Trouble Waters
Is it always safe to save a drowning person at night? Well, according to my experience, it is not.
Our GCSE ‘O’ Level Examinations had just ended. To celebrate, my friends and I booked a chalet. That day, we packed our things, bid our parents farewell, and went off to our holiday getaway at the beach.
Our chalet was some distance from the beach. To get there, we had to walk. Nevertheless, we had a great day out in the sand and surf. When evening came, none of us felt like going back to the hot and stuffy chalet.
“Why don’t we spend the night on the beach?” Rahul asked the gang.
“I don’t thing it’s a good idea. Let’s go back to the chalet,” Ahmad said, and everyone booed at him. “Okay, guys, give me a break! We’ll sleep here tonight.”
“Lets have our barbecue by the sea!” Someone said, and everyone agreed.
Together, all of us went back to the chalet to prepare. Everyone was excited by the idea of a fun night ahead, and all co-operated. In no time, we were back at the beach.
With a blazing campfire going, Salim our culinary expert got bossy. He refused to let us barbecue our food, insisting instead on doing it for us. Everyone sat down to watch him cook, but that turned out to be really boring after a while. With nothing to do, the rest of us went back into the sea to play.
Night swimming was a new experience to most of us. The water was warm despite the cool night breeze. Salim soon came to yell at us, and everyone left the water reluctantly for dinner.
By then, it was dark. The sun had already set for a few hours already. I checked my watch; it read 10 p.m. The coconut trees lining the beach were swaying to the gentle breeze. Overhead, we could see stars dispersed across the moonless sky. Looking around, we realised that we were the only ones on the beach.
Nevertheless, we had a great time, Rahul had brought his guitar, and we had a sing-along after dinner.
After a while, we wanted to go back into the sea. By then, the campfire was beginning to die. We decided against it as it was getting too dark to see.
Seated around the dying embers for warmth, we started to tell ghost stories. It was fun because our faces reflected the reddish glow of the dying campfire, giving an eerie effect.
We talked into the dead of the night. Slowly, one by one, we dozed off. In the end, the only ones awake were Salim and me. We were a little disgruntled with everyone else, because we had earlier agreed that no one shall sleep that night. What’s the point of staying out overnight if everyone wanted to sleep?
Salim and I tried to sleep. However, I was unused to the roughness of the sand beneath me. It was also strange to look up and see stars instead of your room’s ceiling. After a while, I gave up.
Salim, too, could not sleep. Together, we walked out to one of the breakwaters, and sat down to talk. It was a peaceful moment, looking over the quietly-splashing waves.
Suddenly, I saw a movement out there. It looked like someone was struggling in the sea.
“Did you see that?”
“What?” Salim asked me.
“There’s a woman struggling in the water.”
Not waiting for Salim’s reply, I jumped into the water immediately. With strong swift strokes, I headed towards the woman. Strangely, she seemed to be drifting further every time I swam nearer.
Every few minutes, I looked out of the water to find the woman, but caught Salim waving at me frantically. From afar, he was trying to tell me something but I could not make out what he was saying.
Finally, I reached her. It was then the nightmare began. I reached out to grab her. Her hands was icy cold to the touch. I tried to manoeuvre her into the life-saving position. Instead of co-operating, she began to laugh and rose from the water. Suspended in mid-air above the water, she gave me a sinister smile and vanished.
I panicked.
Suddenly, something grabbed my ankle, and tried to drag me under the water. Struggling, I tried to kick at the vice-like grip but each time, it came back and locked onto my ankle, harder. Twice, I was dragged under, but I held my breath and fought it, kicking my way to the surface for a short breath, only to be dragged down again.
Looking under, the waters were too dark and murky for me to recognise the thing pulling me down. All I saw were two glowing dots, against an outline of a human body.
‘Someone is trying to drown me!’ I realised dimly.
Slowly, my struggles had grown weaker and weaker. I was losing my strength. The thing was toying with me, before finishing me off. Frightened that I was about to die, I prayed to Allah to help, my lips moving in a soundless chant.
When I grew too weak to struggle, I got more desperate, but my chants got louder and more fervent. I really did not want to die. I appealed to Allah to save me, again and again.
Sinking through the cool waters, the grip on my ankle suddenly loosened, and was gone. It took me a while to realise that I was free. With the last bit of my strength, I kicked towards the surface. All the while, I chanted Allah’s praises in my mouth, thanking him profusely.
The first breath of air smelt sweet to my hungry lungs. Heaving, I still forced myself to paddle towards the shore as fast as I could.
When I was near, the others were already awake from Salim’s cries, and together, they managed to drag me to shore. Too tired to move, I collapsed into the sand.
“What happened?” Salim asked. “One minute you are fine, the next I saw you making for the water like a madman. Are you alright?”
“Didn’t you see the woman struggling in the water?” I asked, wondering if I was the only one seeing it.
“What woman?”
“It is a ghost,” Ahmad blurted out. “I heard that a wife committed suicide here a few months ago, because her husband had an extra-marital affair.”
Stunned, everyone could only look at Ahmad.
It was then that we heard a hollow laughter, coming from the sea. Turning around, everyone saw her this time.
She was a lonely
figure, treading on the water. She walked towards us slowly. Her feet touching
the water’s surface as if it was
solid ground. Soon, we could make out her face. She gave us a ghostly smile as
she waved at us.
Screaming, all of us ran back to our chalet, and dared not come out until the
next morning.