Drown
Mala succumbs to the waters
For my Spooktober 2025 I am publishing little excerpts from my novel, An Object of Desire.
Fun fact: when I was a child, I almost drowned in a swimming pool. The lifeguard thought I was just playing. After that, all through school, I had a panic every time we had swimming lessons. They insisted I had to go underwater and would put my story down to melodrama. They didn't know what it felt like.
Darkness overwhelmed her, pulling her down. She kicked, thrashing her arms and legs, reaching up to the fading light above, but a burning was rushing through her skin, through every vein, filling every pore. Like lead, it consumed her, engulfing her, swallowing her whole. The lights above trickled away. With all her remaining strength, she kicked once more. Her burning limbs seized rigid, depleted. She was done. It was all done.
Softly, she slipped down through the murky depths, deeper and deeper, her mind hardening to stone. All life was ceasing. Rising silt blurred her final vision, encapsulating her. This would be her grave. A fitting rest. She closed her eyes. It felt good. Better than struggling. Peace.
Something wrapped around her, holding her tightly, comforting. She could feel its warmth and strength, and she welcomed its embrace. Streams brushed past her cheeks, rippling, soothing; they billowed through her hair and swirled around her. And then there was coldness.
But also sound. Mala opened her eyes. Someone was holding her; she could feel the beat of their heart behind her head, feel their arms supporting her. She spluttered helplessly, replacing the water in her lungs with air. Lights. Figures. They flickered before her.
'Don't take me back,' she coughed, her lungs burning once more. 'Let me drown.'
'Hey, she's alive!' came a call.
Comments