Brett stammered.
"B, but Eddy, I... I want you to enjoy yourself. I'm glad to hear that you are. Honest..!! Look, maybe I could row the boat for you for a bit?"
Eddy smiled.
"Oh, that's okay, I don't mind rowing."
"No, really. I want to try. Let me."
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"Okay.. Well Brett, you need to sit in the middle bench where I am, so I'm gonna move back one bench and you can move forward to here. Don't stand all the way up though okay? You need to stay low when you move in the boat.. like this."
Eddy showed how to stay crouched down with a low centre of gravity as he moved backwards.
"Okay, got it."
Brett carefully moved to the middle bench and held onto the oars.
"This can't be too hard."
It was. After splashing Eddy with the oars a million times without moving anywhere, Brett gave up.
"Agh, this is so frustrating...!!"
He tossed the oars into the boat.
Eddy tried not to chuckle.
"That was a good attempt Brett. Much better than my first time. You just need to practice more and you'll be fine...."
Eddy's eyes widened.
The oars that Brett had thrown onto the floor of the boat had made a cross shape.
When Eddy noticed it, he thought he would have to remove one of the oars promptly, before Brett saw it and freaked out.
Somehow Eddy couldn't move.
He felt paralysed. He could not understand why. He forced himself to reach out towards the oars in an attempt to pick up the one on the top.
"..Eddy? What's the matter?"
Eddy couldn't speak nor barely move. All he managed to do was raise his glance and share his terrified look with Brett. Brett was alarmed by Eddy's face.
"Eddy...???"
Brett looked down at the oars that Eddy was trying to reach out to.
Then Brett noticed the cross shape.
Brett's response was much more prominent. He let out a blood curdling scream. He jolted and stood up in the boat. The boat rocked vigorously and capsized, throwing both Brett and Eddy into the water.
Once tossed into the water, bodies and ores and all, Eddy was able to compose himself. The paralysis he felt before was gone and he was able to swim freely. He quickly swam up to the surface of the lake and heard Brett on the other side of the capsized boat, splashing laboriously.
"Brett..!!"
Eddy made a dive and swam underneath the boat, emerging on the other side where Brett was.
"Eddy...!! Help..!!"
Eddy saw the life buoy floating nearby him. In light of the accident they had a year ago, the groundskeeper had always kept one in the boat. Eddy was relieved to see it. He quickly grabbed it and pushed it towards Brett.
"Brett!! Grab it !!"
Brett grabbed it, but he was still struggling and was panicky. Brett extended his hand towards Eddy.
"Eddy...!"
"Brett!! It's okay, I'm with you. Try to be still for a moment. You have the ring, you won't sink!!"
"Eddy...!!"
"Brett!!! You have to calm down!! If you grab me now, we will both drown!! Please try to stay still."
Brett seemed to have finally heard what Eddy said and stopped splashing around.
"Okay Brett.. I'm just gonna flip this ring over your head... see if you can put your arms through the hole.. one arm at a time.. good.. okay, can you rest your arms over the ring now and relax?"
Eddy felt better knowing Brett was safe in the ring. Eddy finally held Brett's hand and squeezed it. It seemed to have brought lots of relief to Brett.
"Okay.. okay.. I'm okay.. I'm okay now."
"Yeah, you're okay now Brett."
Brett swallowed hard.
"Okay..."
"Okay Brett, I'm just gonna go and try to flip over the boat. You just keep floating here, okay?"
Brett's eyes shot open.
"N...no..!! Don't let go of my hand..!!!"
"Brett.. it would be easier if we could use the boat to get back to shore. Please.. you are safe with the floatation ring."
Brett swallowed hard again.
"O..okay.. I got this.."
He slowly let go of Eddy's hand.
"Okay.. Good, thank you Brett."
Eddy swam over to the capsized rowboat and tried multiple times to flip it over. It was too big and difficult for a small 7 year old.
"Brett.. I think we'll just have to swim to the shore."
"Does that mean I can hold your hand again?
"I need my hands to swim Brett.. I'm trying to think of the best way to do this..."
Eddy turned his back against Brett and told him to grab onto his Tshirt at the centre of his back.
"Hold on, okay??"
It took an awfully long time to swim back to shore.
"Brett.. try to paddle your feet.. try to splash them to help us move forward..."
Brett didn't know how. He had no idea how to swim.
"Eddy.. I'm so sorry, I.. I have no idea what you want me to do..."
"Like this Brett.. c'mon, you can do this."
Eddy demonstrated how to use his legs to propel himself forward.
A few more moments later, Eddy turned around to face Brett;
"Eddy.. I... just need a bit of a rest..."
Eddy tried to hold onto the floatation ring to have a bit of a breather. Eddy misjudged his distance and his hand didn't quite reach the ring to grab hold of it, his hand slipped on the ring and his head sank under the water. Brett was mortified. He screamed and cried out;
"N..noo...!! Eddy!!"
YOU ARE READING
Twoset Vampire Story
Fanfiction[COMPLETED] Living in a world where humans are dominated by vampires is not easy. It seems like Brett and Eddy must learn to accept their fate no matter how difficult that may be.
