The Lake - part 3

JP with mdman and Cindy

"Oh, do I now?" A grin creeped across her lips. "Let's see if you feel that way when I tell you you have to now float, with your face in the water." She put her arms out, and added. "You can lay across them to balance yourself and get comfortable. Hold your breath as long as you can, then turn your head to the side to take in more air.”

Ch’Truta trusted Islana. He rolled onto her arms, outstretched to support him, taking a breath into his lungs. His diaphragm expanded with the action. He left his arms float by his side. That was the easy part. The hard part would be the core of his body. He discovered that with his lungs full of air, it helped him to float. Now, lift the legs by relaxing.

For a moment he fell in Islana’s arms. Then it seemed he became lighter. He floated to the top of the water.

Seeing Ch'Truta float, Islana stayed nearby but let her arms drop. She waited for him to stand again before continuing. "You're a fast learner." It didn't completely surprise her, but he seemed more comfortable in the water than she had expected.

"Now, you can learn the moves. I'm just going to teach you a basic stroke. It'll keep you moving on the water." What Islana showed him was a basic crawl, kind of modified, because her brother had taught himself then taught his siblings. She really didn't think it had a name.

Showing him the arm movements first, then moving closer, letting him try before fixing anything that needed it.

Ch’Truta tried the arm movements. If it helped him move, it was very little. There was a lot of splashing and little progress across the water. No matter how hard Ch’Truta and paddled or crawled or whatever it was he was doing, he made no headway in the water. He grimaced as he struggled, then a look of confusion, then a stoppage as he wondered how it worked for her, but not for him.

As he was about to give up, Ch’Truta’s mind flashed back to the swamp. Everything there moved under water. The gator hunted beneath the surface. The coil snake, called that because the giant would coil itself about its prey and squeeze all the air from its lungs, would rest at the bottom of the swamp. The huge snappers would only come up for air. The eels lived there beneath the surface. His mind reflected upon the sight of a frog leaping into the swamp and swimming under water.

Ch’Truta grinned as he remembered he was from the swamp. Taking a deep breath, Ch’Truta went under water, spread his arms, and kick, as he had seen the frog do. He moved quicker in this method and suddenly rose before Islana, smiling.

Islana watched him struggle, then lost the man under the water. When he arose, her smile matched his own. She clapped, excitedly, and threw her arms around his neck. "Look at that, you knew how to swim this entire time." He just had to realize it.