Free Underwater

Prologue

Prologue
A whistle blew; once, twice, three times. The world wide swim meet in Australia had begun, the stands were filled with onlookers and swim teams from across the globe filled the grassy lawn and others splashed into one of the seven crystal blue swim pools for their chance at victory. Music played over screaming fans and you could smell the sweet aroma of the concession stand that was near by.

     Just the thought of food made Amaya Mizuno feel sick to her stomach as she paced back and forth between her teammates. Her blonde hair was braided back into a halo braid and her purple eyes scanned the ferrous competition. There was the American team of course both the boys and girls wore the red white and blue jackets over their swimsuits, then there was the Russian team, their strong physique not only made them a strong competitor but intimidating to even look at, finally there was the male Japanese team opposite of Amaya and the rest of the female Japanese team; Amaya scanned the crowd until her eyes fell on Rene as he leaned over the rail and waved at her. She waved back at the red haired boy and was about to continue pacing when her teammate yelled at her.

    "Amaya!" Shouted one of her teammates with short brown hair. "Sit your butt down! Coach is gonna give a speech!" She smiled.

    "I'm coming Macy!" Amaya shouted back as she wandered back to where the girls were sitting cross legged looking at their coach.

    "Girls!" The coach started as she looked at all her athletes. "I would like to begin by saying that I am proud to call you my team. We had some low points and high points but it all lead us here. To the junior Olympic swim meet. Now go out there and swim like you mean it! Owoww!" The coach howled and the rest of the team followed.

    "Girls 100 meter freestyle is up next so folks get you lemonade and your hot dog because this is a race you won't want to miss! We have the one of the youngest people ever to be swimming this freestyle event and her name is Amaya Mizuno. She is one of the youngest people ever to make it onto a junior Olympic swim team so be there to see if this rookie can take home the gold!"
    Amaya felt  her stomach drop, this was her moment. She stood and took off her jacket. She wore a red one piece bathing suit with a white stripe going up the sides. She tried not to panic. She stepped up onto the platform and pulled down her goggles. She breathed in and out as she stared into the water. She let the sun's reflection dancing off the the water's surface calm her in the distance she could hear Reen and Sasuke shouting her name in a chant. The whistle blew. She took her position and waited; her muscles tensed, her breathing slowed and heart pounded into her ears. Everything went quiet, Amaya heard nothing, not the crowds, not her friends, not the announcer and not her coach, it was just her and the water. The whistle sounded once more and Amaya dived into the water along with twelve other competitors. One arm in front of the other Amaya swam through the water as if her life depended on it. As she approached the wall she tucked herself into a ball and summer salted. Her feet hit the wall hard and she launched herself in the opposite direction and she began to swim back. Faster and faster she swam until she approached the opposite wall. The swimmer on the right began to surpass her, Amaya extended her legs more to gain greater speed. Then pain. Like a pain she had never felt before threatened to tear her left leg apart. Amaya couldn't move it ; Amaya's head went under the water and she began to panic as she tried to resurface but failed. She inhaled water and tried to cough but  couldn't. Her lungs burned and her head throbbed as the world around her dulled and went black.