Cheat

Reed was in the water, his legs pumping underneath him vigorously to stay afloat. Tiny droplets clung to his eyelashes like dew drops and the lake around him glimmered in the sunlight. If one moment could embody a summer, a singular snapshot keepsake, it would be the sight of a water slicked Reed, floating in that liquid gold.

“Get in, Cath!” he beckoned, his arms flowing languidly around him. He grinned that grin that made me weak in the knees before splashing my playfully, splattering my still-dry legs. I squealed defensively before falling into a fit of giggles. My toes curled against the edge of the boat, preparing myself for takeoff.

I dove headfirst into the water below, plummeting deeper and deeper into the unknown depths. The silence around me was deafening as my hands skimmed the top of the long, slimy seaweed at the bottom. For a moment I contemplated just staying down there, finding solitude in the dark, silent abyss. Peaceful.

And then I started running out of air.

My legs kicked furiously, struggling to bring myself up while my lungs begged to breathe. The surface seemed to be so far away as I swam and swam and swam, waiting anxiously to break through to sunlight that never seemed to come. The blackness became consuming and every nerve in my body turned to panic, panic, panic, but my legs couldn’t keep up, everything was slowing…

And then there was a set of hands grabbing me, pulling me out and I was coughing and sputtering and all I could see was Reed’s face, concern in his bright eyes.

“You’re insane, you know that?” he gasped, his hands and lips all over my face, as though he was trying to map them in his mind so he would never forget them. “Never scare me like that again. Damn it Cath, never scare me like that again.”