Middles
Sumire didn't like swimming. In fact, she hated it. At the present moment she was stuck in the middle of the pool on a floating piece of cardboard, or at least something that felt about as flimsy and useless as that. What was the point of this gigantic puddle of water anyway? Why anyone would want to drench themselves in cold water was beyond her. Sulking, she suddenly realised that she didn't know how to get back to the side of the pool without drowning or at least getting wet. Eurgh.
She gingerly dipped her feet in the water and winced at the very wetness of it. The other children either watched her with some trepidation from the other end of the pool or sat similarly scowling on floats. Most of them had been very fearsomely glared at when they had dared to approach her before and were thus giving her a wide berth. Sumire Shouda embarrassing herself did not have pleasant consequences for an observer.
Hmm, kicking her feet moved the float slightly. Maybe she could just do this until the edge … although it might take some time. If she wasn't out of the pool when everyone else had gone to lunch then she would be forced to admit she needed assistance. What were the other options? Shouting for the teacher supervising would just be humiliating, asking for the other children's help would be even more so. Her Alice wouldn't help at all here. Sitting on the float might bring her back to the edge, seeing as it had brought her out here in the first place, but the swimming session would end much too soon for that to work. She soon came to the conclusion that the only way to get out of this sticky situation was to get in the pool and attempt to doggy-paddle or push the float to the poolside. Huh, well.
Steeling herself, she screwed her eyes shut, held her breath and fell off the float. The water was even colder than she expected and at least a hundred times worse. Where had the surface got to? Her nose was burning; she accidentally opened her mouth to shout and choked on the disgusting taste of the pool water. Yes, the surface was there; she suddenly felt air on her face as she broke it, spluttering. Now, to grab onto the float and get over to the side. Easier said than done, really. After a few failed attempts, she decided that simply walking along the bottom was going to be faster.
The next week, the Infant Class A teacher announced that they were going swimming again … Sumire glowered so fiercely that she was allowed to stay behind.