Jennifer screamed. Well she was sure she was screaming but could not hear any of the noise coming from her mouth as her heart was beating so loud and fast. She could feel the cold air whistle past her as she fell. She felt like her stomach was no longer attached, instead she left it at the top. She remembered feeling like this before, on a rollercoaster during the downward plunge, just before the trajectory changed. She hated rollercoasters, and that was even with the knowledge you would in all probability not plunge to your death. But here she was with that terrible plunging feeling and no cart and track beneath her to stop the falling.
She new she was flapping her arms, flapping like a bird. She also knew it did not help so she cursed evolution for not providing humans with wings. She risked a look downwards. Instead of being greeted by the fuzzy, spinning landscape she normally saw when she looked down from any height she saw the river, the big, fast flowing river a mere two metres below her. She tensed; waiting for the inevitable that came all too soon. As her foot hit the surface and broke through into the icy water pain shot up her leg. She did not have time to dwell on it though as soon her whole body was immersed in the water and a deep roaring sound sounded in her head. She kept sinking, down into the dark depths, further from the surface, further from air. As soon as she thought she was no longer sinking she began kicking her legs, trying to propel herself to the surface, desperately trying to ignore the pain she felt. Opening her eyes she was dismayed by how far the surface seemed to be away. Doing her best to push the pain to one side she kicked harder and used her arms as best she could to get closer to the air. But her wet clothes weighed her down and the surface did not seem to be getting any closer. She continued kicking as her lungs began to burn, desperate for oxygen, and her muscles began to cramp. Still the surface did not seem to be getting any nearer. Just as she felt herself begin to black out something grabbed her wrist and thrust her body to the surface. As she broke through the water she gasped for air.
As the newly available oxygen saturated her lungs and cells some of her other senses began to come back to life. She could still make out a roaring noise; in fact she could make out two roaring noises. The first was her blood pumping faster than, she believed to be, healthy and secondly the river flowing. As she thought about the river she realised she was moving, and the river was carrying her along. Snapping her eyes open she saw the scenery on the riverbank rush past as she was moved by the current. Looking round she saw Kiryk looking at her concerned. As she felt his hands on her biceps she noticed his mouth was moving. However, the roaring in her ears made it impossible for her to make out what he was saying. Shaking her head, hoping that it would somehow stop the rush of blood round her body she looked back at Kiryk to try to make out what he was saying.
He however, had given up trying to communicate with Jennifer and was now fighting the current to try to pull her towards the riverbank. Jennifer wanted to help him, but every muscle hurt and despite the icy water splashing in her face she was overcome by weariness. So instead she let herself be pulled as she tried to focus once again on her surroundings. As she did so she thought she saw something higher up the river, from where they had come from, a person. She blinked and looked again, only to see nothing.
"Great I am hallucinating." She thought as she saw something glint from the same direction. Looking again she once more saw a person in the river moving towards them very quickly.
She tugged at Kiryk's arm until he turned towards her. She then pointed towards the approaching figure. Kiryk followed her gaze. He then decided the bank was too far and swung their bodies round and swam with the current away from the approaching man, desperately seeking another exit.
Jennifer then felt a pull on her legs in a slightly different direction to the main current. Kiryk obviously felt it too as he quickly spun his body round so he faced Jennifer and grabbed her face in his hands.
"Take a deep breath, then hold it as long as you can." He shouted over the river.
Jennifer nodded and inhaled. Kiryk then retook her hand and plunged beneath the surface taking Jennifer with him.