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#Post#: 26--------------------------------------------------
Underwater
DIR By: StoryGod
Date: December 2, 2019, 11:59 am
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Despite the fact that she knew she would fail the swim test, Zia
suited up in her blackc tank suit and pulled a yellow, rubber
swim cap over her close cropped hair. She showered and sat on
the bleachers next to the pool, and spread her towel over her
skinny knees. In the bleachers with her were about a dozen
victims.
Two swim instrutors, a burley male whose chest hair reminded Zia
of an otter, and a wide hipped female in a royal blue suit with
silver lightening stripes and silvery straps, strutted in front
of a table. On the other side of the pool, a boisterous game of
water polo was in progress. Zia envied the water polo players,
and to a lesser extent the swim instructors. They took to the
water like fearless fish.
"Alright," bellowed the male swim instructor who had to put a
lot more energy into being heard than Miella despite a larger
voice and bigger physical presence. He after all was not trying
to be big like a Sister so did not know the secrets. "Who is
here for the swim test?"A few in the bleachers, including Zia,
raised their hands.
"OK, who thinks they are going to pass?" Several kids raised
their hands again. One stood up. "I need all of you who think
they can pass to come down to the pool and line up double file,
two by two." Eight victims ambled out of the bleachers. They
formed the line and then two dove into the water and swam down
the length of the pool. As soon as they were done, two more dove
in. In the third group, one girl confessed she couldn't dive.
"Then jump or use the ladder. Just touch the end of the pool
before you start" The girl slunk over the ladder and lowered
herself daintily in, oblivious that she was holding up the line.
She paddled over to the end, touched it and then swam down the
pool on her back. A few clueless kids who were having
documentation filled out at the table clapped. "Any stroke will
pass the test," announced the female swim instructor. That
silenced the snark.
For the last pair of victims, the girl refused to get in the
pool. "I'm not sure I can pass the test," she blurted out. "Can
I start at the shallow end." The girl had long hair and wore a
bikini over her tan skin. Zia considered not wanting to get
one's hair wet frivolous. The long haired girl did not care
either. She climbed down the ladder at the shallow end, touched
the rear of the pool and then slowly, unproductively, kicked and
splashed her way to the end of the deep end, touched the side of
the pool, and climbed out. "Congratulations," said the male swim
instructor. "You know you can still take beginner swimming." The
girl stood with her head bowed and barely shaking.
"All right," the female swim instructor announced. "I'd like the
rest of you to come down to the pool."
"I can't pass the test anyway," a plump, red headed girl spoke
up.
"Are you afraid of the water?" accused the swim instructor. The
girl nodded and took a step back. "Anyone else afraid?"
An African American girl in a white maillot nodded and stepped
closer to her red headed comrade. "I'm not afraid, an olive
skinned girl in a gray and pink burkini, and pale pink, cover up
with eyelets spoke up. "Miss," she addressed the swim instructor
like a Sister, except no Sister would seem so at ease and
clothed when she was nearly naked. "I'm not afraid of the water.
I just can't swim."
"Well then come on down and get in the pool."
"I can't swim," the girl replied. Her English had an accent, Zia
could not identify.
"I'd like to see how much you can do."
"Not today please," the girl pleaded.
"Alright then," the swim instructor admitted defeat. "You know
you'll be in beginning swimming for PE then.
"I know," the girl answered and made a hastey escpape to the
locker room. Zia wondered how she could talk her way into the
locker room. She also realized she was the last kid left.
"How about you?" the swim instructor did not need to make her
voice sound big. Her strong thighs, hips, and shoulders gave her
confidence. The water was also her element.
Zia followed the swim instructor. "Shall we see what you can
do."
Zia did not nod. The swim instructor jumped into the water,
heedless of her splash. Zia debated taking the ladder, but in
the end decided it was OK, to jump. The water was warmer than
she expected, so she dunked her face in to get it over with.
"Well you're not afraid to put your face in the water," the swim
instructor smiled, and it stretched across her face. "How old
was she?" Zia wondered. "Did she have children of her own?"
"Can you take your feet off the bottom of the pool?" asked the
swim instructor.
"You mean float?" asked Zia.
The swim instrctor nodded and Zia took a deep breath and flopped
into a dead man's float with her arms spread wide. "OK, now roll
over on your back. Down went Zia, but she popped up like a cork
when she remembered to arch. There had been swimming lessons in
England, and she had gotten this far. She could probably have
swum the whole pool with a kickboard, but she did not tell the
instructor.
"OK, now can you swim the length of the pool?" Zia shook her
head.
"How far do you think you can go?" Zia was not prepared for that
question. "Not too far," she replied, and she envied the girls
who escaped.
"OK, here is what we'll do. We'll swim it together. I'll be a
few strokes ahead of you and can catch you if you have trouble.
Is that OK?"
Zia agreed. The instructor looked big and effortlessly strong.
The instructor took a few steps backward and told Zia to back up
to the end of the pool and touch it. Then Zia pushed off in a
clumsy dog paddle. When Zia reached the instructor, she stepped
back a few steps and Zia played almost catch up. That was how
Zia ended up in over her head water. The instructor now did some
kind of stroke that kept her standing in place, and then paddled
a few strokes on her back instead of walking. Zia kept playing
catch up. She was tired, but she felt safe enough to keep
paddling. At the end of the pool the swim instructor swam off to
the side. "Huh," Zia cried out above her kicking and frantic
paddling. "It's OK," the instructor told her. Just touch the end
of the pool and use the ladder to climb out. You OK with that?"
Zia was. She was glad to get out of the water. Her legs were
rubber. Her lungs were raw. "You know you passed the swim test,"
the instructor told her in a tone that was almost a laugh.
"No I didn't," Zia retorted.
"Well technically you did."
"But I can't really swim."
"You don't swim very well, but if you took beginner
swimming...you could be playing water polo."
"You think so?"
"Everything gets better with practice."
"How often are the lessons."
"You have PE for an hour every other day. You'd do beginning
swim for your PE. And there's also free swim during evenings and
weekends."
"That gets me out of a lot of stupid sports," Zia thought, "and
I might actually learn to swim." Pool time in England had been
once a week for a month or two, and then months without a chance
to get in the water, and for some reason Zia never went swimming
back home in Nairobi.
"Can I sign up for beginner swimming if I pass the test?"
"Since you barely passed it and I'm the head of Aquatics
Instruction, of course you can."
"Thank you," answered Zia.
"You're welcome."
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