"The Drowning Girl"

Twickenham Riverside Jan 07.


This vision before me? No surely not! There was no doubt that it looked like one, but no! Not here...by the water, in all this unpredictable storm! Besides, didn't butterflies come out only when the light shone from the beating suns burning rays? It was dusk here...it would be dark soon. I stood, feet firmly planted to the wet steel floor of the barge, rising and then dipping tremendously as the swell in the dark blue sea made it's presence known! I was forced to hold onto the side of the barge for balance as the water threatened to spill over as the giant steel vessel tipped!
The crystal clarity, The bottomless supply of freezing cold water and the light, flourescent glow of the ever closing figure made the surrounding torrent look all the more menacing! The closer to me that this watery apparition became, the quicker I began to realise that it wasn't a butterfly at all, but a woman! A woman floating serenely on top of some kind of boat...a kayak. But not like any kayak that I had ever seen! It seemed to grow out from the soft white skin of her naked waist & cover her legs with a thin, almost transparent covering of the most delicate of materials. She was beautiful and the glow of her strange boat shone up to her neck and face which made her shine like an aquatic angel against the darkening sky of the failing dusk.
As I bobbed up and down with the barge, I watched in amazement as she skimmed across the water and to the side of the barge. Her serious but fragile looking face was looking down and ahead but her eyes looked right up at me. Her hands weren't like normal hands! Instead, growing our from each tiny wrist were a sort of paddle, made from the very same material as was the boat wrapped around the bottom half of her body. They moved like the wings of a Dragonfly...one after the other...after the other...after the other...her torso facing forward as was her head. Strong shoulders powering her right by the side of the barge. Her slender arms glistened as they dripped with sea water having been sprayed up by her paddling.
Just as she came into line with me, she leant forward a little and made the sharp pointed nose of her boat cut into the swirling dark blue sea. Within seconds the whole boat was under, with her torso following suit. The waves making her change shape as she was magnified and made smaller all at the same time. She span & turned & twisted and rolled...Her display mirrored the performance of a strange, lone synchronized swimmer. She looked up at me between each move, to see if I was watching her. I never took my eyes off her...not even for one second! She performed for me...danced as if the world was about to end!
I leant all the more closer to the waters surface to see her better. I was transfixed! My eyes began to sting a little and dry out from not wanting to blink in case I missed something. But just at that moment, as she was slowly passing beneath me, I saw her eyes begin to close, her mouth open wide and she sneezed under the water! She instantly began to choke on the cold salty water...her eyes reopening...staring at me as if to yell for help! She had stopped paddling and slowly began to fall away, down into the deep of the ocean!
Both my arms instinctively reached out from the side of the barge and plunged into the water, where I managed to grab hold of her face before she disappeared completely from the surface. Cupped inside my hands, I gently pulled her back to the surface of the restless water and leant over even more, until my chin was almost dipping into the sea's thin skin. As her face broke the waters surface, I bent my arms and brought her up close...noses almost touching...Her long golden hair running in lines down her neck & blending back into the water. Her skin was very pale...her lips had turned a lightish blue colour. Her eyes open now and her blue lips parted slightly, she said 'I sneezed!.'
'I know', I said to her.
She brought her hands from under the water, which were now the tiniest, most delicate looking hands I had ever seen! She cupped my whole face in them & pulled me up close so our noses finally touched. I could feel her freezing cold finger tips gently holding my face, the water tickled as it dribbled down the skin of my cheeks. I looked right into her watery eyes...they reminded me of the water that I had pulled her from...deep blue and rather quite stormy looking. Back went her head now...her mouth opening as wide as her jaw would let it. I could see right down into her throat and deep into her nostrils. I looked to see if they were clear and free to take in air...they were!
She looked back into my eyes and mouthed the words...'Thank you'.



Jason







(C) JPT 2007.........1240.21 miles