Livvy was floating vertically near the bottom of the swimming hole back in a summer in Sweet Gum, seeing how long she could hold her breath. Her lungs did not hurt and there seemed to be no effort to breathing, so holding her breath was, apparently, unnecessary. Fish darted around her at a distance, uncertain about her presence. There were sounds, laughter, conversation, but it was muted by the water, which was fine. It was relaxing down here, she felt calm, and there was no pain.
Someone dove into the water. Livvy turned her head to see if it was one of her siblings, coming to pull her to the surface because it was time for hot dogs over the fire. A man materialized through the intense bubbles generated by his arrival. She did not know him. He was fully dressed, shoes and all, and he wore a bomber jacket. She thought this was very strange and moved her arms and legs to put some distance between them.
Though he was obviously holding his breath and would run out of air soon, he held up both hands before slowly reaching out to touch the right side of her face, his expression concerned. Then Livvy was moving toward the surface, but not under her own power and at terrific speed. What was happening now? She popped like a cork from the water and landed in the cold darkness of the back seat of her car. Someone was patting the right side of her face, saying her name. She took a beat and a cautious breath to orient herself and opened her eyes. The left one responded poorly, but it worked. It took another beat to remember the man's name.
“Algy...” she whispered, followed by another cautious breath. “Ah feel.... like shit...”
Someone dove into the water. Livvy turned her head to see if it was one of her siblings, coming to pull her to the surface because it was time for hot dogs over the fire. A man materialized through the intense bubbles generated by his arrival. She did not know him. He was fully dressed, shoes and all, and he wore a bomber jacket. She thought this was very strange and moved her arms and legs to put some distance between them.
Though he was obviously holding his breath and would run out of air soon, he held up both hands before slowly reaching out to touch the right side of her face, his expression concerned. Then Livvy was moving toward the surface, but not under her own power and at terrific speed. What was happening now? She popped like a cork from the water and landed in the cold darkness of the back seat of her car. Someone was patting the right side of her face, saying her name. She took a beat and a cautious breath to orient herself and opened her eyes. The left one responded poorly, but it worked. It took another beat to remember the man's name.
“Algy...” she whispered, followed by another cautious breath. “Ah feel.... like shit...”