The lake is
silky smooth, lapping gently around the legs of the jetty. The knobbly planks
beneath my toes are thick and warmed by the sun. Karl is on the bank, wriggling
into his shorts under the towel Mutti is holding around him.
‘Careful Hetty,’ Karl shouts.
‘The water’s deep out there.’
‘I’m just looking,’ I call back.
‘I want to see the big fish.’
I shuffle right to the very end
and curl my toes around the edge. Crouching low, I peer into the water. I can’t
see the bottom of the lake. Maybe there isn’t one. Perhaps the dark green water
goes all the way down to the middle of the earth where savage monsters lurk,
waiting.
Walter swims towards the jetty.
He splashes his arms around then floats on his back, pale toes bobbing up out
of the water. He pops up again, grinning at me, pushing his wet hair off his
face. I wish I could have swimming lessons like Karl, then I too could glide
like a fish, instead of splashing about in the shallows, stubbing my toes on
jagged stones and slipping on slimy weed.
From
my perch, I watch Walter swim further out into the lake. He disappears from
sight, hidden by the solid wooden pillar of the jetty. I move to try to see
him, but I lean too far and topple forward. My hands fly out, clawing at empty
space, and I’m falling, down, down, down.
Belly first, I crash onto the
stone-hard surface. I gasp with the iciness, but instead of air, there is only
rancid lake water.
‘Help!’ I splutter, splashing
hopelessly, blinded by blurry flashes of light and dark.
‘HELP,’ louder now, but the
water boils and churns, closing over my head and the monsters suck me down to
their deep, green lair.
Gripped by panic, I scrabble and
kick, fighting back up to the surface. I manage a breath. There are voices in
the distance. I thrash wildly, but it doesn’t keep me up, and I’m swirling,
round and round. The voices fade as I’m dragged down again, lungs screaming,
but the water – sickening, cloying, heavy – fills them and I’m drowning.
Darkness folds in.
Something scrabbles at my costume
and scratches my back. There’s a tugging, and I’m pulled up to the surface.
Someone is holding me and I’m retching and coughing in the lightening-white
sunlight until I think my insides are going to spill out. With a rasping choke,
air surges into my lungs, and water pours from my nose. The person holding me
is kicking hard, keeping both of us up, panting and grunting with the effort.
The hands turn me onto my back and there’s a strong body beneath me, keeping my
head above the water.
‘Don’t struggle, you’re safe
now.’ A voice in my ear. Walter’s voice. ‘I’m swimming you back to the shore.’
He wraps his hand around my chin and tugs.
I try to lie still, but water
laps in my ears and I wobble as he jerkily swims on his back, huffing with the
effort of keeping me up until we reach shallow water. Dimly, I hear cries and
shouts from nearby. Walter’s body is solid and safe. He begins to wriggle out
from under me, but I cling desperately to him, our tangle of legs sinking to
the lake floor.
‘It’s all right, you can stand
now,’ he says propping me upright. The mud squishes between my toes as I try to
stand but I’m shaking, and my legs collapse beneath me. Walter holds me, and I
lean against him. My throat stings from the coughing. Water trickles from my
nose.
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