Today you go for a nice cool dip in the water. You have
longed for this day to come. Swinging a small plastic bag containing swimsuits,
you make little jumps across the sidewalk as usual. Next to you stands your mother,
who is firmly holding your hand. You give a joyful grin to your mom and let go
of the hand. Skipping into a locker room, you think of what kinds of adventures
you will have under the water. Changing into the swim suits is when you feel
the heart beat wildly, ever more excited to jump into the blue.
A
film of water makes splashing noises as little feet scurry across the wet floor
towards the pool. The clear blue water shimmers as light reflects and bounces
off the surfaces of different angles. Taking a deep breath, you ready to
submerge. You know well how icy the water will be and shiver at the sheer
thought of the temperature. Clutching poles to sustain weight, you lightly dip
your toes into the water to check the temperature. The water is cold as usual.
'Oh
well. Here it goes.'
Eyes
closed tight, you plunge into the pool. Hairs react to the coldness and stand
rigidly. The body gives a slight tremor, and you are ready for the aquatic
experience.
"Hi! How are you?"
A
swimming teacher happily greets her student, who is striving against the
pressure of water to come a step closer to the teacher. Among all of her
students in the current class, you are the smallest with skinny arms and legs
that seem weak. Hoping it would be helpful, the teacher decides to strap a wearable
kickboard onto you.
Actually,
you have always wanted to put on the kickboard. The board was turtle shaped,
which was quite fascinating. Without much reluctance, you lock the belt and let
the plastic turtle stick to your back. The turtle gives some buoyancy and lift
your body close to the surface.
"Now,
hop to the end of the pool lane and come back."
The
teacher instructs a simple pool activity.
'No
problem. Piece of cake.'
That
warm-up is what you have been doing for past few days. Hoping that the plastic
turtle will make the trip much easier, you slowly hop on one feet toward the
end. The pool gets deeper as you go a step closer. You have a hard time
propelling against the water, when you suddenly realize a terrible truth.
'I
can't touch the floor!'
The
depth of the pool reached to a point where it became deeper than your height. Worse,
because of the buoyant turtle, you cannot come back down to the pool floor. To
bounce up back to the air, floor is needed. Unfortunately, you stay in the
middle of the water, unable to stand on the floor or rise up to take a breath
of air. You panic and start to flail your arms and legs wildly in order to
survive. The surface seems to be out of reach and your consciousness becomes
fainter. As you think you will die by drowning, a large arm scoops you out of
the waters onto a shoulder. Coughing, you feel relieved to be saved by your
teacher. After that incident, the turtle never rides on your back.
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