It Feels Like I'm Drowning...

Most of the time, my clumsiness is "an inconvenience". You might say it's "annoying". "A pain to live with". All of those things are true, but, today, I'll be adding onto that long list of things my clumsiness does and is.

Today, I almost drowned because of it.

It was a humid Friday night at Camp Half-blood. The sun was just setting, streaking the sky with pink and crimson. The fireflies were hovering lazily through the forest, lighting up their tiny lights now and again. The whole camp was playing Capture the Flag, and I was on border patrol by this rickety dam with my friend, Jillian, a daughter of Hermes. Water flowed gently into a shallow pool of stone on our side of the mound of twigs and sticks, and on the other side, it became deeper and coasted up the slightest of hills. Jill was perched lightly atop the dam, which I dubbed extremely unsafe. I tried to coax her down, to no avail. She then asked why we were there, and if this was punishment, to which I replied, that yes, it was. I sat down on the stone bank of the river, trailing my fingers in the water. Feeling fidgety a few minutes later, I stood up.

"We've got to stay alert." I said. The sound of my own voice rang out against the silent trees. I started walking along the bank, trying not to lose my footing along the jagged rocks.

Fwick! One of my booted feet caught on a dip in the stone, and I stumbled along the bank, trying desperately not to fall in. My arms flailed up and down. I could feel myself falling. Sploosh! I shivered and cried out as the icy water hit my skin. My nerves screamed in protest.

"Nothing broken? Still alive?" I asked myself in my head, and started to sigh in relief. I tried to climb out of the pool, and that's when I realized two things. First, that my right foot was stuck between two rocks, keeping me from walking out of the pool. Second, that I'd tore a hole in the dam with one of my flailing arms on my way down, and icy river water was rushing in rapidly.

"Jillian, I think my foot's stuck! Will you come down here?" I yelled, trying to pull my foot free of the two boulders. I barely heard Jillian's reply over the rushing of the water and the ringing of worry in my ears. The water, a minute before at my stomach, now had me submerged up to my neck. Jillian splashed in, and joined me in my efforts to pull my foot loose, to no avail.

"Run and get help! I said. Jillian nodded, and almost ran off, but turned around and slipped my compass off of my neck. It glinted in her grasped hand.

"Hey, bring that back!" I gasped, but she was already splashing out of the creek and tearing off through the forest. I bit my lip and stared at the rising water, which, three minute before had been at my hips. Now, it was almost up to my chest.

"Stay calm. Stay calm. Stay calm." I murmured to myself, still trying to tug my foot loose. Water gushed through the dam at a steady pace, ever rising, not as fast as before, but still fast. What would I do if Jill didn't find help for me?

Would I die? Pass out? What if everyone forgot about me and I drowned?

The water was at my neck now.

No, surely Jill wouldn't let me down like that. What if she couldn't find anyone to help me? It was almost to my chin. I craned my neck to stay above the water. Surely, someone would come and pull me out…

Right?

It passed my chin, covering up my mouth. My foot was, of course, still stuck.

"Heeeeeeeeelp!!!!!!" I gurgled. I paid the price for that short sound with a couple of spluttering coughs, which only made me swallow more water. I was sure no one could have heard me.

And, that was when I went under.

I was never much for swimming. I tried to avoid the water if I could. If I did go under, I always made sure I had goggles on. For the first time, I wished I was a Poseidon kid. I held my breath. The water around me was clear, though, thanks to the naiads who made sure campers the river clean. I was pretty sure no one was coming now. I sighed in my head.

"Thanks for trying, Jill."
Soon after that, my thoughts were clouded by lack of oxygen. They came in choppy fragments.
"This hurts.
         Air.
         Don't breathe.
         Eyes
         Air
         Hurts
         Open
         Breath
         Hurts
         Help
         Jill
         Water
         Hurts."

I finally gave up, and let myself close my eyes. What was the point anyway? My foot was still stuck. Water was still gushing over my head. Capture the Flag was still going on, unknowing that Selena Aiko was drowning by a broken dam at the end of the river.

Splash! I vaguely heard a sound, but it barely registered with my waterlogged brain. Two hands were gripping my leg, tugging, wiggling my foot out. I didn't bother to open my eyes. I didn't know if I was conscious or not. I was sort of… half there. The hands left my leg, and then I felt one of the rocks being moved away. Was I free? The same hands grabbed me around the waist and tugged me upward.

My head broke the surface. My senses jumpstarted. I was coughing up water, and then sucking in crisp wonderful gulps of air. It was like I couldn't take it in fast enough. After my lungs had had their fill, and the hands had set me down on the river bank, I took to opening my eyes. Sparkling blue orbs stared back at me. Blonde hair was plastered to a thin face, which bore a smile. It was Will Solace. I threw my arms around his neck, laughing and coughing at the same time. He finally helped me stand up and let me lean on him when I walked. I didn't know which way my ankle was hurt, but whatever it was, it hurt a lot. Will was still panting, and so was I.

"Are you okay?" He asked. I nodded.

"For almost drowning, I'm just fine." I said breathlessly. Will smiled faintly.

We met Jill in the infirmary after Capture the Flag had ended, where Will bandaged my ankle, and she filled us in on the events of Capture the Flag while we were pre-occupied. She gave me my compass back, which I draped gratefully around my neck. I'd missed it's comforting weight. And, it seemed we'd almost won Capture the Flag, but, due to a surprising turn of events,(that Jill cleverly left out) the Blue Team took our flag and won the game. I wasn't happy about that. But, on the other hand, I was happy to be alive.