I was floating down the river lazily with a few friends, hoping to get some color in my skin. It was our second trip down the river, and we were bantering back and forth with each other, just enjoying the good company. The most eventful thing that had happened so far was a (rather large) bug landing on Lilly's tube. That was memorable.
"Kyle! Getitoff getitoff getitoff!"
"Relax Lilly, 's just a bug."
"Oh my god Kyle! She didn't mean to throw it at me!"
"I'm sorry, Mere! Where is it?"
"I dunno, it's in my tube!"
"Is it gone?"
"I can't find it!"
"Oh god, it's on my hand!"
"Kyle, kill it!"
SMACK.
Kyle killed it, and we went back to just floating,conversing about school (dear god, did the teachers really expect us to read another boring Dickens book?), summer plans (camp for Lilly and me, work for Kyle), upcoming movies (Spider-Man), and whatever else came to mind ("Tell us more about that StarKid thing, Meredith!).
Occasionally, we'd drift to the banks of the river, get caught up in the moss and trees and leaves. Lilly screamed every time ("This is so gross! I don't want it to touch me!") while Kyle and I just laughed at her. We let Kyle paddle us out. He was, after all, the big strong boy of the group.
We approached the chute for the second time, and Lilly gripped tight to the rope on my tube. She was afraid of flipping out. I was, too, but I put Lilly's fear before my own and reassured her. She and Kyle went down before me, smoothly and quickly.
I was anything but smooth and quick for me. My tube went down and stayed there, stuck in the rapids unmoving. I waited a moment, hoping it'd move. The group of children standing on the rocks above me pointed and laughed, while some jumped down the chute and under me, over me, around me. Not one of them helped. Minutes that felt like hours passed, and tears began welling in my eyes. I didn't want to flip my tube, but I couldn't move and I didn't know what else to do. No one was helping me. No one was doing anything. Without warning, the tube flipped and I was in the water, under the water. I took a breath and gagged as water filled my lungs. I opened my eyes, felt a burn of water and god only knows what else. I could feel myself moving with the strong current and, oh god, my feet couldn't touch the bottom. I kicked and struggled to no avail. I suddenly felt fatigued and took another breath, only to feel more water enter my lungs. I tried to cough it out, but my mouth filled again. By some miracle, I got my head above water. I looked around wildly for my tube only to see it floating quickly in a different direction. I choked back a sob, and then I was dragged under again at the second chute, all the way this time. My feet touched the bottom, but my head was no where near the top. I bent my knees in an effort to kick myself up, but I was dragged further down. My knees and shins scraped along the rocky bottom.
This is it. I'm going to die this time, all alone and under the water because no one here is helping me and I don't know how to get back up. Oh, God.
Then I managed to unbend my legs. I could feel the rocks under my feet, so I pushed up with all my remaining strength. My head was above the water again. I could breathe. There was air coming into my lungs and water coming out. I coughed and stood up next to the third chute, my legs shaky, unsure. I looked around, turning my head slowly and hoping to see Lilly and Kyle.
Oh god, they left me. I don't see them. They're gone and I'm alone.
Then, "Meredith!"
I swung around quickly to see Kyle and the bottom of the chute. I breathed a sigh of relief, tears filling my eyes. He pointed, and I turned to see Lilly in the water (Lilly hates the water), pulling her tube along toward me. She pushed it to me, mouthed, "You okay?" I nodded, and she gave me a pointed look. I wanted to be okay. She turned, scaled along the banks of the river (Lilly hates it there, too. All the grass and bugs and moss...) toward my chute. She turned to look at me, pointed to Kyle. I looked at him, he waved me over. I nodded, but didn't move. To get to Kyle, I had to go down another chute. No, not again. Not again. I was paralyzed. I shook my head at him, then turned back to Lilly. She had retrieved the tube and was making her way back to me.
"Here's your tube, Meredith. I'll take mine, and we can go."
I nodded.
"Are you okay?"
I nodded.
"Okay."
She got back in her tube and slid down the chute. I pushed mine down, then then slid down it like a slide, praying that I didn't go back under. We reached Kyle together, and he just stared at me, eyes wide in shock and concern.
"You're okay?"
Tearfully, "Yeah." I bit my lip to keep down a sob as he turned back around.
Lilly and Kyle slid out of their tubes, and we made our way back to the stairs that led to the path to the parking lot. Kyle grabbed my tube, then Lilly's, then helped us up the slippery steps. He handed us our tubes back, and we made our way down the path. I walked behind them, stopping to put my sandals on and to keep myself from crying.
I'm alive. I'm okay. My legs are scraped up, but I didn't drown. I'm okay.
Lilly stopped a ways up to wait for me, and I jogged a little to catch up with them. Kyle still looked a little concerned, and Lilly looked shaken up. I could only imagine how I looked. It felt like I'd been dragged through hell and back.
"Did you hit your head?" he asked.
I shook my head, then looked down at my legs. My knees were a bloody mess, and my shins were already turning purple with dozens of bruises.
"Do you hurt at all?"
I shook my head again. Had I said yes, I would've cried. I didn't want to cry.
"Okay."
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