The Pool

Jacob, Nahalie and I met up in our usual spot behind the suburbs. I got there first, as usual. It was the summer between eighth grade and high school. We were very excited for high school and to learn, much unlike the other kids around the world we did not have much. Our city had one small school, and one small school only. 

“Race you!” Yelled out Jacob. I had not noticed him and Nahalie approached me in their tattered pants and no shirt. I immediately got up and started running. In seconds, I was far ahead of them flipping my flip flops like crazy. I ran all the way through town with the wonderful feeling of wind slamming me in the face. I ran and ran and ran. Running was a wonderful thing for me, most people that I knew did not enjoy it and got tired after only a few minutes, but for me it was like, if I ran far enough or long enough, I could get out of this terrible city and see the beauties of the world.

As I finally made it into the small alleyway behind the tattered buildings I came to a walking pace slowing it down. I observed the hole filled with muddy water that my friends and I considered a pool. I heard in the book that my teacher provided me, that in a place called California there were crystal clear pools five times larger than the pool that I called mine. Some people who were rich had their very own pools for their own use. Someday I would go to California and live in one of the pool houses, I would bring Jacob and Nahalie with me. I got snapped out of thoughts when my two best friends, my brothers, my family cannon balled into the muddy water.

“Come on in!” Shouted Nahalie In joy. I jumped into the warm muddy mess. I stayed underwater for a second, imagining that when I rose to the surface I would see the swaying palm trees and blue skies. But instead I saw buildings that were nearly falling over, trash everywhere and a destroyed, polluted gray sky.

For the rest of the afternoon, I swam around in the small earthy pit of water with Jake and Nahalie. The day was uneventful yet nice. It was just us back there. We were the only people who really knew of it other than the residents living in the alley way. It was the only place in the city that was somewhat quiet. Which was something that nobody could say they had, along with privacy. The sun began to set in the east telling us that it was going to be unsafe if we stayed out any longer. My mother always told me that the monsters would come out when the sun sets. When I was small I thought she meant large, slimy creatures with jagged teeth and four eyes. But now I know that she meant something else, something worse. 

We started slowly walking home at a swift pace, our feet were still wet, so the dirt from the ground clung to them. First, we stopped at Nahalie’s house and dropped him off, his house was the worst of all of ours. He had a younger sister who was four. She already knew how to live on her own. Nahalie’s parents were barely ever there. The last time I saw them was last month. They were unsuccessful salespeople and would travel in their wagon for months without coming home to check on the kids. Nahalie said they were fine, but I knew that that was a lie. 

Jake and I lived the closest together, he was only a few blocks down the road from my house. “ See you tomorrow?” I asked hopefully. 

“My moms got me to do chores for the rest of the day tomorrow. I got to help out, sorry.” I slouched  my shoulders but pasted a smile on my face and told him maybe next time. He ran into the building and closed the door lightly after him. 

I kicked a pebble and started to walk the rest of the way home. As I neared the building, the smell of spices mixed into the chilly air. My mother was cooking, and it smelled delicious. I began to walk at a faster pace, unable to resist the scent. But before I could go any further, I felt someone shove something over my mouth and nose.

 It stung, my nose was on fire. I tried to run, but my feet were rooted to the floor in shock.I felt faintness come over me, and I fought as hard as I could to stay awake. To not be sucked into the darkness, to stay for my mothers food, to stay in reality. Everything in my vision became blurry and started to fade out.  I was swaying side to side so much, it felt like I was standing on a boat, on a stormy night. My mind began to spin. And right before I lost my consciousness I felt my hands get tied up behind my back, someone picked me up, and after seconds I was being dropped to a cold, hard floor. Ow. And then, blackness.  

To be continued…

Photo courtesy of The New York Times.