Danger In The Depths

• Caitlyn Baird, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2011

The water was cold and appeared thick, almost as if there was hair conditioner in it. I leapt off the boat and into the dense surrounds. The moment my head went under I felt as if something was watching me but I brushed the thought away and swam
For half an hour I enjoyed the cool, crystal clear water with my best friend Kenny. As she swiftly swam ahead, something caught my eye and, as if hypnotized, I turned and glided in its direction. It shone as if the sun had been absorbed into the rock.
Then it happened. Something strong gripped my leg and began pulling me into the depths. I knew I had no chance of loosening the grip and while worried, I was still hypnotized by the gleaming shape on the ocean floor. The struggle for air didn’t seem to occur to me until it was too late. I fell unconscious still being pulled down deeper and deeper and deeper…..
It seemed like hours had passed when I awoke. I was no longer surrounded by water, but by the moist rock walls of a dark cave. A pool of water glistened in a far corner and it seemed to be the only way out, but there was no way I was going back in the water. I looked around but it was the same thing - solid wall after solid wall.
I felt something sharp stab into my neck then everything went black. I was out again. I awakened later to the same surroundings. Rock walls seemed to encase me. I decided to take my chances in the water. Slowly and steadily I stood and walked towards its shimmer.
Easing in I worried about what would happen next but before I could even begin to think I saw it again. The gorgeous, shining, fluorescent glow. Swimming towards it I felt another grip on my leg but different than last time. Stronger but softer. I fought it off and kept swimming. The amazing glow had already drawn me. Its lure filled me with a promise, a sense of something great and nothing would stop me from seeing it up close.
By now I was completely brainwashed and the stone was the only thing on my mind. It seemed to have a power all its own and that power had removed all sense, all awareness – there was only it.
I was there. I reached out to touch it and my hand went through as if it was just sand.
The already distant surface seemed to get further away but by the time I realised this, it was too late. I was, again, being pulled under.
It got colder and colder, deeper and deeper, darker and darker…….