Isolated Souls

Chapter 4

My eyes stayed trained on the water. “It’s stupid,” I sighed. “I’m nowhere near the pool and yet...I feel terrified.

~

I was sitting beside the pool hugging Kunnie to my chest. I was nine at the time and was forced to attend a spiderman themed pool party for my neighbor Donatello’s tenth birthday. I hated him, he smelled like old cabbage and had a hobby of eating his boogers.

“Hey, Ivy.”

Speak of the devil.

“Hi.” I said, not bothering to look at the birthday boy.

He roughly tapped my shoulder with a bony finger.

“Why aren’t you happy?”

I shrugged. I wasn’t in the mood to tell him I never wanted to come here in the first place.

He blew out an annoyed breath. “You should be happy. It’s my birthday.”

And I don’t really care.

Kunnie stared back at me with his adorable face and I smiled.

“What’s that?”

I froze when the stuffed bear was roughly ripped from my grasp. I looked up at Donatello with wide eyes. He held it up to his ugly face and laughed.

“This thing is so stupid.”

I stood up quickly and reached for it, but he swiftly moved so he was dangling it above my head. I felt a sob rise in my throat.

“Give Kunnie back! He’s mine!”

He looked down at me with a mischief twinkle in his eye. Time suddenly moved in slow motion when he tossed the bear. It soared through the empty air before landing softly in the swimming pool.

He yelped when I sent a sharp kick to his leg. 

“Jerk!” I screamed.

Ugly tears began to run down his face as he sprinted away from me and towards his mom who was sitting across the room busy chatting with the other adults. I crouched down onto my hands and knees, watching Kunnie spin in slow circles in the water.

“Don’t worry, Kunnie! I’ll save you!”

He was an arms length away, close enough to where I could reach him. I leaned over the pool and reached for the stuffed bear. My fingertips brushed against his small arm and he drifted a centimeter further. I sniffled and inched closer, my knees brushed against the edge of the twelve feet marker beside the water. 

“Mommy! She kicked—”

“Donatello! That’s enough. Stop interrupting my conversation and go back to your friends at the kiddy pool. We can talk about this later.”

I glanced back to see a red faced Donatello before the world began to tilt forward. I didn’t have time to scream when I plunged head first into the cold pool. I thrashed in a panicked fury that only pushed me farther away from the wall. After a moment I managed to grab a secure hold onto Kunnie floating above me. But a stuffed bear isn’t a very good floatation device, so I rapidly started sinking towards the bottom with the toy.

I kicked and clawed at the water as I struggled to reach the surface against my burning feeling spreading through my body. My eyes darted around frantically for help, but I was alone in the blue abyss. My head began to spin from the loss of oxygen and my vision darkened, the only indication that I was still alive were the lights shining above the pool.

My limbs become numb and after one final thrash, I unwillingly let my body relax. The lights above twinkled down at me with a warm glow as I sank lower. I tried to ignore the pressure that was forming in my ears and nose, but it was annoyingly consistent. Kunnie’s fur was gently brushing against me and I felt guilt wash over me that momentarily overtook the painful feeling in my chest.

I’m sorry I couldn’t save you, Kunnie.

The pain had become too much and with a sharp gasp I felt the chlorine filled water invade my lungs. Scorching hot flames zipped through my body as I felt every nerve scream for air, but the pain only lasted for a few seconds. 

Suddenly, I felt nothing. I hardly felt my own body. My only reminder that I was still sinking was the stuffed bear clutched to my chest.

The lights above the water brightened until it was almost all I could see. Warm, bright light. I felt my grip on Kunnie loosen and then fully let go as he slowly drifted to the surface. 

Then abruptly, everything became dark and I was ripped from consciousness.

~

“Ivy?”

I blinked from my daze and looked at Kun. He was staring at me now with a worried look on his face.

“Are you okay? You suddenly zoned out looking at the pool.”

I cleared my throat and nodded, pushing the memory away. 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I quickly masked my panicked expression. “Come on, let's go raid the snack table. I heard the chef makes really good burgers.