Some of the concern on Evren’s face melts away when she sees Creed’s sheepish smile. Something about Creed and the way her slim black silhouette is dwarfed by the backdrop of angry iron-grey ocean makes her seem so small and innocent then, and in response, Evren’s maternal hormones flare into life like a roaring fire. She is simultaneously proud and terrified for Creed, as if she were a mother duck watching her offspring take its first flight into a stormy gale.
The ghost of a smile tugs at her lips, then quickly disappears as she assesses the situation. Evren could call Creed back to shore, but she doesn’t want to scare Creed by refusing to go into the water herself. So she steels herself, and steps into the freezing water, gasping as it rises over her knees and prickles at her belly like needles. Foamy waves rise and fall all around her, and she can feel the undertow tugging at her, threatening to destabilize her balance and pull her under. The wind is whipping at her too, forcing tears from her eyes and spray from the water into her face.
She pulls up parallel with Creed and meets her eyes with a dubious expression. “I can see that,” she says, and forces a sheepish smile onto her face. “You’ve made amazing progress, Creed. But lesson one: learn to read the sea. Look,” she says, and gestures out to the crashing waves that are growing taller by the second. “You see how they block out the horizon line when they crest? That means they’re strong enough to pull you under. But it’s not the waves themselves that’ll do it.”
She drops her head to just above the water’s surface. “You feel that pressure around your legs, the pulling and tugging in the water? That’s the undertow. That’s where the sea is strongest.” She lifts her head and looks at Creed, her amber-brown eyes wide and stern. “And that’s not to mention the cold. When the undertow pulls you under, the sheer cold of the water at this time of year is like a kick to the gut. It’s enough to knock you senseless. And you don’t want to be senseless when you’re pulled underwater. That’s how you drown.”
The water in question was lapping at Evren’s chest now, so cold it made her skin sting. She could feel shivers beginning to ripple up and down her legs. “We’re safe here, but the tide is coming in, and it can sneak up on you faster than you think.” She tilted her head and offered Creed a wry grin. “What do you think? Still want to take that dip?”
10; mutt; bay tobiano; 15.3hh |
