He thought nothing about paddling his small wooden boat out alone on the lake at night. In fact, he’d done it a hundred times before. There was something so beautiful and quiet about drifting on little waves under a tall twinkling sky. Like being rocked to sleep in arms that love you.
But what he didn’t know was that the sky wouldn’t twinkle for long.
Heavy curtains of clouds soon extinguished those little points of light and the soft summer breeze that called him out onto the water became a gale. His friendly wooden boat turned fiend and dumped him into the dark water.
At first, he was annoyed, as he’d worn his favorite pajamas, freshly laundered. Now they’ll smell like lake, he thought to himself.
But soon enough, he was panicked, splashing farther and farther from the boat as the storm whisked it out of reach.
Pull yourself together, he thought, stop splashing and float.
For a minute, it worked. Then it was as though slithering fingers pulled at his ankles, bit into his feet and dragged him under.
Down, down he went until his ears popped. The dark all there was, all he could see, all he could hear and taste, all he could breathe.
And then the queen of the deep, covered in scales and blooms, swam so close he could see the light that lived inside her.
They looked at each other and blinked, both surprised to see the other. She knew what needed to be done.
She brushed her fins against his fingers and he latched on. She swam and he kicked and together they neared the surface.
He knew he didn’t have much longer. He felt dizzy and the world was far away. He couldn’t feel his toes, he couldn’t even feel her anymore.
How much farther? he thought. Is this my end?
He looked up and saw diffused lightning beyond the water. He looked down and saw the light inside her fading as it fell home.
He didn’t want to look away. She’d saved his life, after all. His friend, his savior, the angel he never expected.
Her light turned pink and his head began to pound. He kicked upward still and finally felt the cool of the air touch his head.
But still, he didn’t want to look away.
Her light was a bloom now, dark red and purple. It sent showers of stars into the dark. He thought it looked like the sky. Was it the sky?
He felt sleepy and calm. He reached toward her as he felt his eyes close.
Her light grew brighter and bigger and more scarlet.
She rushed at him just before he fell asleep. She pushed him back into his world.
And he breathed.