AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter2
My lungs screamed for air and mistakenly, from fear and the disoriented sensations coursing through me, I sucked in a breath. And for a second, the world was black.
No, don’t breathe.
I jerked around desperately and exhaled the gulp of water. Immediately, my mind pushed past the rising panic; while I was trapped underwater, I needed to try to find my composure. My chest heaved, tightening as I spun around, not knowing which way was up and which way was down.
I kicked out, hoping to find purchase or even the surface of the water. Regardless of what direction was accurate, if I did nothing, I’d die.
For heaven’s sake, Cora!I screamed internally. I knew how to swim, which would make dying in a miniscule reservoir pond the saddest way to go.
As I tried to move my arms less wildly and get a rhythm going, a current knocked me back. The water was moving around me, swirling in a strange whirlpool-like motion.
Which made absolutely zero sense since I was in a stagnant pond in the middle of Rock Creek Park.
I tried not to panic as my body moved involuntarily inside the whirling, bubbling current. I kicked and thrashed my arms, pushing outward. All I could see was depths of water everywhere. I lifted my head but couldn’t tell if the direction was actually up or down. I exhaled again, this time knowing I didn’t have any more time to try to regain some sort of orientation. I just had to move.
I kicked and stroked my arms forward, gliding through the water while praying that it was the direction that would lead me to the surface. The current tugged at my body and spun me in a full circle.
My throat threatened to open and inhale, even though my mind knew that would be the end. I needed air. More than I’d ever needed anything before in my life. I needed air.
A silent scream tore through my head as I kicked harder and more methodically, finally breaking free from the swirling rush of water around me. A light shone above my head and I stroked one final large push and broke through the surface.
I gagged, choking and sputtering as I kept afloat. I wiped my eyes, sucking in air as if it’d be taken from me again.
I inhaled as I sputtered a few more times, feeling like I might vomit before leaning back, floating momentarily so that I could try to catch my breath a bit more.
I did it. I survived.
After a few more deliciously sweet breaths of air I swam forward, reaching to grab the ledge of the pong, and immediately came up short.
“What the ever-loving crock of horse shit is this?” I hoarsley choked out.
I expected to see the stone walls around me. Ones that couldn’t be too high to grab onto and crawl out of the pond from.
But they were nowhere to be found. In fact, the ledge I’d fallen from had disappeared. Along with Rock Creek park.
Instead, I was staring at a very large body of water, with approximately zero stone walls. There was a darkened shoreline ahead, but otherwise, I was in the middle of freaking nowhere.
How?
I bobbed my head a few times. Okay, Cora. You hit your head harder than you thought. This is a hallucination. You’re alive and when you come to, you will be on the park ground. Not in a strange lake.
I lost count of how many times I huffed out “it’s fine” as I swam toward the only shoreline I could make out.
Slowly, even as my head seemed to grow heavier and heavier, the distance lessened and I was almost to the mysterious shore. When my feet hit the bottom of whatever I was swimming in, I awkwardly stumble-swam—well, flailed—onto the shore until I crawled to a stop. I stayed on my knees a few minutes, but my head dropped lower and lower until finally, I rolled over and lay on the grassy shoreline.
I’d look around in a moment. For now, I needed to catch my breath.
What the hell happened?
There were trees visible in my periphery to my right, surrounding the body of water, but I couldn’t tell what the opening through the trees held to my left. The sun beat down on me, but not with the angry heat I’d been used to from this summer. Instead, it was neither hot nor cold. A strange in between that would most likely be welcoming, just not exactly comforting given my soaking wet state. And what time was it? It had been evening just a minute ago, but now the sun was out full force.
I closed my eyes tightly as my head throbbed once and listened to my breathing. Birds chirped around me and the wind was gentle, rustling through the nearby leaves in a peaceful sort of way. But there was no noise. No horns blaring, no city symphony. Very different from the sounds I’d heard moments ago dancing on the pond walls.
And for a moment, I didn’t want to go back. This dream-like state of quiet was a surprise, and even if it was a hallucination, remaining here in a mentally crazy state seemed better than going back anywhere near the hell that was Darryl.
Once again though, despite the satisfaction the tranquil surroundings brought, the question irked me: how had I come here. The pond was small in the park. Beyond the Potomac, there weren't any bodies of water like this nearby home, not that I was aware of at least. I wasn’t an avid traveler, but I was ninety-nine percent sure that there wasn’t a nature-filled place like this within swimming distance of the city. And the pond was round, you could see the whole thing. Which made this lake even crazier.
