"If somebody told me they have the ability to control water, I would have laughed at them. I wouldn't have believed it. It was utterly impossible, to be able to control water. It was impossible and outright hilarious. Only somebody mad enough would...
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I was a persistent young child. I know my mom believed me. I know she knew I was telling the truth. So why was she denying it?
A week later after my drowning incident, I caught my mom alone and looking at the photo albums in the living room. "Hey, mom..."
She didn't glance up. She was pretending I wasn't there. Now tell me who's the immature one here?
I dared to come closer to her. I peeked over her shoulder. She was looking at my baby pictures. I sat down next to her. "Mom. Are we going to the beach next year? I never had the chance to enjoy my stay there last week."
She didn't say a word.
I continued. "I was hoping you'd come swim with me next time. Or maybe some of my friends can come, too." I wasn't even looking at her. My little feet swayed carelessly.
"We're not coming back."
My heart stopped. "What?" I stared at her with my dejected eyes but she wouldn't even look at me.
"We're never going to the beach again. You can't go either. I forbid you to go to the beach again." She flipped to the next page of the album.
"Why? Do you still think I'm lying? Momma, I know you know I'm not lying! I was telling the truth!" My voice rose without me noticing. I dug my nails into the skin of the couch. "Mom, I can breathe underwater!"
When she heard the word 'breathe', her neck snapped towards me at a speed I still can't grasp my mind around. "Don't you dare say those words again," she hissed.
A whimper caught at the back of my throat. "But, it's true! It's true that I can breathe underwater! I'll show you!" I ran from the living room to the stairs. My mom's voice echoed behind me, yelling, screaming at me to stop. But I was too determined to show her that I really can breathe underwater.
The day we went home from the beach, I didn't dare try it again. It was always nagging at the back of my mind. Maybe it didn't really happen. Maybe I was too light-headed that I imagined everything. Is it even true that I swam towards my parents that night? Or maybe they found me and then resuscitated me?
Whatever the answer was, I was too scared to find out.
And now I've mustered up the courage to learn the truth.
I filled our bathtub with water. And then I closed my eyes and dove. I immediately held my breath, as it was the normal thing to do. The next thing I did, I exhaled slowly and inhaled. Water didn't come pouring in my nose. I was breathing air. Underwater. I did it again.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale. Inhale.
Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale.
Still air. Still no sign that I'd drown any moment.
A pair of arms grabbed my shoulders and pulled me out of the cold water. Mom's expression was enraged to the point that I thought I saw fire burning in her eyes. "You idiot!" She was screaming at me and shaking my shoulders. "Who told you to fucking drown yourself, huh? Answer me!" She began cursing at me and shouting words I can't seem to comprehend at that age.
