Pull me out

It was a warm summer day. The thick brick walls did not provide any relief from the heat, so I decided to step outside in hopes for some cool breeze.

The grass was cold and soft under my feet, a refreshing change from the harsh stone floors. I walked further out, escaping the shade cast by the manor my parents turned into a home many years ago.

I paced through the lawn until I was close to the lake. I stopped for a moment, by a force of habit. It was a nice day and I was feeling a bit frisky, so I took a deep breath and made another step towards the water. Then another, and one more, until I was standing right at the edge, at the last point where my feet didn't touch the water. I stood there for awhile. breathing slowly and watching my feet, as the water got even closer. I jumped. There was a sudden wind breeze, just enough for the water stroke my feet softly with its cold touch. I turned around and ran back into the house.

__________________________________________________

When I woke up that night, tears were already streaming down my face and onto my PJ's and sheets. It took me about two whole minutes until I managed to catch my breath. The feeling I had in my dream stayed with me. I could feel the fear and pain in my bones and at the back of my throat. that itchy sensation after a scream. I wanted. to throw up. It's been so long since I had that nightmare. I decided to get up and try reading for a while to take my mind of it. But the words on the page were like a soft whisper against my screaming mind.

That dream. I used to have that nightmare every night when I was young. it's started about a year after I drowned. My father told me the story; when we first moved into the manor, he took me swimming in the lake. He went back inside for a moment to get us a snack, but when he came back I was nowhere to be found. Mom and him looked for me for hours. By the time the sun-set they had already realized that they'd lost me.

He said it's the most scared he's ever been in his entire life. I hated hearing that story. At the time it didn't scare me as much as the sight of my father struggling to keep the tears from forming.

Apparently, hours later I miraculously showed up at the door, dripping water and shaking.

I don't remember that part. I don't remember drowning either. All I remember is that we went swimming and he got out. Then I woke up in my bed with fever. I do recall one thing but... I try not to think about it. I must have been hallucinating at this point, but I remember vividly feeling a pair of freezing wet hands pulling me out of the water. I tried to ask my dad about it, but he told me no one was there- I was saved by a miracle. I never mentioned it again. I felt ashamed, and either way I didn't want to make him think of that incident any more than he already did.

After that day, I never went into the lake again. At the time none of us did, but I didn't think too much of it. But just one year after the accident, I started having those horrifying nightmares. Every. Single. Night.

In the nightmare there was a figure, a woman, I thought, but I couldn't be sure. She was soaking wet, and looked so cold she turned blue. I could never see her face because of all the water running down it, but her hands would always point towards me, as if trying to grab me. And then i'd wake up, usually screaming.

At the time we've tried all sorts of doctors and treatments to make it go away. I even slept with my parents most nights, but nothing worked. Eventually as the time passed and I grew up, the dreams became less and less frequent, until they finally stopped. Even then, I had a hard time even looking at the lake for more than a few seconds at a time.

I finally closed the book in defeat and went downstairs to make me cup of hot chocolate. It was almost a full moon and I could see through the kitchen's window the light reflecting in the water, giving them a velvety look.

I turned my head and started warming up the milk, making sure to add an extra chocolate cube to my drink.

The thought of the nightmare stayed with me throughout the entire day, and I found myself daring to look at the lake for more than the usual couple of seconds.

The next night I had trouble falling asleep. After two hours of turning in bed from side to side, and wrestling my blanket, I got up. I went up to the window that overlooked the lake. From up here it seemed harmless. beautiful even. Shining in the moon's soft silvery light, so still it looked like someone laid a slick rag on our lawn. Definitely not a nightmare-worthy vision.

I stared at it for a while until i felt a sudden urge within me to get closer. As if I had been bewitched, I made my way without thinking; downstairs and then out of the front door, and into the cold night air.

I walked slowly, enchanted almost, towards the silver waters, my steps getting faster and faster as I got closer.

I stood at the edge again, frozen, waiting, terrified of the moment the water would eventually reach my toes.

The time passed and the moon rose even higher in the sky. Now the light reflecting on the lake was almost blinding. I kept still, until finally I felt a piercing cold that paralized me for a moment. I closed my eyes trying to control my breathing, but before I could do it, a second cold wave hit me. I could feel it all over- In my heart and bones, and in the blood coarsing through my veins, though it suddenly felt like it froze.

I opened my eyes hesitantly, just in time to see to blue-toned wet hands reaching out of the water, and pulling me in. I screamed but the sound was soon silenced as water started filling my lungs.

I was fighting to get my head out of the water, but the hands were strong and I kept sinking lower and lower into the lake. My lungs burnt so bad it felt like I was on fire, but I couldn't do anything anymore. We were too deep now.

Just as I thought my chest was about to explode, the pain stopped. Suddenly I could see clearly through the dark water. The grip on my hand got loose until it finally let go of me, and I started looking around, trying to make sense of all the sights, and enjoying the absence of pain.

Then i saw her. Floating a few feet in front of me was the woman from my dreams! She looked clear, and I could finally see her through the water. I looked up to see her face, but before I could focus my eyes, a strong arm wrapped itself behind my hip, and I felt myself being pulled away again, this time- upwards.

my dad and I emerged from the water, fighting to get air in our lungs.

It was almost morning, and pale light strokes decorated the sky. I looked at my father. He was clearly freaked out. Tears were running down his face, hitting the water in small splashes. He hugged me so tight I felt like I was drowning again. Mom was waiting for us in the shallow waters, her relieved expression couldn't hide the clear signs of continues crying. She ran up to us and hugged me as well, and at that point I gave up air altogether.

Apparently, they explained to me as we went back into the house, they heard my scream right before I fell into the water. They said almost two hours had passed. It didn't make sense but then again, nothing really did. My mind was elsewhere. I knew the woman I saw wasn't a fiction of my mind. But what else could she be? Who was she?

After comforting my traumatized parents, I made my way back to my room, exhusted. The sun has just risen, so I closed the blinds in hopes of catching a much needed nap. Just as my eyes closed, I could feel the floor beneath me moving. I heard a sound. tip-top. tip-top. 'Water' I panicked.

I opened my eyes. Water was pouring from the ceiling all over the room, and the floor was flooded. I stood up on my bed, crying for my parents, but the dripping sound intestified, disguising any sound I could have made. I heard something break. I looked behind me to find the closet's mirror broken to pieces, only a small piece still in place. I caught a quick glance at myself, but what I saw made me freeze in my place. Water was dripping all over my body, but beneath it I could see clearly the blue tone my skin had turned. My face was covered with water. So much of it, that I could not recognize my own features. I tried to scream again, but only water came out.

I fell backwords slowly, sinking into the water that had almost filled the entire room, and felt the water taking me away- deeper and deeper.