I've written for a long time. I write a lot. But because of Brad Paisley's performance last night - I have been remembering one piece I wrote. It's called "Water." I wrote it for a class. It's a segmented essay (meaning it's multiple stories smashed into one... in segments). I'm going to post three segments a day for a few days. Just because. It'll also give me a chance to review the piece since I'm planning on getting it published eventually. It fits within my family... or something like it quite well.
Here are segments one through three:
My pruney fingers were sinking further and further into the slippery, suctioning mud created by the frothy, rolling waves of the North Carolinian beach. I remember a feeling of calm coming over my body as the blood rushed to my head, turning my face read and causing a brief headache. Watching the waves upside down created a sense of calm I had not experienced before. I lifted my head just enough to notice that the tide was actually pulling my entire body further away from my family’s tent.
I counted each wave that rolled past my face. One… two… three… The loud peacefulness of the waves was interrupted by the deafening obnoxiousness of my aunts, uncles and cousins screaming, “Kristen! Kristen!” They had all started to run into the ocean and collide with the smashing waves.
I remained in my slothful, inverted world of peace.
* * * * *
“Kekky, I already swam 17 laps! Can I stop yet?”
“Alex, you and I both know that you have to be able to swim 500 meters before camp or you won’t have any fun! Camp is next week and 17 laps barely scratches 500 meters. Start over—that’s what you get for complaining!”
Lying on my stomach with my left arm and leg dangling into the pool, I closed my eyes hoping to find a moment of tranquility as I coached the boys’ swimming. The sloshing and sprinkling of the water from their messy flutter kicks was the only refreshment my skin experienced. I could almost feel beating, hot, New Mexican sun turning my skin to leather.
“Kekky!” Brandon’s gravelly, raspy, yet high-pitched voice broke through the silence I had mustered in my mind. “Kekky!” His little hands were splashing water into my face as he floundered around on his turquoise kick board.
“Yes, Brandon!” I couldn’t hide the annoyance in my voice.
“Can I make Alex do push ups since he complained?” Being the younger of the two brothers, Brandon always tried to make life harder on Alex during swim lessons.
“Brandon!!!” Alex’s voice cracked as he tried to muster a deep threat to Brandon. That’s all I needed to hear to know that I needed to roll myself into the refreshing water and conduct damage control.
* * * * *
Keep going, I thought to myself, You’ve only gone three lengths. You did five last year. The water was bluer when I swam my laps under the pool cover. There was less light and the water seemed torpid even with my kicking and stroking. The goggles I was wearing felt like they were getting tighter and tighter on my face as the water slowly moved over my face. I thrust my arms out in front of my face and pulled them through the water, towing my body just over the bottom of the pool. Keep going, Kristen, keep going I thought to myself. Uncle David is still going; you have to keep up with him.
My lungs began to feel heavy and my heart began to beat faster. I had no more air in my lungs. I knew I couldn’t make another length. The bottom of the pool seemed to push me away.
A flick of my ankle pushed my face closer to the bottom. This year, there was no temptation to use the floor to help propel my body towards the end. I drew my knees towards my chest, spread at the knees and kicked them together. I could hear Dad’s voice in my mind, “Up, out, whip,” walking me through my underwater-no-breathers.
As I approached the end, I pushed my head further under the water. My legs went over my head and pushed off the wall of the pool. I kept my arms pointed together in front of my head. Chin tucked. Belly sucked in. Thighs and calves touching; toes pointed. My lungs felt like they were weighing me down as my body glided through the blue water.
I felt bubbles break through the water and hit my face when Uncle David fluttered his legs and glided past me as he lifted his head toward the top of the pool. His head broke the surface of the water and lifted the blue bubble pool cover. He walked towards the side of the pool.
Good! Uncle David only made it four and a half laps—you make it five and you beat him good!
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