later and I've been pulled under again. Kicking my legs to bring me back to the surface. I peek my head out again, gasp for air, and back under I go. I'm so dead, I think to myself. NO! Think, think! I gulp air one more time and allow myself to go under water. I'm floating and drifting, I push my arms away from my back to reach under my legs. I'm stretching as much as I can but I'm struggling to pull my tied-up arms from under myself. Yes! I now have my hands under my knees. I pull my knees towards my chest. I'm in a fetal position with my arms hugging my legs from under my knees. I stretch my arms out from under my feet and pull my legs in; I manage to get one leg free.

     Now on to my left foot. I'm wiggling it and stretching my arms as much as I can, but my chest is feeling tight; I need more air. I need to breath fast! I could pass out... under water. I make my way above the water with one leg free. I violently gasp in the fresh air and return under. Ok, Marie, you got this. I stretch my foot towards me as much as possible and strongly push my arms upwards. My insides flutter with joy. I manage to slip my arms free, and my shoe comes off with it. Great, I think sarcastically. I may have one less shoe, but the river is a different strength to me now.

     I try to take control of my body with every grunt and growl. I try to take control of branches. I try to take control of my possibilities. What can I do now? I can't just let myself die, I thought to myself.

     "Think!" I say aloud. 

     "Look Marie, this is the ocean," my mom say in my head. where is it coming from? 

     "It's sparkling. The ocean has glitter?" A voice, young and childlike, asks the previous voice. It's a memory. The ocean had once almost swallowed me alive on a beach vacation with my parents; my real parents that is. It was my first time witnessing the ocean's beauty. There was solitude in the scene because we'd found the one spot with no soul in sight to bother. No one to interrupt. My 7-year-old body slides out from the car while my feet reach the sand. Not once had my eyes parted from the crystal-clear water that seemed blue because of the sky reflecting over it. The water seemed to have glitter from the sun's ray's reaching those bright blue ripples.

     When my feet reached the sand, it instantly warmed them from their lack of heat. As I curled my small toes into the sand, I looked up towards the water and let the warm wind trickle over and across my skin. Overwhelmed and excited, I went running towards the water without realizing that I can't swim yet.

     "Marie!" Yells my dad, startled.

     "Hurry!" Demands my mother as we're all running now. I'm a tiny person, so I'm naturally fast. I bolt through with giggles of excitement and thrill. My parents don't catch up to me until I've already reached the ocean. I crashed through the waves and kept going until the water was waist length. I paused for a moment and cupped my hands to splash into the air. I made it sprinkle over me.

     After the last drop fell over my head, I kept running deeper into the water. I was taken by a rip current. The current twisted and turned me. When I managed to peek my head out of the water, I barely let out a scream for help. I came back under because just like I couldn't swim, I also didn't know how to float or get out of a current. I peeked my head out again with a gasp for air and an inaudible scream; I had only enough time to take a breath.

     "DAD!" I finally made out, "MOM!"

     "MARIE!" Both my mom and my dad screamed. At this point it would have been nice to have some people around for help now, wouldn't it?

     "Swim sideways!" My dad desperately screamed. This was it. I was one-hundred percent sure this was the end of my life. My short, 7 years of life was enough to flash before my eyes.

     "Don't Fight against the current!" 

     "Swim sideways!" Anxiously screamed my dad. I hadn't been able to make out what he was saying but when I peeked my head out one more time, he screamed it again and I finally heard what he was saying, and I burst into action. I did the swim I had observed from the water frogs: lead my arms and legs towards my head and push them back. It was as close to swimming I had known. My dad reached me right when I was about three feet from the current. My mom was far behind hopping through the water. There was no time for kisses, or hugs, or yelling so he quickly grabbed me, pulls me out so I could breath, and quickly heads towards the shore. All the while, I couldn't help a huge smile grow and it was plastered on my face while I laughed out of shock and thrill. It was the scariest thing that had happened to me and yet, once it was over, I thought it was fun; exciting.

     Once we reached the shore, my parents start screaming at me, angrily and relieved that I was ok.

     "What were you thinking?!" My mom yelled.

     "You can't swim! Why did you do that?!" Yelled my dad.

     "I got excited!" I said so innocently.

     My parents sigh with relief. I thought I might get grounded but for now not only were they glad it was over, but they were glad I was not hurt.

     "Just... remember... if you ever get caught by a current again, swim towards the side." My dad assured trying to catch his breath. "But first we have to teach you how to swim."

     That's it. I snap out of my flashback in shock while my dad's words echo in my mind.

     "If you ever get caught by a current again, swim towards the side."

     How could I forget! I think to myself. I burst into action and swim sideways, towards the grass. It was tough giving the fact that my hands are still tied together. Little by little, I made it. I grab on the ground and pull myself out of the water. My clothes are drenched and I feel heavy. I crawl until I'm completely out of the river and roll on my back with my tied hands over my stomach. Finally. I give a hard and relieving sigh towards the sky; I close my eyes. I made it. I'm panting for a moment and try to relax. My heart is racing but it's slowing down. I wish I was home. My real home with my real parents. A smile carefully grows across my face. I giggle, which turns into a chuckle, and then a hysterical laughter as I raise myself up with my left elbow.

     "CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, EVAN!" I scream, "It's different now with my hands free," well, almost free.

     I rest for a moment and then I wander around to think. This smell is familiar. It smells like humid wood and the river smells like soil and musky. But it all feels familiar. Why? I don't know. I make sure I don't stray far from the river; it's my only water source. It is crucial that I stay hydrated. What am I looking for? I ask myself. I go back to where I came out of the river and sit down on the soft mud. I'm already dirty anyways, I think to myself. I need to get out of here, I ponder as I sit in silence staring at the flow of the river. I could retrace my steps and find the building and then from there I could keep running from where I was held and straight. No. I'd become easy for them to find me! Forget that one. I'm gonna have to find another way out or my way around from where I came from. However, that would mean I'd have to go away from my only water source. Decisions, decisions, decisions, so many crucial decisions.

     A cool autumn breeze brushes by, slapping me with a big orange-red leaf to my face. I flinch and grab the leaf, holding it over my lap. Such a beautiful day with such a horrible situation. The floor is covered in those beautiful autumn leaves scattered across the ground. Some trees were orange, and some were dried and brown. There was some grass still alive since the temperature dropped. "I'm so hungry," I whine as I rub my growling stomach. Where do I go? I ask myself. The river has taken me deep into the woods. I'm not worried about Evan and the others catching up to me because I was in that current for a long time and it was moving fast. I lost him for sure. At least I've bought myself enough time. I still can't shake the fact that the air, the ambient, feels familiar but familiar to what?

     As I'm gazing at the leaf, I realize something. My eyes open wide and I gasp.

     "My cabin!"