Chapter 4
A swimming hole. That was what it was. A regular swimming hole, out behind Abigail's house. All the kids went there in the summer. There had even been a few times, she and Kuki, went there. Yep, the mysterious swimming hole. This rainy, and stormy night, no exception to anything that had been heard about it. Trying desperately to keep her head up, and concentrate on her book on Physics, Alex kept thinking, "what was that… that, just happened?". Over, and over, through constant rumination, and replaying, she thought, "Kuki? a… smart, educated… Well spoken... But... Rainbow Monkeys, and, and, princesses, tea parties… swimming in the pool… but….". "Not just intelligent, Medical Expert, Girl scout, Advanced Placement intelligent". It was fair to interpret the archetypical girl from Kuki. while happy-go-lucky was a front put on for gregarious reasons, the sharp, successful, insightful girl was what displayed a forefront of "need" from feminists.
Any girl that was deemed successful, was intelligent, highly successful, and "girly", when certain basic wants arise, was a true, "girl". "Anything else, Lesbianism, a man", In that aspect. Usually, it was a demeaning term. "Perhaps I'm wrong". Alex thought. "Maybe, it's simpler than thought". Although, Kuki was in Girl Scouts. That, she was not wrong, and hallucinating about. "But, if she is so intelligent, and, archetypical, why…. Why does she put on a playful front?". Alex wondered. "Perhaps probably to minimize indirect insult on someone, or… perhaps to recognize with one form of the archetypical girl".
All this theorizing, and thinking about a "true girl", was giving Alex a headache, on top of configuring what just happened that night. Coughing and sneezing, she wiped rainwater off of her Physics book. Reading about Physics was relaxing to her. Because it was a relaxing, down kind of day, she read Newton's laws. Thunder kept booming above, and the rain came harder, and at an angle. All this wondering, wandering led Alex to the grand old' swamp, almost similar to what a certain sneaky, Fox would make Cajun in, known as the watering hole. It was a place where young children would swim.
A Froggie landed on her foot, ribbiting as it did so. "No, get off!" she said, startled. Her foot went over a large stick. "Wait, wait, wait, no!" "Hold on!" she screamed, as she slipped, landing downward in the mud. Struggling, she pulled herself up, at an attempt, only for a big burst of water, to send her flying downward, toward the hole itself. "Wait, wait, wait, pfft!" "haa! Haa! Haa!". She struggled to keep her head above. As she could not swim. "No, no, no!" "purrm!" "rrrrrrrrrrrr", she tried lifting her head, although she wasn't headed for the swamp at all, she was heading for a current. A flash flood occurred due to the storm. "No, no, no!" "rrrrrrr rrr rr!". The water jerked her back and forth, to and from, as she struggled to keep her head above. Hoisting her foot over a log, she managed to somehow get a raft out of it. Steering quickly, she avoided a large rock, where a current was jetting downstream. Turning her raft sideways, she attempted to turn around. A huge burst of water came through smacking her in the face, and sending her
down the current itself.
Looking around, jerking quickly, she knew her log was gone at this point. The water threw her around, as a fresh sweep sent her flying backwards, rapidly. Struggling, she tried going up, up, but the current kept pressing her down. She knew for sure she would drown at this point. Moving her arms rapidly, she had made some particular motion to go up, but, to no avail. Still glancing around quickly, she had found a large leaf. Using this, as her chute, she let a burst of bubbles rush up toward her as she made her way to the surface. Rushing…. Rushing…. Rushing. "Rushing, rushing". Was all she had thought as the burst sent her flying upward.
Her mind was racing. With visions flashing by ever so quickly. The restaurant, which indeed was not so much, as it was a test subject holding cell. The robotic Rainbow monkey, the dim light, the kids she had met a couple days before, she had been hanging out with. Yes, they were nice enough, but, she had always known something was up with them, something odd. The kids all stood around, staring at her, analyzing her. "But why?" was her question. Even more importantly, "what have they gotten her into?". Visions still went by rapidly.
As her mind flashed quickly, she had seen many things. The restaurant, the robotic Rainbow Monkey, the dim light, and finally her mind landed on Kuki. the happy, humming, innocent girl who had always wanted to play with her. Who had spoken in a soft voice to her. This particular vision, by Alexandria, had her focused, on Kuki, her face, and her lips. Her glossed, apricot thin lips. Gentle Kuki, with a whirlwind behind her.
The final vision Alex had in mind consisted of Kuki, and her lips, her thin, glossed lips. A gentle, bright, happy, girl, woman acknowledging her. Rushing, rushing, rushing, until,... "prfff! Fwo ha!". "Oh my god!". Alex said, out of breath and scared. "Hugh! Hugh! Hugh!". breathing heavily, and nervously she tried keeping her head above the water before another burst of water, a microburst, smacked her in the face, sending her downward near another rush of bubbles.
Struggling quickly, she flailed her arms about, nervously looking to and from. Looking up however, she saw a slit of light. Flailing about, her plan was to go up toward the slit of light. This would only be achieved however, through constant… jerking of her arms. Swinging wildly, she pushed herself up, up, up until the light got closer and closer. Pulling her arm up and over, she pushed up toward the light, until it got closer. "I can make it!" "I can make it!" "I can make it!". Alex thought as she swam up. Water crowded her face as she struggled up. Pushing her face upward, her cheeks puffed out, and her eyes, her big eyes, were wide, helpless and alert with constant fear, and struggle. "Fmmmmm! Grmmmm! Mmmmmmmmm! (muffle) mmmmmmm grmmmm!". She got pushed more under, as she clenched, and released, with frustration, fear and pain.
"I've got to go up, I've got to go up!". She thought, as she struggled, constantly. "Up, up, up!" "Please!". "I'm almost there!". She thought. "Almost, almost, almost!". "I've got it, I think I've got it, I'm there". She sighed, relieved. "Well, that was frightening". "Wait, hold on". She felt, herself, going downward for some reason. Something was pulling her ankles down. Try as she might, she could not go anywhere.
She was sinking! "Oh no! No, no, no, no! Prmm! Prmm mmmmm!". She had flailed her arms, she had pushed up, she had even pushed up entirely, but she was going nowhere. Weak and worn from being sick that day was no help, and she felt paralyzed now that she had used up all of her strength from trying to get out of the water. She couldn't swim, and how was she going to reach the top if her ankles were injured? Remaining suspended there, she had felt herself sinking even lower. She knew this was her end.
She wasn't getting out of this one. She had always thought about the ultimate postulate, and where she would end up, afterwards, but she didn't expect her way out, to consist of her drowning 5 ft below water. Accepting her fate, she closed her eyes, and tried not to think of Kuki, and those creepy kids next door. Although, as if by some answer to her question, a guiding principle to her prayer, she felt a rush of water near her face. Opening her eyes, she saw bubbles, powerful bubbles blowing by her. Then, opening, and widening her eyes quickly, she glanced around, seeing an opportunity to burst up. Looking left and right, she found her old leaf, floating by her as it only left her side for part of the storm. What luck!
Luck was something she had never encountered on a regular basis. Grabbing her leaf, she hoisted it above her small head, and used it as a chute as the bubbles blew her upward. "Yes!" she thought. Rushing, rushing, rushing upward again. She had rushed speedily upwards until she had reached the surface. "Plweeeeeeewwwwww!" she spat out water, hastily. Looking around, she had struggled quickly until she had found her log.
Hoisting herself on it, she got away from the current. "Oh my!" she screamed, upset. "Oh my! Oh my lord!" she began crying. "That was close!". "I don't know what to do!". She cried. "Oh!, no!". "Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no!". She cried. "Oh Kuki, what do I do? What do I do? What do I do?". She then sat there, and actually, started… crying. Strangely enough, Alex had never gotten terribly emotional like that, on a daily basis… or ever. She was in trouble, albeit, although crying. The log continued floating along with her on it, until it hit a rock. It was a large underground rock that jammed the big log, preventing it from going anywhere. Looking up, Alex saw the log stuck on that rock. Nervously, she glanced around, looking for a way out.
Bursts of water would rush in, and push Alex off of the log. "Plrrmmmmmm!" "this cannot be happening again!". She said, frustrated. "No!". "Plrm!" another quick burst forced her under. "(pant) (pant)". "This isn't funny!" she yelled. "Gosh!". Forcing her head up, she saw a calm patch of water ahead. Calm? That was good to hear. "Oh, boy, oh dude!". She said, heaving dry spells of air. "I have to get out of here". "I hate this!". "Way too athletic for me!". She snapped, finding a rock to sit on. "Gosh darn it!". "It's a good thing the end is in sight!". Yeah, right. The water seemed to flow out, although, not continue. Almost as if it were a….. Waterfall". Looking over at it, Alex turned her head, screaming.
Wading in the water, she attempted to swim to the clear other side. Yeah, right. A clap of thunder, and heavy rain poured all of the patch of calm water, sending a rip current in. struggling continually, Alex swam up, but the current had her. Plunging her under, she had been jerked, kicked, and tossed around, avoiding a rock, she felt herself fly forward. "Prmm!". She screamed, being tossed to the side. The current jerked her under, forcing her downward. No Nala to help her, no mom, no dad, no Kuki. there was no one that could help her. Hell, she couldn't even rely on her own strength to get her out.
The force of chaos, the force of pain, the force of others inconveniencing her, the force of her own weakness, even the force of nature was too much for her to bear. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. No, she was supposed to expand her friendship with Kuki, she was supposed to play with her, learn with her, and hang out with her sister. She was supposed to do that with all of the KND in fact. Life, life, nature had its own plans however.
By ravaging, by inconveniencing, and by holding Kuki to reveal a suspicious whim of herself. What was the KND going to do with her? Who was Kuki? Why was she being inconvenienced? Alex was in deep. She was in deep, and she had to make it to the surface, before the pressure became too much. Alex struggled, and flailed, and even pushed as hard as she could, but the current was too strong. More, and more she sank, and more the water, with it's forceful deceitful nature tossed her, and subjected her to twigs. Giving up, she closed her eyes. She had now let the current joss her along, as she helplessly went with it. In fact, she enjoyed it.
This inconvenience, the rue of time, and the amount of space jossed along, and wasted out, she happily went with. She even imagined her fate, and her wildest dream come true, an exit involving the freaking flash flood caused by a storm, that made her drown. Going with it, she had closed her eyes, knowing this subpar month, this week, and this crummy life, was going to end. She didn't care at all. The storm violently went on, raging, yelling and screaming, much like Kathy McGinnis did, when one would finally seize a moment of peace. But each time, Alex found a branch or a twig, the current would get stronger, eventually encompassing her to just go with it. Eventually, the storm would be over, and she would be out, with it. Closing her eyes, she let fate take reign. Thank you to exploring, Thanks to being wise, and thanks to those odd kids next door. They had gotten her into a mess beyond epic proportions. The best thing to do now, was to just go with it.