The Royal Rescue

Go for a swim ( Part 1 )

"This is no way to spend your vacation. You just sulk around all day and listen to deafening rock. Get a life. " Dela said to me. Me , Dela and Zara were all walking to the local park. earlier today after school, these two thickheads had shown up and were now taking me to the park. Talk about clingy girlfriends. I had managed to grab my cell phone , Ipod and headphones just incase Zara and Dela desert me. Which happens, like, mostly. 

" I just can't take this anymore. I mean , all you people do the entire day is shop for random things , hit on guys , get involved in some god-forsaken drama and still have the energy to crash parties all night. I think I'll pass on that. " I said to her. She just rolled her eyes.

We were nearing the park now. Its a family park but all I see is teenagers on swings , on the grass making out and some of them flirting shamelessly under the big willow tree. I grimace as we enter the park and find the guard picking his nose.

Zara raises her eye-brows and punches Dela lightly on her arm . Dela just shrugs and takes my hand . I don't get it. Seriously , what's going on ?

"Dela , I see Adrian ! . " Zara squeals at Dela. oh , now I see it. It's Dela's Ex. They were together for a few months then it all went splitsville when Dela found out Adrian lied about his age. Cliche'd . I hate life. Insert poker face.

Dela shifted uncomfortably under Adrian's gaze. Zara was clearly really happy about this because she kept steering us into Adrian's path. It was getting a bit annoying. I figured I should keep some distance from the trio to avoid maximum drama.

" I think I'm gonna go sit by the pond for a while . And just take in the summer breeze ... " I said to Dela. But Dela was very busy trying to get rid of Zara who had a fair grip on Dela's arm and was talking animatedly with Adrian.

" So , I'll just go. Not that anybody cares. " I muttered under my breath and started towards the glittering blue pond . I could hear Adrian speaking in hushed voices with Dela . While Zara seemed to be bickering with another hyper girl. I sighed inwardly. These moods have got to stop. I had reached the pond and sat myself on the soft grass. I just sat there for a few minutes , taking in the atmosphere , the coolness from the pond and the sounds of various birds in the trees. It was calming. MotherNature always is. 

It must have been only 15 minutes of me sitting there when I heard someone coming towards me . I rolled my eyes thinking it must be Zara or Dela and turned around . But it wasn't them. It was a Guy. A really attractive guy , I should mention. But as this thought entered my mind , it was like an internal force that slapped me. I sat there , face turned towards the stranger that was approaching and in internal pain. He brought an aura of authority with him. It seemed like the trees bowed in the wind to this man. This man , who seemed young but felt alot older. This man with Golden-brown hair , eyes of a cat and the body of a Lion. He seemed strong. And I felt intimidated. I quickly recovered my original position and stared intently into the pond. Please don't come and sit by me , Please don't come and sit by me. I silently prayed. 

" Why don't you want me to sit by you ? " The young man asked me. I stayed silent for a second because I realized he'd read my thoughts. For some reason , the hysteria  boiling inside of me vanished and calm took its place. I looked at the man and said , " I don't remember . " It was more of a murmur. He took a seat beside me. His body warmth felt good beside me. I was calmer and in strange ecstasy.

Also , I had no idea what was going on .

" Do you like to swim ? " he asked me.

"Hmm ? " I snapped back into reality. But not quite , the feelings lingered . Like, waking up from a sleep and still feeling sleepy.

" You're troubled , I assume ? " He asked again.

" I am . How did you know ? And no , I don't even know how to swim . " I said to him cautiously.

" Its a shame , swimming washes away the worry of troubles . I know you Riva. As well as you do. You're confused , aren't  you ? " He said.

" I.. I .. I'm not sure. " I stuttered. It was a lie what I said. I was sure I was fed up with this life.

" Come with me . " He said , getting up . His brown locks falling over his face. I got up , brushed the invisible dust from my red dress and stood up. He was taller than me , and manly. He started walking towards the pond and I followed suit. He was dominant on me right then. He bent over the pond , looked back towards me and gave me a hand. I fidgeted in my spot but gave him my hand. My hand felt tiny and fragile in his rough and strong one. I didn't know why I was doing this. It felt like I was safe with him . I felt towards him in a Fatherly manner. A superior force he was. If Zara or Dela could see me with him now , they'd make up stupid assumptions. The flaw of the world is that it judges . Without even knowing the situation of the person. As I was thinking all this , The man tugged my hand and I kneeled beside him. He looked at me for a moment and then brought my hand into the pond water. Our hands traced imaginary patterns in the water.

" How does that feel ? " he asked, continuing to trace patterns.

" Cool and calming " I said to him. It did. The water felt wonderful against my skin. I cautiously put my legs in , knee deep in water. My short , skinny jeans getting wet. But I didn't care. It felt so good. I looked over to him . He was still tracing patterns with our hands.

" I'm sorry , I never asked for your name ." I said to him. He stopped tracing patterns and let go of my hand . Instead he took both of my arms and got into the water , waist- deep. He tugged me forward and I got into the water too , not caring because the dress was already wet at the ends. We walked further into the pond. I felt like this was the most normal thing in the world. Because , A) This person , who ever he is , must be a therapist and was trying to help me. I was not hesitant as I usually am. And B)I've also heard that going for a swim washes away all the silly over-thoughts people have. This felt completely sane , unlike the other melodramas in the world. 

The man went under water pulling me with him , I sucked in a breath and went in. Inside , I opened my eyes , the water was clear blue and my brown hair lingered everywhere around my face. The man's golden-brown locks swam in the water. They were beautiful to watch. Now that I was totally under , I felt free , numbed out from the world with this total stranger. I made him let go of my arms , only to give him a hug. He returned it and patted my head in a fatherly way. My arms in his arms , I pulled back to watch him. His brown locks began to glow golden like the sun and my eyes grew wide. I let go of him instinctively . But he took my hand and raised it above water surface. The water around him turned golden too. I was short of breath and growing purple. And then I wondered what was happening , was he a mer-man ? some sea creature ? 

The man chuckled lightly , his golden eyes watching my confused ones. I was almost out of breath. But I didn't budge from my position. I was about to black out.

" I'm not a mer-man or a sea creature, O, troubled one. I am your aid . I am Aslan. " He whispered in my ear. And for some reason , I smiled knowingly and then fell into deep slumber. Everything going black. I was finally out of breath.

When I finally came to , I was on the edge of the pond . Face-down on the surface , legs in the water . I got up and looked into the pond confused. Because it was the very same pond , glittering blue and illuminating the place around me. Because you see , I was not in the park anymore. The place around me was ungodly , dark and illuminated only by the pond's blue light. There was no sky , all around me was black.  And grey clouds gave off an eerie milky glow. The surface around me was black.  I could see nothing else. I shivered , not out of cold but fright as I heard an inhumanly howl from somewhere in the strange land . Where was I ? Where was Aslan ? This can not be a dream. 

Author's Note :

The picture on the side is of the place where Riva surfaced. Only the blue pond being the source of light in the dark land.