Drowning
StarchildrenDrowning
It’s an accident when he falls into the lagoon. It's a game and a step too close to the edge. He falls through vegetation before he hits the water and sinks below the surface. He cannot swim, he is going to die. Despite the knowledge that he’s on his own in the deep pool of water, his body fights to find the way up. There is no way up.
Everything is murky and he cannot see with the salt water stinging his eyes every time he opens them.
The water is silent and it only serves to scare him more. There is no one to help him as he drowns and the need to breathe burns in his lungs. He takes a gulp of salt water and chokes as his lungs fill with water.
And then someone whispers in the water.
Look at him. What a fool.
He turns his head and opens his eyes to look for the voice but there is nothing in the water. He’s dying and he’s hallucinating. It fills him with a sort of last peace and he takes another gulp of water while his body protests with the will to live.
He’s dying. He’s dying.
The whisper is still there, still present, still overwhelming and he feels goosebumps raise on his arms as something touches his legs in a soft, tickling motion. This jerks him from the peace and he wants to scream, wants to look for whatever it is that’s touching him but his body is fighting a losing battle.
Do something.
And then he breaches the surface and heaves after air to fill his lungs. He’s coughing, his eyes fluttering at the sharp sunlight and the noises from all around him overwhelm him. Something tickles his foot but he’s too busy surviving to notice the celadon color that disappears into the deep.
Someone grabs his chest and only then does he really understand that he hasn’t died. His professor is behind him, asking him to please stay still so they can get up safely.
The rescue team have them on the ground above the lagoon in a couple of minutes and paramedics surround him. In the corner stands his best friend Junghee and bites her thumb nail while tears are streaming down her cheeks.
He’s taken to the hospital with a helicopter and nobody sees the ming colored eyes that follow the commotion on land.
It’s an accident when the human falls into the lagoon. He knows because humans aren’t allowed to swim here. It’s their safe haven, a place for them only. It’s where they hide when they’re young, where they go when they’re old.
It was hidden until few years ago when a human found it. Now it’s an attraction, a place for humans to admire nature but they’re still not allowed to swim here.
The human struggles, splashes around with an air of panic. He doesn’t really understand because the water is soothing, is helping him die a peaceful death. He can’t imagine dying anywhere else but in the soft comfort of the water. He’s hidden in the deep behind the vegetation on the bottom as he watches the human struggle.
The tapairu on his right looks at him with her azure blue eyes and clicks her tongue in a disapproving manner.
“Look at him,” he says and turns to lock gazes with her. “What a fool.”
They both turn around to look at the human again. The human is sinking towards them, body no longer flailing, instead finding comfort in death.
He swims a little closer out of curiosity. He knows he’s not supposed to look at humans. Humans are dangerous but this one is dying. There is no way this one is going to talk about them to the other humans.
He is hiding behind a large piece of kelp in the dark water when she swims passed him towards the human. He gasps and reaches out towards her, to stop her, but barely grazes her celadon tail and then hisses. The water becomes upset as his frustration translates throughout it. She turns to look back at him.
“He’s dying,” she says. “He’s dying.”
She swims around the human, soft fin grazing the leg. He quickly swims towards her and grabs her wrist to pull her back down towards the sand bottom. They don’t get very far. She looks at him with annoyance.
“Do something.”
He rolls his eyes as she grabs his hand and makes it move in the water. It makes him look ridiculous but she keeps moving his hand in an up-and-down motion and he gives up. With a twist of his wrist and a slow motion upwards he lets the water help the human towards the surface. He grabs her hand and pulls her with him towards the bottom when another human hits the water and grabs the struggling young one. The one that almost saw them, the one who survived.
She’s on her way towards the ocean, but he can’t help himself when he swims towards the surface, hidden by the murky water and close to the stone wall of the lagoon as he observes how they save the human.
”Jinki,” Junghee says in a small whisper. He’s lying in the hospital bed with an IV drip in his left hand. Junghee is sitting beside him. His mother was here earlier but had had to leave. Junghee decided to stay here. Even though he’s awake, she hasn’t been able to get in contact with him.
”What happened?” she asks again in a whisper.
She’s been trying to coax it out of him ever since he got rescued. Her eyes are red from her previous crying and her make-up is smeared under her eyes but Junghee doesn’t care about how she looks. Jinki doesn’t say anything, however. He just keeps staring into the white ceiling as if it can tell him how he survived his near-drowning experience.
Junghee wants to believe it was his own will to survive but she knows he can’t swim and that him being here is nothing short of a miracle. Someone pats her shoulder a few seconds later and she feels lips pressed to her cheek. She doesn’t turn around to look at her boyfriend as he, too, greets Jinki in the hospital. Jinki ignores his presence too.
Junghee sighs a little but nods when her boyfriend asks her to please go home with him. They can visit tomorrow.
“Kibum!” Minjung says in a vexed voice. “You can’t just let them die!”
Kibum glances annoyed at her but doesn’t say anything. He continues swimming towards the ocean and Minjung soon catches up with him.
“Listen to me!”
He doesn’t and she sighs exasperated. She doesn’t understand why he acts so high and mighty after he’s been manipulating the water. It’s not the first time they’ve witnessed a human drown and it probably won’t be the last, but it’s the first time Kibum has been so adamant about not saving a human. It’s been the first time she has had to ask him specifically.
It’s not because they save humans a lot; they’re technically not allowed to but Kibum has never been sticking to the rules. She wants to know why this one is different, why she had to ask him to save the human but he doesn’t want to talk to her. Minjung passes him so she can stop him with a hand on his chest.
“Kibum, please.”
He just shakes his head in a resigned manner and swims passed her again. She’s staring at his seashell colored tail, a rare color amongst them, as it disappears into the dark blue beneath her.
Everything is murky and he cannot see with the salt water stinging his eyes every time he opens them.
The water is silent and it only serves to scare him more. There is no one to help him as he drowns and the need to breathe burns in his lungs. He takes a gulp of salt water and chokes as his lungs fill with water.
And then someone whispers in the water.
Look at him. What a fool.
He turns his head and opens his eyes to look for the voice but there is nothing in the water. He’s dying and he’s hallucinating. It fills him with a sort of last peace and he takes another gulp of water while his body protests with the will to live.
He’s dying. He’s dying.
The whisper is still there, still present, still overwhelming and he feels goosebumps raise on his arms as something touches his legs in a soft, tickling motion. This jerks him from the peace and he wants to scream, wants to look for whatever it is that’s touching him but his body is fighting a losing battle.
Do something.
And then he breaches the surface and heaves after air to fill his lungs. He’s coughing, his eyes fluttering at the sharp sunlight and the noises from all around him overwhelm him. Something tickles his foot but he’s too busy surviving to notice the celadon color that disappears into the deep.
Someone grabs his chest and only then does he really understand that he hasn’t died. His professor is behind him, asking him to please stay still so they can get up safely.
The rescue team have them on the ground above the lagoon in a couple of minutes and paramedics surround him. In the corner stands his best friend Junghee and bites her thumb nail while tears are streaming down her cheeks.
He’s taken to the hospital with a helicopter and nobody sees the ming colored eyes that follow the commotion on land.
It’s an accident when the human falls into the lagoon. He knows because humans aren’t allowed to swim here. It’s their safe haven, a place for them only. It’s where they hide when they’re young, where they go when they’re old.
It was hidden until few years ago when a human found it. Now it’s an attraction, a place for humans to admire nature but they’re still not allowed to swim here.
The human struggles, splashes around with an air of panic. He doesn’t really understand because the water is soothing, is helping him die a peaceful death. He can’t imagine dying anywhere else but in the soft comfort of the water. He’s hidden in the deep behind the vegetation on the bottom as he watches the human struggle.
The tapairu on his right looks at him with her azure blue eyes and clicks her tongue in a disapproving manner.
“Look at him,” he says and turns to lock gazes with her. “What a fool.”
They both turn around to look at the human again. The human is sinking towards them, body no longer flailing, instead finding comfort in death.
He swims a little closer out of curiosity. He knows he’s not supposed to look at humans. Humans are dangerous but this one is dying. There is no way this one is going to talk about them to the other humans.
He is hiding behind a large piece of kelp in the dark water when she swims passed him towards the human. He gasps and reaches out towards her, to stop her, but barely grazes her celadon tail and then hisses. The water becomes upset as his frustration translates throughout it. She turns to look back at him.
“He’s dying,” she says. “He’s dying.”
She swims around the human, soft fin grazing the leg. He quickly swims towards her and grabs her wrist to pull her back down towards the sand bottom. They don’t get very far. She looks at him with annoyance.
“Do something.”
He rolls his eyes as she grabs his hand and makes it move in the water. It makes him look ridiculous but she keeps moving his hand in an up-and-down motion and he gives up. With a twist of his wrist and a slow motion upwards he lets the water help the human towards the surface. He grabs her hand and pulls her with him towards the bottom when another human hits the water and grabs the struggling young one. The one that almost saw them, the one who survived.
She’s on her way towards the ocean, but he can’t help himself when he swims towards the surface, hidden by the murky water and close to the stone wall of the lagoon as he observes how they save the human.
”Jinki,” Junghee says in a small whisper. He’s lying in the hospital bed with an IV drip in his left hand. Junghee is sitting beside him. His mother was here earlier but had had to leave. Junghee decided to stay here. Even though he’s awake, she hasn’t been able to get in contact with him.
”What happened?” she asks again in a whisper.
She’s been trying to coax it out of him ever since he got rescued. Her eyes are red from her previous crying and her make-up is smeared under her eyes but Junghee doesn’t care about how she looks. Jinki doesn’t say anything, however. He just keeps staring into the white ceiling as if it can tell him how he survived his near-drowning experience.
Junghee wants to believe it was his own will to survive but she knows he can’t swim and that him being here is nothing short of a miracle. Someone pats her shoulder a few seconds later and she feels lips pressed to her cheek. She doesn’t turn around to look at her boyfriend as he, too, greets Jinki in the hospital. Jinki ignores his presence too.
Junghee sighs a little but nods when her boyfriend asks her to please go home with him. They can visit tomorrow.
“Kibum!” Minjung says in a vexed voice. “You can’t just let them die!”
Kibum glances annoyed at her but doesn’t say anything. He continues swimming towards the ocean and Minjung soon catches up with him.
“Listen to me!”
He doesn’t and she sighs exasperated. She doesn’t understand why he acts so high and mighty after he’s been manipulating the water. It’s not the first time they’ve witnessed a human drown and it probably won’t be the last, but it’s the first time Kibum has been so adamant about not saving a human. It’s been the first time she has had to ask him specifically.
It’s not because they save humans a lot; they’re technically not allowed to but Kibum has never been sticking to the rules. She wants to know why this one is different, why she had to ask him to save the human but he doesn’t want to talk to her. Minjung passes him so she can stop him with a hand on his chest.
“Kibum, please.”
He just shakes his head in a resigned manner and swims passed her again. She’s staring at his seashell colored tail, a rare color amongst them, as it disappears into the dark blue beneath her.
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