The Deep Pool

The Deep Pool (a short story)

-----ROUGH DRAFT-----

On a beautiful island in the south, in the days when dinosaurs were nearly inexistent, a small girl named Huali lived in a shady hut with her parents. They told her never to go into the deep pool in the middle of the island, although she was a very good swimmer and they allowed her to play in the ocean's waves with the other island children on clear days.

The other children teased Huali because of her parents' restriction. They never went into the pool themselves, because there were disturbing stories surrounding it. Stories of individuals who had gone for a swim in the deep pool and had disappeared. Of course they did not let on their superstitions and fears to the small girl, but they dared her to take a dive into the pool. "You could just dive in really quickly and climb right back out," Rua told her. "It will be easy, like stealing a piece of fruit from a sleeping lizard."

Huali doubted Rua had had much experience stealing from lizards, and she would not disobey her parents. Even though they had not explained why they had given her the rule, she was sure there was a good reason. For days, the other island children taunted the small girl, and after a while she would not play with them. Then they called her names and followed her around until she stayed in her hut instead of going to the beach with them.

One morning, Huali's friend Tuiara came to find her. After a quick greeting to Huali's mother who was weaving a basket, Tuiara sat on the mat next to the small girl. She told Huali the other children missed her and wished she would come play again.

Huali would not go with her friend. She did not want to be teased about the deep pool that she refused to touch.

"If they dare you again to dive, why don't you just do it and get it over with?" Tuiara asked. "We could tie a rope around your waist and haul you up just as quickly as we can."

The small girl could hear the other children's laughter mingling with the sounds of the seagulls and splashing waves, and she missed the beach. She finally agreed to go with her friend, and the two girls said goodbye to Huali's mother and ran for the sandy shore.

The other children were glad to see Huali, and for a while they all played nicely together. Until someone mentioned the deep pool and it got everyone riled up again. Some of the children wished to drop the dare, but the others were holding firmly to it, especially Rua. Many began to fight, wrestling in the sand and throwing things at one another. Finally the small girl got up on large rock and yelled at them. They stopped their squabbling and listened.

Huali swallowed. "I will dive into the deep pool with a rope around my waist," she announced. "We will all go over there now and end this foolishness!"

So all the children trooped through the palm trees to the deep pool. The water sparkled with gentle ripples on the surface, but when the small girl got down on the rocks around the edge she could not see the bottom. The water grew dark quickly and no one knew how deep the pool was.

The children made sure the rope was fastened securely around Huali's waist and tied the other end of it to the trunk of a tall palm tree, taking up positions along it to be ready to pull. Tuiara squeezed Huali's hand, then the small girl inched to the very edge of the rocks. She stared down at the water, trying to take calm breaths.

In the dark water beneath the surface of the rippling waves, Huali thought she saw a huge shape slightly darker than the water. But soon it was gone. The small girl gulped and shook her head to clear the image. It was probably her imagination playing tricks on her. She looked back at the other children. Rua looked bored, but most of them seemed more wide-eyed than usual and held tightly to the rope as they each nodded that they were ready. Huali turned toward the water again, took a deep breath, and pushed off from the rocks into the pool.