Further Down... (A personal Account)

I can still remember that day I was a 2nd year highschool student. We decided to go to our friend and classmate’s house Sherry Liza. Actually she’s the one who invited us to go at their place because at the back of their house, lies along a wide lake and that she wanted to show it on us. Since the week we planned to go there was still consecutive days of our periodical exams, we realized that we should move it on the last day of our exam. One of the things I liked about being in high school is the early suspension of classes after each days of exams, which means more time for free time, and that my parents would never suspect that I’ve been on places they didn’t allowed me or won’t allow me to be at—though,  only what they knew is when our exam days going to be.

Here is the day I’ve been waiting for. I’ve packed a pair of t-shirt and short to wear when we swim and another pair and an underwear to wear after we had already swim in the lake. I was a bit nervous, because that was the first time I’ve gone on a trip with my friends. Due to the fact that I’m a watery-minded person, which compelled me to made up my mind. Only, I hoped, my mother would never suspect about the school bag I used on going to school seems quite inflated. What I did when I’m to leave our house, I never let my mother saw me completely rather, I just shouted “Ma, I’m going now to school!” After I had closed the gate, I just had realized that I forgot my allowance for that day (Aargh! That was so frustrating). I have no choice but to call my mother by the gate and ask for it. Seems like that day is still with me, because she didn’t even bother though, she noticed it. All of a sudden, a dark secret smile of satisfaction and fulfillment covered up my face as I walk through the long road to the corner of the street to ride a jeepney.

I’m still halfway, but I’m confident that I can finish the last exam before the bell rings. Only seconds away… then at last! I’m through! Probably I’m one of the one-fourth of the class that had submitted their test papers onto the proctor. I and my friend were the only ones who were left in the classroom. We’re convincing Maurice to go with us, though recently she had taken an oath that she will. At the end, we became tired and decided to leave without her. We went straight to Sherry Liza’s house which didn’t took that long to travel.

After we arrived at their house, we even met her mother who generously welcomed us. She even asked us if we already had our lunch since, it is in the middle of the sunny day. I politely refused her invitation by saying “No thanks mam, but I’m still not hungry”, however, Sherry Liza insisted that we should eat first before swimming. She cleansed up their dining table then prepared plates, spoons and forks for the five of us including her. She get the cooked tocinoes and that’s what we ate for the lunch. After that we prepared for swimming by changing clothes one by one through their bathroom, and then we went straight to where the lake lies.

Recognizing that we were just steps away from the lake, I can’t stop the tense that I felt rejoicingly. I can feel my stomach reverberating in excitement and nervousness. Glad, cause I really like having fun with water, and nervous because of the risks I knew we were taking though, we have a consent of Sherry Liza’s mother. There, we are at last, seems like the fun would never stop. We swam just feet away from the ground where we used to stay, but Sherry Liza had completely managed to swim from the ground where we used to stay across the opposite ground which is almost hundred of feets away. King, however, suddenly, got back up to the ground and just enjoyed watching us. Erick, on the other hand, stayed sitted on a big rock that’s half of the length was below the water level and the other top half unveiled.
Seeing that Sherry Liza was enjoyingly hopping on the ground on the opposite side of the lake, convincing us to cross also by shouting, convinced me and Charlene to also cross the lake. We swam sedately, leaving the small rocks we used to step on below the water. After a few seconds, we’ve become astonished as the small rocks we used to step on are slowly vanishing—that’s the time, we realized that we can’t go on across as well as go back  either since, it’s a different water level and that the tide is rising abruptly and differently when it was just Sherry Liza’s turn. I knew on myself, that I can swim, however, this time is different. Fear, almost swallows me completely. It felts like there’s something below there trying to pull me back further down. I just can almost see the others, but just had a glimpsed of tem; Charlene who is drowning as me, Erick whose obviously terrified and want to help but can’t do anything, King, who were on the ground makes fun of watching us endlessly, and Sherry Liza as well, who we thought the one who’ll be responsible for us since, she’s the one whose good in swimming, moreover, that is where she and her family lived long enough.

I continue to grab Charlene’s arms, then hands, then thighs, then hand again, then head,… and she did the same thing on me. It was like, fighting for our survival while others think it’s just a pure joke, when it really wasn’t. I can remember every time we tried to grab onto each other, the other one will be pity drowned simultaneously. I still can remember the feeling of hardly trying to grab some air while at the same time, persisting not to lose my clothes specifically, my underwear (what ashame?!)

Fortunately, well I guess, it’s more of a bless from God, that he didn’t let us die down there in such a nonsense manner. At the end of that day, though, we arrived home safely, it’s still bothering me like… “what if I die there?—with my family’s naïve of what was happened?”, and most especially, “why is what I called friends let me be pityful down there?” One thing is that I’m sure of, “these is something that I will never forget for the rest of my life—how and why I had given another chance to live.”