Sinking through time (#Wattys2014)

Chapter 1 - Sinking

Lucy was sinking; sinking fast. One minute she had been running down the track towards the sea, anticipating a morning swim, and the next minute she had stumbled over something and found herself standing in quicksand and sinking.

At first the very idea of her actually being in quicksand seemed totally ludicrous to her. Lucy had never heard any reports of quicksand in this area and she’d lived at Littles all her life.

"Think Lucy, think" she told herself as she continued to sink.

The quicksand had now swallowed her up to her knees. If only she could remember what Bear Grylls did in that episode of Man vs Wild where he showed you what to do if you were stuck in quicksand. Lucy couldn't remember. She hadn’t really paid much attention to that part of the episode, as she never thought she’d be in that position. Her mind was blank.

"Crap, crap, crap!" she grumbled.

She looked around for something to grab onto but there was nothing within reach. She was desperate and time was running out, as she had already sunk up to her waist.

"Help! Somebody help me! Please, help me!" she screamed, but to no avail.

There was nobody around for miles. That's why she liked going down to this beach, instead of the popular surf beach over the hill. Littles was her haven; her get away from the world. Now it looked like her haven was going to become her hell. Lucy knew that, unless someone miraculously appeared out of the bush to help her, things were not going to end well. There was only one thing left to do; Lucy started praying.

"God, please help me. Help me remember what to do. Save me from this quicksand. Please Lord, save me", she pleaded.

An odd, calm feeling came over Lucy as her shoulders, and finally her head, sank down into the gritty, cold quicksand. Although she remained calm, her last thought before losing consciousness was that she had just taken her last breath.

 Lucy opened her eyes. The sun was blindingly bright and made her immediately close them again. For a moment she couldn't remember where she was. Her energy was sapped and the warmth of the sun on her face made her feel sleepy. She was also wet, very wet.

‘What the?’ she thought  to herself as she ran her hands down over her clothes and found every inch was soaked. She opened her eyes and sat up quickly. Looking around, she found she was just off to the side at the bottom of the track that ran down to her favourite beach; her haven.

She scanned the scenery around her and saw the quicksand pool. All the memories of sinking in the quicksand suddenly came rushing back to her. She coughed, remembering the suffocating feeling that had come over her as she lost consciousness. The greatest relief she’d ever felt suddenly flooded through her.

"Oh my goodness, I'm alive!" Lucy shouted at the realization. "Thank you God. Thank you", she cried, lifting her face up to the sky and raising her arms toward heaven.

She was thrilled that she was still breathing. Seventeen was too young to die.

Lucy's shoes squelched as she stood up, reminding her that she was wet. ‘Time to get home and change’, she thought to herself. She trudged back up the track towards home, her shoes squelching and picking up more sand with each step. She couldn't wait to get out of her wet, sandy clothes and into some clean ones.

On the way home Lucy was happy to see more wildlife along the track than she'd ever seen before. There were colourful birds bobbing in and out of the tree branches, frogs and turtles swimming in the creek running alongside the track and a couple of a water dragons soaking up the sun on a rock. She wondered if it was her near-death experience that was making her pay more attention to her surroundings now, or if there were really more animals today than usual.

A few minutes later she was nearing the top of the track and would soon be on the road that led to her house. She came to the rise of the hill and looked up. Lucy gasped in shock. Where the road should have been was a dirt track, and where the few houses that were down at the bottom of the road should have been, was a small pocket of rainforest. Lucy turned a full three hundred and sixty degrees, looking around as she did, her mouth still open from the shock. What was going on, she wondered? Had she lost so much oxygen to her brain that she was hallucinating? Was she still asleep? She pinched herself hard.

"Ouch" she yelped.

Yes, she was definitely awake; awake and totally confused. She decided to push on and head for home. There was nothing else she could do. She was still uncomfortable and wanted to get her wet clothes off. The thought skipped to mind that she may also needed to visit a doctor. Her mum would know what to do. She set off in the direction of home.

Author's note: I'm creating a playlist for Sinking Through Time. Each chapter will be matched up with a song I think reflects the feeling of that chapter. The song I've chosen for Chapter 1 - Sinking is Quicksand Jesus by Skid Row. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8fYiqKbv7g