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Kiristen, paddling in the water beside him, answers, “I am sure we can arrange it, Troy. I will speak with the maintenance manager before we leave and ask if they can show us the schematics. If need be, I will use my authority as the sicortar’s son to get them to agree.”
Troy smiles, “Thanks, Kiristen, I can see you’re gonna be a useful guy to have around.”
I’m amused to see Kiristen blush a darker shade of gray at Troy’s praise. Then, he points to the water ahead. “The initial part of the course, we shall be swimming, as there is no current until we reach that first curve over there. So, shall we go?”
“Let’s go!” calls out Avery.
I see Kiristen carefully wrap his tail into a knot around his sister’s ankle. The musculature in the tail must be flexible and strong enough to allow all these contortions. I think back to Kirimor’s tail wrapped around my wrists last night. It felt strong and pliable, just like a rope, but the texture was incredibly soft. As I unthinkingly stroked it, I felt how smooth it was, with the tail ends covered in a mound of short, silky hair, almost like fur.
What things that tail could do to me in bed. I shake the thought away. I am not going to think about that man now. I plunge into the water and start to swim.
As Kiristen said, the current starts when we reach the first curve up ahead. All of a sudden, I feel a light whoosh under me, and before I know it, I’m hurtling along the river pool at great speed, not really needing to do much in the way of swimming to propel myself forward. I hear both children shriek in delight. And we’re off, chasing down the water way.
My mind empties of everything except the joy of being out under a blue, sunny sky and feeling cool water lap at my body, the motion under me hypnotic and exciting all at once. It’s not just the children shrieking. The adults, including me, are screeching out “oohs” and “ahs”, and I even hear Troy in the din shouting, “Oh fuck yeah!”
Kiristen calls out to him, “Troy, watch your language! There are young ears with us.”
I hear an “Oops!” from my colleague among the giggles of said children.
We continue along the river course for a good few minutes until I see a sheer drop ahead. I hear Kiristen shout with glee, “Get ready for the jump, hold your breath!” I see him yank Kiritela back with his tail and put his arms around her. Then we’ve reached the precipice, and I don’t have time to swim away or avoid it. Suddenly, I’m in the air, falling down, and this time, I scream, in excitement but mostly fear. Oh God, oh God. Time slows as I fall to what feels like my certain death. My feet dangle uselessly in the air as I wave them about, trying to somehow break my fall.
And then I drop into the water with a mighty splash, going deep under the surface until I feel a great wave of energy propel me back up to break the surface and breathe again. I take great big gulps of air as I bob harmlessly in the gentle pool we’ve landed in. Adrenaline shoots through my body. In every pore of my skin, I feel the zing of blood rushing through me. Wow! That was terrifying, but amazing too.
Kiristen swims towards me, concern on his face. “Melinda, are you alright?” He pulls me to him and holds me tight against his large, warm body, stroking my back gently. “I am sorry if it gave you a fright. I thought you would enjoy the thrill of it.”
He sounds so contrite. I pull myself together, taking a deep breathe to center myself, and say, “It was a thrill, and I’m glad now I did it, but I just need a moment or two to recover from the fright. I’m fine.”
He holds me a few moment longer, crooning soft words of reassurance, until he feels me regain my balance. As he pulls away, he asks again worriedly, “Are you sure you are alright?”
I smile. “I’m fine.”
Over his shoulder, I can see Troy holding Avery in a similar embrace, while the two children splash about happily, evidently unaffected by the massive plunge we just took. Maybe the older you get, the more fearful you become.
“You will be happy to know that the next part of the course is very gentle, with little or no currents. We will be winding our way through those narrow passages and having to complete a challenge to get past each hurdle. I think you will all enjoy this,” Kiristen says, a tad uncertainly.
“I’m sure we will,” I say, infusing confidence in my voice.
And enjoy it we do. There’s plenty of fun and games as we wind through the spaghetti network of narrow water lanes and negotiate each of the challenges, some more silly than others. In one, we have to throw a ball through three sets of hoops. In another, we have to screech loud enough to activate the opening of the gate. In yet another, we have to answer a riddle—which clever little Kirishar promptly solves for us.
Eventually, we reach another wide pool where we see log rafts awaiting us. “These rafts will take us up to the top of that tall waterway.” Kiristen points to a steep rock face, over which a water lane with a sliding mechanism for the rafts has been built. “We can ride two to a raft. I will take the first one with Kiritela. Kirishar, perhaps you can ride with Melinda, and the last one can be for Troy and Avery.”
We all climb aboard the rafts, which rock slightly with our weight but remain stable. Once we strap the safety buckle on, the rafts begin to move, slowly making their way up the steep slope. I find myself practically horizontal on the cliff face and feel a tightening of fear in my gut. What if I fall off? Reason tells me that the safety buckle will hold me in place, but every instinct shouts danger as I’m tilted at a precarious angle. Is this fear how Wyatt feels whenever he tries to board a drone? Too late, I’m beginning to have a better sense of what he must have gone through.
Suddenly, a warm tail wraps itself securely around me. Kirishar speaks from behind me, “You are quite safe, Melinda. The buckle is very sturdy, and I have you tight in my hold.” My fear ebbs away under the comforting hold Kirishar has on me. Fancy that. A twelve-year old boy comforting a forty-something woman. I turn my head to him briefly. “Thanks, Kirishar. That really helps. Keep on holding me, please.”
“Of course. Do not worry.”
I take deep breaths to calm myself as we climb higher and higher, our raft nearly vertical on the cliff face. Kirishar’s tail tightens reassuringly around me as I grip the handle bar in front of me. What a difference it makes to have that warm comforting embrace. It doesn’t eliminate the fear altogether but makes it bearable. Did I ever do this for Wyatt? Just hold him with empathy and comfort him through the fear? I’m filled with shame. I let my husband down badly in my barely hidden impatience at his inability to fly.
Finally, after what seems like hours, we make it to the top, a wide plateau of shallow water. I can see the endlessly long, curving water slides up ahead. A part of me wonders if I can ask Kirishar to ride piggy back with me like Kiristen is going to do with his sister. No, this part of the course I can do on my own. I just need a moment to regroup.
Troy comes over and puts an arm around me. “You ok?”
“Yeah. Just give me a minute.”
“Sure. Take all the time you need.”
And he holds me close while I breathe in and out, feeling like dirt for never having thought to do the same thing for the man I pledged my life to all those years ago. I’m drowning in shame. Why? Why did I never do those small, simple things that mean so much? Just hold him through it all and tell him it would be alright. Was it because I’ve been conditioned to see men as macho beings, as protectors who didn’t need comforting or care? Every time Wyatt had a fit of nauseous fright at the prospect of flying, I felt disappointment in him for not being the strong, male protector I wanted as a partner. I hid that disappointment, but perhaps he sensed it. What a rubbish wife I was to him.
