Crack

• Arabella Bourke, Grade 4, Kotara South Public School -
• Short Story
• 2018

Excellence Award in the 'Horizon of Dreams 2018' competition

As soon as Olivia's numb foot hit the ground, she knew she was doomed.
The glistening snow had all looked the same - white and fluffy. Her mouth opened in horror as she heard the cracking of the ice and realised that the coat of snow she had been running on was covering water topped with ice! Olivia panicked. Could she find a way to manoeuvre around the cracks?
All at once, the iceberg Olivia was standing on sloped steeply downwards. She slammed painfully onto her stomach.
Olivia squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the icy impact.
Ssscccchhhht! Her fingernails dug into the frigid ice, numbing her digits and piercing her ears (the noise was like her fingernails were scraping against a chalkboard instead of ice).
Olivia scrambled to the top of ice mass, relieved that she had saved herself from getting hypothermia.
Then she realised the mistake she had made.
Immediately the iceberg rushed downwards, dunking Olivia off, as she plunged into the freezing, clear water.
Panicked, desperate, paralysed, she tried to swim towards the surface, but her whole body was too numb to move. How had she gone from innocently taking a jog to this? She found herself sinking lower and lower into the lake.
But she was still determined. She had adapted to the water more and could swim - very slowly - to the surface.
Doubt clouded her mind as she rose upwards, little by little, to her chance of survival.
Olivia took in a gasp of fresh air after her head was above the water. Warmth spread through her body. She never knew how wonderful it was to be able to breathe.
She felt her weight sagging her down as she edged around the ice, moving back the way she had come.
It was painfully slow. Seconds seemed like minutes, minutes seemed like hours, but eventually she got there.
Olivia lay herself on the snow, shivering.
She had made it.