WATER by Paula Gillison- Akinwole
Word Count: 2596
Read time: 12-14 mins
Genre: Speculative Fiction
Triggers: Drowning
Press PLAY above to hear Paula read the story instead… it’s not studio quality but gets the job done.
The blue and yellow squares on the floor were shiny in some spots and dull in others as if the water was playing hopscotch across the ceramic tiles. Ronni didn’t want her feet to touch the bare ground, but had forgotten her pool slippers. They were still hung on the back of her apartment door, still in the bag with the receipt and tags that proved she’d brought them just for today. It was her first time back to water aerobics in months and she was feeling anxious about what people would ask her and want to know.
Where you been Ms. Ronni?
You finally came back, huh?
Don’t worry, everyone falls off once or twice.
A small heavy feeling rested in the pitt of her stomach. She took a deep breath before placing each foot on one of the dry-ish tiles and attempted to criss-cross her way from the bench to the door of the women’s locker room. She stopped when she realized her attempts to miss the wet spots were unsuccessful and almost caused her to slip. Ronni inhaled, annoyed that she was distracting herself with pool tiles. The anxiousness that had been resting on her shoulders was in her belly now and ignoring it wasn’t serving her purpose for being here. She tried to exhale it out but felt it creep into her throat instead.
“Morning Ms. Ronni,” Ms. Gladys said, interrupting Ronni’s incoming panic. She turned to see her water aerobics friend, a woman in her 70’s wearing a turquoise and pink one piece bathing suit with white cotton leggings underneath. She had a neon green turban over her hair with greys curls falling from beneath. The white ruffles on her shoulders and her big purple rimmed glasses pressed low on her nose made her look like a bird. Ronni smiled bigger than she’d meant to reveal and returned Ms. Gladys’ greeting, thankful that her vocal chords didn’t betray her anxiety even if her smile did.
“You’re coming to class this morning? You know we late,” Ms. Gladys added, stepping around Ronni to turn on the faucet and splash water on herself.
Ronni nodded yes and mumbled off an excuse about not wanting to get out of bed this morning.
“Well it’s gonna be a good class,” Ms. Gladys continued. “It’s Motown Monday.” She shimmed as she said Motown. Ronni giggled. Unknowingly, Ms. Gladys had eased some of her stress.
“I’ll see you in there,” Ronni added as Ms. Gladys pushed open the pool’s swinging door and stepped out.
A cool breeze wafted in. Ronni could hear the sound of upbeat music coming from a boom box in the pool area but couldn’t quite make out the song. She stepped back to the sink to mimic Ms. Gladys’ action and splashed water on her chest, torso, and legs. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and frowned. She wore a black short set and top that looked great on her thighs and chest, despite the lack of breast support that made her chest sag more than she’d normally allowed. No earrings, no makeup, and her brown and blonde locks were piled into a bun on her head. She wished she had filled in her eyebrows a bit and put some shea butter on. Her face looked dull but not sad. She forced a smile and then grabbed a piece or paper towel to scrub her teeth, realizing she had forgotten to brush. She made a mental note to herself to add brush teeth to the invisible checklist of things she needed to do for water aerobics. It was a checklist she had been mentally making for weeks, never actually writing it down and always adding something new like underwear, extra towel, protein shake. Then she gave herself grace for at least making it to class today and more grace for the ADHD that made it that much more difficult.
You can do this, she thought to herself and stepped out into the familiar space.
The aquatic center was visibly darker than she remembered. This sent a soft shiver up her spine. The bright white lights of the gym had been replaced with dark blues and purple tones, chandeliers instead of fluorescent bulbs, and the white walls had been painted a dark cascading blue. The room felt smaller. It was also noticeably warmer too. She often wondered why they didn’t keep the pool warmer, especially during the colder months, but now, it felt like she had walked into a dank swamp. There was steam rising from the water, and a soft fog seemed to have settled right on the surface. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, but when they did, she saw the instructor and participants were already in the water, midway through synchronized exercises. She didn’t recognize the instructor. She had known three of them and expected at least one of them to be teaching today’s class but instead, a blonde woman was at the front of the pool leading the group in a light stretch.
Ronni walked up to the pool’s edge and saw the metal entrance ramp hadn’t changed and the pool’s chair lift was where it always was. It had been months since she needed the lift. Water aerobics had both helped to heal her anxiety but also became a painful reminder of why she needed healing in the first place. When she stopped coming to class three months ago, it wasn’t intentional. She simply thought she was better and no longer needed mornings in the pool to soothe her body or clear her mind. She had cut her talk therapy back from weekly to monthly and even took a lower dose of her anxiety meds now. When the pressures of life started to creep back in and she felt herself being pulled under, she decided to revisit the water first. She could up her meds or add in additional therapy sessions later if needed, but this part she could do right now.
Ronni grabbed a pair of black foam dumbbells and walked down the ramp and into the water. Within seconds, her feet stung from the freezing cold temperature.
“Oh gosh, that’s cold,” Ronni yelped, talking to no one in particular. Her own loud voice surprised her, and she looked around to see if anyone had noticed. They hadn’t.
The pool had changed also. The early morning parties she had come to call her morning social club were solemn and silent now. Instead of fun exercises that moved with the music, the class appeared to be doing yoga-like movements in silence; moving their arms slowly, making soft uniformed waves in the water, and lifting their legs like trained ballerinas.
Ronni didn’t recognize any of her elder baddies; the crew of smart mouthed and hilarious retirees who spent their time in the pool chatting about grocery store runs, new movies, and whatever gossip piqued their interest. She had found each of them beneficial to her healing in one way or the other. She started chatting up the regulars regularly and she remained respectful of her elders of course, but also enjoyed light hearted jokes and soaking up their wisdom. She wasn’t the only person her age in the group but she felt special. They remembered about her life and the things she’d shared and had questions as if she mattered to them. She even bought one woman a pair of pants she wanted from the TikTok shop and had to show her how to use Cash App on her phone to send the payment. Another, they joked about their secret love for P Valley and always chatted about whichever movie they liked or didn’t.
Ronni was standing towards the middle of the pool now. Everyone usually spread out between 3rd and 5th feet but today, the whole group was in three synchronized lines between the buoys and the 5th feet marker. She fell into position at the end of the last row.
Mimicking the person in front of her, she tried to jump into the routine. They were pushing their left arm side to side, the dumbbell resting on top of the water. There was no splash or pressure, just gentle sliding. There was also no music to catch the beat and no counting to confirm what rep they were on. The rhythm didn’t fall on the one and three or even the one and two. Everyone else also knew a candance for this movement that Ronni couldn’t catch. And then before she knew it, with no verbal instruction, they moved on to the next routine. She felt her chest tighten and face flush with embarrassment. This wouldn’t have phased her with her normal crew. She’d laugh it off, saying she had a lazy morning or had weak muscles today. But the deafening silence in the room made the idea of a vocal joke utterly inappropriate.
After ten minutes of not being able to keep up with the movements that everyone else seemed to have memorized, like a 90’s movie dance routine they had all practiced for, Ronni decided to leave. She had gotten comfortable with this before, leaving. If she wasn’t feeling it, or if she was tired, she would give herself permission to end the class early just as her therapist had taught her. She rarely needed excuses to exit early anymore but today, the uncomfortableness set heavy on her chest.
Ronni looked toward the metal ramp and then pushed against the water to propel herself to the exit. Instead, her body was launched backward. The floating buoy caught her from behind and instantly, the ropes tangled themselves around her wrist. On both sides, she was being held in place, arms stretched wide as if she was being pulled in a medieval rack. The ropes pulled tighter and lifted her higher so her feet no longer touched the ground. She tried to scream but instantly, the water rose like a typhoon and swirled mercilessly around her, attempting to swallow her whole.
The class was unbothered, nobody noticing her flailing against the water trying to keep her head from being pulled under. They continued their synchronized movements, left hand wrapped around the back of their head from right to left then up, head to the side. Hang. Repeat. She watched terrified.
Then it stopped. The water calmed and the ropes lowered her back down, her pointed feet stretching to find the ground. Before she could though, Ronni felt her feet being brushed by something in the water, slick and leathery. She jolted back, looking to see. Nothing. Her eyes widened as her panic rose, searching for what might be lurking in the water. Another quick brush across her back caused her to spin and shutter at the realization. Something was touching her, after her. Still holding the water dumbells, she began to strike the water, splashing and beconning it to show itself. Then, in front of her, a small ripple of water began to form. It was a small circle at first then grew into a swirling and ragging whirlpool. Ronni watched through water splashes that tried to obstruct her vision. From the center, a lone tentacle rose up. The iridescent colors of the massive appendage changed the water around it and the dark blue turned a murky black. Ronni felt it before she saw it. Thick black ink smudged around her making the water too thick to move. It squeezed her tight and froze her in place. The tentacle, complete with large suckers along the front and barnacles peeking out from all over its body, slid itself across her face leaving a slimy film over her cheeks and eyes before falling back into the water. Ronni splashed wildly again trying to push off the slime and ink that had covered her body and left her skin charcoal black.
The class all turned to shush her. A uniformed Shhhh rang out in the air, each with their finger to their face but not their mouths. It was then she noticed they had no faces. No eyes or mouths, just blank spaces like a void where smiles and expressions should have been. But they were all facing her now, staring without seeing. She turned away to run and was met with a cloud of darkness. It hovered over the water long enough for her to see it there before swarming toward her so fast she couldn’t react. It reached her face and then dove down her throat, forcing her mouth to stay open. She could feel her jaw crack and unhinge as the cloud poured in. Her teeth rattled around her mouth. A sick and unsettling feeling filled her belly and then spread across her body. There was nothing left she could do. No more flailing or splashing or screaming. She let the dread take over. She felt it when it finally reached her core. A small heavy weight just as small as it had been when it started. It rendered her completely immobile before knocking her unconscious. Her body floated lifelessly along the top of the water.
“Ronni, you with us?”
The instructor had called her name four or five times by now before Ronni blinked her eyes opened.
In front of her, the instructor, a woman she recognized for always making sure she had a comfortable spot in the water and warning her if the temperature was ever too cold, was looking at Ronni with mild concern. It quickly dissipated, more knowing than she might have admitted. Then she jumped back into the routine, counting the reps of squats they were doing.
They were in the shallow end of the pool. The Temptations were singing from the boombox, “I know to you, it might sound strange But I wish it would rain. Oh, how I wish that it would rain.”
Ronni looked around at all the brightly colored swimsuits and head wraps. The faces of her elder baddies were a mix of laughter, surprise, and joy as they were either mid gossip about who was dating who or chatting about weekend plans. A few smiles flashed her way as she made eye contact with them. She slowly came to herself.
Ronni pushed and pulled the water around her just as the instructor was saying. It lapped against her chest and rippled about her thighs, splashing her face gently on each return. She closed her eyes just for a moment and breathed deeply. The request was simple. Just push and pull the water. They were cooling off their bodies from the last 45 minutes of rigorous workout. But the water never actually hurt. It cushioned the body and made light work of strenuous activity, offering very little judgment for sore knees, bad backs, or restlessness. The gentle pressure reminded her that she was protected here, in the water. She had been away too long and it hadn’t welcomed her gently but reminded her why she needed to always find her way back.
Ronni headed toward the metal ramp again. The first of two classes this morning was over but she was ready to go. Ms. Gladys swam in between Ronni and the exit.
“Heading out already, baby?”
“Yes ma’am,” Ronni managed to answer, her voice surprising her with its clarity despite how sore it felt. Ms Gladys stopped, locked eyes with Ronni and held them just for a moment.
“Mmm hmm,” she grinned. “That’s why you gotta take care of yourself better, boo, so you don’t end up in the wrong damn water.”
