Just Going Swimming

"Water, Lilly. Water!"

Gripping the collar on Lilly's neck, I allowed her to pull me forward. I adjusted the leash that I had tied around my wrist, looking around with unseeing eyes. I knew I heard water somewhere, past all the sounds of people talking around me- waves sloshing over each other somewhere to the right. As I walked uncertainly forward, I reached a hand out and felt cold, hard steel beneath my palm as I grabbed something that seemed to be a pole, then moved my hand to the left and felt another one.

They're bars. I told myself. Like mommy said. Bars are steel poles that are next to each other.

Sticking my face through the bars, I made sure I was holding Lilly tightly with one hand before leaning the tiniest bit forward, taking a deep breath. The air smelled salty, with the distinct scent of the ocean.

I gasped delightedly, jumping up and down.

"Mommy, mommy!" I said excitedly, turning my head to the side. I took a step back, then tapped Lilly's collar. The dog barked, and I suddenly felt a wet nose on my palm. "Mommy, Lilly!" I told the dog, "Take me to mommy!"

The dog gave me a small tug forward, then began pulling me around, weaving between people and turning all different directions before she stopped and let out a small bark.

"Mommy!" I shouted up to mommy, and I heard fabric rustling as she leaned down to me.

"What do you need, my dear?" Asked mommy in her sweet voice, wrapping one arm around me.

"Ocean!" I said, pointing to the right, where I heard the unmistakable sounds of the ocean.

"Oh, good job, dear!" She exclaimed, grabbing and holding one of my hands, "That's right! It's the ocean! Do you know why you can hear the ocean?"

"No." I said, tilting my head.

"Because we're on a cruise, remember?" She laughed and I could almost feel her smiling, "We're surrounded by the ocean all around!"

"And who is this little sweetheart?" Asked a new voice from above me. Immediately, I reached out until I felt the fabric of mommy's dress, pulling myself into her to hide from the new person, letting out a small squeak. Lilly leaned into my leg, nudging my hand with her nose until I grabbed her collar.

"Oh, this is my daughter, Ellie; she's 6 years old." Mommy said, and her dress shifted as she stood up. I remained unmoving by her, clutching her leg through her dress with wide eyes. "She's a bit shy, but that's just because she doesn't know who anyone is, since she can't see them. It startles her when voices come out of nowhere."

"Oh, no need to be afraid, darling!" Said the person, and suddenly there was a hand on my arm.

It wasn't mommy's hand.

I instantly recoiled, pulling my arm away from the hand, burying my face in mommy's dress.

The woman laughed. "Don't worry, sweetheart. I'm mommy's friend." Said the lady. "She's told me all about you. She's always saying how you're such a sweet girl, always inventive and kind despite your disabilities."

At that, I gave the lady a small smile, showing her some of my face through mommy's dress.

"Oh!" Said the woman, as if she'd forgotten something, "Where are my manners? Allow me to give you a proper introduction." The woman cleared her throat. "My name is Amelia, and it's very nice to meet you." She said softly. "What's your name?"

After a moment of hesitation, I said in a small voice, "Ellie."

"Oh, what a beautiful name!" She said. I gave another small smile in her direction, removing my head from mommy's dress.

"Oh, is this your guide dog?" Amelia asked, taking my hand and putting it on Lilly's fur.

Perking up, I stroked Lilly's fur and said, "Yeah! Her name's Lilly."

"Oh, lovely!" The woman said cheerily, and Lilly let out a small bark. "A golden retriever, I see. How beautiful!"

I let out a giggle and peeled myself off mommy, holding Lilly's collar with both hands. "She helps me get around when mommy and daddy aren't nearby." I told the woman, patting the dog on the head. There was thumping as her tail wagged and hit the floor.

"Aww, very sweet." She said with a little laugh.

"We're about to go swimming, would you like to come?" Said mommy. I let out a noise of joy.

"Sure!" Said Amelia.

"Swim! Swim!" I exclaimed, and both women laughed. Taking my hand, mommy said, "Yes, yes, I know you love swimming, dear! I'll just call daddy and we'll head over to the pool, alright?"

I nodded, smiling widely.

Mommy got up, still holding my hand. I held Lilly's collar with the other hand, tugging her forward as I walked alongside mommy, depending on her to get me around.

Above me, in a voice almost too small for me to hear, I heard Amelia whispering something to mommy.

"Was she born blind, or was it something she developed?" Amelia asked mommy quietly.

"She was born like that, but she never let it get in the way of doing the things she loves." Mommy whispered back.

"I thought people generally get guide dogs when they're older. Isn't she a bit young for one?"

"Well, the thing is, she doesn't really trust humans, but that's no surprise. The only people she's okay being around is me and her father. However, even though she can't see them, she's always seemed to love animals, regardless of what they are. Whenever we would walk around outside- at a park or even in our neighborhood -and she heard barking, she would start running off in the direction of the sound. There were almost some serious accidents because of that. So we decided to get her a dog. Lilly's not exactly a real guide dog, but she was trained to listen to only Ellie's commands and watch her no matter what. Ellie stopped chasing dogs around the neighborhood once she got one of her own, so that solved her running-away problem."

"Oh, the poor dear." Amelia said in a sad voice. "Well, I wish the very best for her."

"We all do." Mommy said, then she let out a small exclamation. "Oh, there's Tony! I suppose I'll see you at the pool, yeah?"

"Yes, of course! I'll go get changed right now. See you there!"

We stood in place for a moment as Mommy and Amelia said goodbye to each other, then we started walking to the right.

"Ellie!" I heard daddy's voice say above me, and I immediately let out a noise of joy, running toward him. He leaned down to give me a hug, then asked, "You ready to go swimming?"

"Yeah!" I said, and I heard mommy and daddy laugh.

Daddy ruffled my hair.

"Then come on, let's go get changed!"

***

***

I dipped one toe into the pool.

The water was warm, just like mommy had said. I heard laughing, overlapping chatter, and much splashing all around me as I stepped into the water, holding mommy's hand. Although I was wearing floaties, I still preferred to stay next to my parents.

"Want to swim in a circle, dear?" Mommy asked, holding both of my hands.

I squealed in response, and I felt hands around my waist as daddy held me from behind, making sure I didn't bump into anyone. Mommy twirled me around in a circle, and I shouted joyfully.

We swam around for several minutes, splashing around laughing before Amelia arrived.

"I'm here!" called Amelia's voice from the next to us. There was a splash next to us as she jumped into the pool, and we all started laughing.

"Amelia! Amelia, watch this!" I told her, feeling around until my hand closed on something hard. I hauled myself over the edge until I was standing on the pool deck, where I planted my feet down firmly so I wouldn't fall.

"Look, I'm gonna jump!" I said, and I heard her reply, "Okay!"

Just before I jumped in, however, I someone ran past me, causing me to spin around, tipping backwards. I let out a small yelp before I fell over, my head spinning. The sounds of the people talking in the pool suddenly grew louder in my ears, overwhelming me. I heard a hissing sound come from somewhere next to my ear, but when I felt around for something like a snake, there was nothing.

I shook my head before calling, "Okay, I'm gonna jump now! 3! 2! 1!"

I leapt off the edge, expecting to feel the water of the pool underneath me the second I fell.

However... I didn't.

Wind rushed in my ears as I descended, and it was a much, much longer fall than the half-second it took to get into the pool.

But how am I falling so far? I thought, panicking. I heard someone scream my name from somewhere high above me, then Lilly's bark.

"HELP! SOMEONE SAVE MY DAUGHTER!" Screamed mommy's voice.

I let out a shriek as I realized what had happened.

I'd accidently jumped overboard.

It must have been when I got turned around by that person who ran past me! I thought with an internal scream. My thoughts raced as I thought of how to get out of this, but before I could think of more than one idea, I fell with a large SPLASH! into the cold water of the ocean. I screamed for help, whipping my head in all directions, listening for any sounds of something or someone coming towards me, staring around with unseeing eyes. The only thing I could hear was people screaming from the top deck of the cruise, ad that drowned out everything but the sounds of the ocean waves splashing over each other. I bobbed around, unable to see what I was doing or where I was going.

I was helpless.

"Mommy!" I screamed, not knowing what else to do, "Mommy! Daddy! Help!"

Wait, why was there suddenly water on my neck?

And why had that hissing noise stopped?

My eyes widened as I bobbed slightly to the left, and water came in through my mouth. I chocked, then let out a scream. Why weren't my floaties keeping me upright? I put my hand on the side where the hissing noise was, feeling around for anything that could have happened to my floaties.

What I felt made me fill up with despair.

The floatie on my right arm had deflated.

I screamed even louder, and that only made the noises above me grow wilder. I heard something splash next to me, and I screamed again, thinking it was a shark, or some sea animal trying to get me.

"Ellie!" Screamed Daddy's voice. "Grab the lifebuoy! It's right next to you!"

"Where?" I cried.

"To the left! Grab it, quickly!"

I desperately paddled to the left, but my right side kept sinking and throwing me off balance since I'd never learned to swim. A jolt ran through me as my head went underwater in my desperate attempt to get to the lifebuoy, and I screamed a flurry of bubbles, clawing at the surface. I managed to lift my head out of the water, and didn't waste any time before screaming, "I can't swim! Daddy, HELP!"

"I'm coming! I'm coming, Ellie, just hold on!"

But I couldn't hold on any longer.

The fact that only one side of my floaties were inflated caused me to be off-balance, and my head kept dipping into the water as I tilted to the right. I took a deep breath just before my head went under again, and I tried to get my head above the surface again.

However, this time, I couldn't.

Resisting the urge to scream, I lifted my head up, stretching my neck as far as it could go, but I still didn't breach the surface.

I couldn't hold my breath any longer.

My thoughts raced as I held the little bit of breath I had in reserve, using every attempt I could think of to try and get back to the surface.

Nothing worked.

My thoughts were going a million miles a minute.

What's going to happen to Lilly? I thought, the hopelessness of the situation beginning to consume me. And mommy? And daddy? What about all my friends?

I inhaled on instinct, but that was a terrible mistake.

My eyes shot open and went wide as moons as I began to choke.

I screamed underwater, but no one could hear me.

I clawed at the surface, but I never reached it.

Searing pain ran through my throat as water poured into my lungs. It felt like my lungs were on fire as I tried and failed to breathe. I thought I was crying, but since I was underwater, it was impossible to tell.

I took one last deep breath in.

I thought of Mommy.

I thought of Daddy.

I thought of Lilly.

I thought of everyone who knew and loved me.

With my last ounce of energy, I thought, Goodbye, everyone.

My eyes closed.

Darkness closed around me, wrapping me in its cold embrace.