It felt...refreshing...to just, once in awhile, stop, take a deep, deep breath, and take a look around at where you were and what was around you.
Trees.
Trees were around her.
And a lake.
But the lake was in front of her, not around - unless, she swam to the middle of it. She didn't want to do all of that, per say. But it would be nice to dip a foot in, wouldn't it? Just a dip.
Step, step, step.
Wow, this is deep! Maybe I should swim to the middle..
Momma always said she was too small to swim alone. But she was a big girl now. Uh-huh! One, two, three, four, uh...oh right, duh! Five!
Five was a big girl age, right?
And I'm only going to swim to the middle and back again. Momma won't even know! And she'll be so proud, too! Hey, once she sees I can swim all by myself, maybe she'll let me do it again!
She could hear her Momma screaming now, looking for her somewhere in the trees. It's okay, Momma. I'm sorry I left without telling you, but I can DO this!
Step, step.
Kinda cold...and it's already up to my waist!
"Annalise!"
Oops! Better hurry now...Momma is catching up.
Step, step.
Whoa! This is really, really deep.
She was standing on tippy-toes, her dress billowing around her like a pink cloud. She couldn't see anything but pink, pink, pink. Could Momma see her? See how well she was doing? Was she at the middle of the lake yet?
"Annalise! Annalise!"
Okay okay! Hmm...Just one more step and then I better turn back.
Wait...where's the floor...uh-oh...
"Oh...oh no! NO! Annalise!"
She was drifting...drifting...drifting away on her pretty pink dress towards somewhere.
Where am I going? I wish I could see something.
A splash. Behind her. Momma?
"Annalise!"
Yup. Its Momma. Well, nothing to do but wait, I guess...I am in so much trouble.
She looked up at the sky...No clouds. That sucks...And listened to the wet slaps of Momma swimming towards her.
Until, something ~slithered~ past her leg.
What was that?
Again, under her hand. It felt slimy... scaly. Eww! Please don't let there be snakes...I hate snakes.
And they hated her, too. The last time she and a snake mixed, she ended up recovering from its toxin for almost a whole year. She shuddered.
Okay...maybe they won't bother you if you don't bother them. So calm down, Momma is almost here to save you.
But "almost" doesnt seem good enough when there's a snake wounding it's body around your waist...coiling...tighter and tighter until it becomes difficult to breathe.
She had wanted to keep still, but she kicked out wildly as the snake squeezed harder. All it did was make the snake angrier. It released her. She inhaled the air deeply into her lungs, crying now. "Momma, please! Hurry! The snake is trying to kill me!"
What if the snake was going after Momma? "Momma!" she sobbed. "Watch out for the sna-"
...
She disappeared beneath the surface. Momma blinked water from her eyes.
"Annalise?..."
Something dark appeared, just under the surface, too evil to be seen by day. It floated there...staring at Momma, Momma staring at it.
It sunk down into the depths with her daughter.
A pink dress floated up.
"ANNALISE! ANNALISE! ANNALIIIIIIIIIIIISE!
...
Noamora awoke.