Short stories

Submerged

 "Where am I?" Elizabeth thought as she struggled to free herself. She was surrounded by darkness. She tugged at the rope that was tightly wrapped around her waist as she desperately called out, hoping someone would hear her. No sound escaped her throat. She screamed but there was only silence. She felt the water fill her lungs as she clawed at her restraints. Finally she opened her eyes. The car was fully submerged in the water now, making it hard for her to breathe. The seat belt was digging into her skin as she pulled on it. The buckle was stuck and felt as though it had been super glued together. She helplessly rummaged through the car compartments looking for something, anything that might free her. Her lungs burned as she grabbed hold of her pocket knife she had reluctantly stored in the middle compartment, just in case she needed to use it in self defense. She sawed away at the seat belt, fumbling with the knife, almost dropping it a few times. The knife was very flimsy and halfway through the cutting, the knife snapped in half. Elizabeth tugged at the seat belt as she finally got free. She tugged on the door handle, but the water pressure refused to let the door open. She banged on the windows, her fists doing no damage. She hit against them as hard as she could, so hard in fact, that her knuckles started to bleed. The water burned her wounds as she started to try to kick the window out, with no success. Her lungs felt like they were on fire. She thought about screaming, even though she knew no one would hear her. She allowed herself to float as time dragged on. She felt as if her lungs would explode out of her chest as her heartbeat slowed. She was now shifting in and out of consciousness. She had decided to accept her fate. This is not the way she wanted to die, drowning, the most painful way in her opinion. She didn't think she was ready to die, for she had many regrets. But in this moment, she felt at peace. She allowed herself to be at peace as she stop struggling, letting her body just float there. The pain in her chest began to fade as Elizabeth's life drained from her body. Suddenly Elizabeth woke up just as her car went through the railing and into the river. If only she had taken a cab instead of being stubborn and attempting to drive home while drunk. If only she had just stayed at home. None of this would have happened. This was her fate and she accepted it. She closed her eyes as her car crashed into the water and sunk the bottom.