Page 59 - The Muse 2019-20 Issue

ragged triangles. Before I could ask any questions about why he was there, the other little creature, who went by Leo, crashed into my arm, pushing me towards the pool.
“Let’s go!” he said. His blue eyes filled with excitement and his little head bobbing up and down. “No,” I said. “I’m not getting in the water.”
“Why not?” Leo asked, the excitement dying in his eyes.
“Because I won’t. I’m scared,” I replied, looking down at my feet and shifting from foot to foot
as a feeling of fury ran through my veins.
Fosfero lifted my chin and said, “Then why don’t you face your fears?”
“Because I don’t want to,” I replied standing up to walk away and then realizing there was
nowhere to go. I stepped a little closer to water. It was perfectly still and had a deep blue ring that dropped into never ending darkness. A drop of slime slipped from the wall and fell into the pool, leaving a ripple in the water that seemed to whisper, “Come on in, the water's lovely.”
It was beautiful.
“If only,” I said under my breath and closed my eyes stepping back.
“Then go,” said Fosfero. I took a deep breath, and before I could say no, Leo crashed into me and
I was pushed into the water. It enveloped me like a blanket. The water was warm and comforting. I was scared, but I didn’t fight back, I couldn’t fight back. I just let the water pull me further and further down. I expected life to slip from me within minutes, but it didn’t. Finally, I opened my eyes.
“See,” said Leo, “it’s not so bad, is it?”
Straight down, all I could see was darkness, and all around me, there were only miles and miles of caves and tunnels. I was lost, again. I began to cry into the water.
“Come on,” said Fosfero to Leo, “bring her to the ledge.”
With that, they dragged me to a tunnel ledge in the water. It was lined with algae and the rock was hot.
“Just get me out of here,” I said, shutting my eyes tighter.
“But we can’t do it alone,” said Leo, “you need to help us. Just kick!”
I kicked and I felt a pang of pain in my heart. I really was lost. I felt the life slip out of me,
bubbles leaving my lips, moving to the surface which I could no longer see.
“Let’s go,” I said, and I began to kick my legs. They led me into the tunnels. Anytime they
touched me, they filled me with more and more fear. They would swim ahead and mumble. What if they were planning on hurting me? What would I do then? I couldn’t get back to the surface alone. I would stay underwater till I starved, or worse, ran out of breath. With that thought, I quickened my pace. With every turn in the tunnels, I felt more and more lost. I was trapped in a situation I couldn’t reverse. A clip flashed in my mind. I was at the beach the past summer. It was a beautiful sunny day. The waves were crashing, and I was playing in the water with my younger brother. It was perfect.
“Wait here,” I told my little brother, “I’ll be right back.”
“Ok,” he said and kept playing in the water. I went to grab my phone to take a photo of my brother in the water. Next thing I knew, I heard a scream. My brother was being pulled out by the waves. He was screaming at the top of his lungs.
“Help! Help!” he yelled. His voice cracking. He was going over and under the waves, being dragged down and shot back up. I remember running towards the water. Everything was a blur and all life seemed to stop and go in slow motion. I reached the water and dove into it. My brother went under again and didn’t come back up. I swam out as fast as I could and grabbed my brother by his swim shirt, pulling him towards the shore. I brought him to the beach. The medics had arrived, and I called my parents immediately to tell them what had happened. They took my brother away, and when I went to the hospital, I saw him lying down on the bed with tubes attached to his arms and a breathing mask on his face. He was motionless and pale, and I could tell that the life was draining out of him. He had drowned and I couldn’t help but keep telling myself that it was my fault, even though I wouldn’t admit that to other people. I knew it was my fault, and because of that, I didn’t do anything. I didn’t go back to school, I didn’t leave the house, and this was for several months. I got light-headed thinking about it.
“I need a break,” I said, stopping in the tunnels. What was the point of swimming anyways? I wasn’t ever going to get out, and maybe if I got stuck, I could see my brother again...up there.
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