The Author, the Well, and Another World (2)

“Are you alright?” The man’s face was towering over me. I still felt dizzy from the fall. As I looked at myself, I could see a few scratches. But before I answered, the man continued, as it took me too long.

“You almost got yourself killed. What were you thinking, just strolling in front of my truck? I think we should take you to the hospital.”

As I came to myself a bit, I replied. “No, there is no need really. I apologize for the trouble. I must have lost concentration. But it's nothing, just a few scratches as I fell from the bike. You haven’t hit me or anything.”

“Don’t give me that. I almost hit you. There are people now staring at us. They’ll call the police if they haven’t already.”

Then I rose, still feeling the stings from scratches, and yelled. “Nothing to see, felt unwell and fell. This man is helping me up. I’ll be alright.” The few people who were watching started to disperse, and I took the opportunity to move my bike onto the sidewalk.

The man was still following me, saying that I should go to the hospital. Then, he at least asked for my parents’ number so someone could come and pick me up.

I kept avoiding the answers, trying to get away. It’s not like they would come. Both do late shifts these days, and I barely see them. When we get a chance to talk, it’s more of a check-up on my studies. They will leave me money on the table every morning to buy food, with some encouraging message. It is up to me to do the house chores, wash clothes, and sometimes cook us all dinner when I don’t have part-time work myself.

When I returned home, I guess the adrenaline wore off, and I started to realize that I had a close encounter with death. I felt my heart racing fast. Deep breaths, inhale, exhale. I was trying to calm myself.

I poured myself a hot bath. And I lay in it, with steam covering our small bathroom. I was still thinking about my novel, the feedback. The intrusive thoughts came, and I started wondering if I should even bother with writing. I had a story ready for our club's yearly book release.

But this was my dream: to pursue writing, to publish it on the “I want to become a novelist” platform, to get noticed, get a book deal signed, and release my light novel series.

But maybe I should listen to my dad’s advice, go study economics, get his recommendation, work at the same company… same late hours…

Gaah, I just can’t do that. That sounds like such a miserable life. I get that the salary will provide a roof over my head from that sort of job, and I probably will be a good match for a husband, but if history repeats itself, I’ll just end up being like my father. Rarely there for his child.

I started to chuckle. Man, I’m thinking about forming a family, and I haven’t even kissed a girl yet.

Then embarrassment came as I was caught listening to my mom’s conversation with Mio’s mom. They were scheming to get us to spend more time during the summer break, hoping that some activities like going to a fireworks festival or visiting a carnival might ignite some romantic sparks. But I have known Mio since middle school, and being our third year and almost going to college, never once have I felt any signal that she was interested in me. Come to think of it, I don’t think she dated anyone, and she is kinda cute. With her long black hair and blue eyes staring in from the window of our club room, lost in her thoughts, smiling, not noticing me below in the courtyard, yeah, maybe a thought had crossed my mind. But hopefully, her mom won’t tell how I tried to sneak by and fumbled right in front of them.

I should probably get out of the bath now. I might have made the water too hot, or maybe it's still the effects from the fall. But the room seems kinda hazy. Close your eyes, breathe in, breathe out.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Breathe…

. . .

Suddenly, everything felt colder. I struggled to open my eyes. Then I realized that I was holding my breath, and as I tried to breathe in, water started to pour through my nose. I was fighting the water, but I was not able to see anything. It was pitch dark. It wasn’t my eyes that were the problem. It felt like I was in some sort of deep water.

What do I do? I am going to die. The panic kicked in, and I struggled with my whole body, moving in all directions. Then, in a moment, my hands were trying to swim up, and so with all the energy I had, I was pushing up.

Air! Old air, but at least I was breathing. I had no idea where I was. I was now trying to keep myself afloat.

“What happened? This is not my house.” I spoke in a dry voice. My throat was sore, as I coughed as I inhaled all the air I could. I was in some sort of water, deep enough that I couldn’t stand, and I had no idea how deep it was. I also had no sense of direction on where to go. And I couldn’t see anything. There was no source of light, nothing.

Water wasn’t salty, and it didn’t have any particular taste, maybe a little bit even like sparkling water. So I am not near any ocean. The temperature is not too cold, which means even in this dark climate is not so drastic that the water level is such I will get hypothermia.

WHY AM I RATIONALIZING LIKE THIS IS NORMAL? I was one second in my bath, getting ready to dry up, and the next thing I am in total darkness, and I had no idea how I got here. Is it a dream? Should I try to drown, maybe I’ll wake up back in my tub. Or maybe I am already dead and this is purgatory, and I am waiting for a barge to pick me up and take me.

I can feel my heart racing; this is not good. Calm down, calm down.

Not knowing anything about my location, I decided that I should just start swimming, and hopefully my choice would be right. After a few strokes, my hand managed to hit something like a rock, or at least it felt like it was. I grabbed onto it, started to pull my body towards it. I started to feel around, but it seemed that the rock I touched was part of some sort of wall, and there was a small hole that I lucked out on putting my hand into. So I started to swim around and kept going by the rocks, and so I kept touching rocks until once again few minutes I managed to get my hand into a hole. I kept going, but once again, after a few minutes, my hand reached a hole.

Even in the dark, I had sort of a feeling I was running in circles. I decided to test this and tried to swim away from the rock. And after a few strokes, I hit a rock wall, but no hole to hold on to. So I tried swimming in a different direction. Once again, I hit a wall.

Is this some kind of a well? I asked myself, since it seemed to be circular. I should find the hole again. After going around the walls, I managed to find it. With one hand holding onto it, I tried to see if I could grab anywhere else. I managed to lift myself a bit, and my luck was such that there was another hole. Maybe these are meant for climbing. So I started to pull myself, and tried to grab any holes. I was nearly at the end of my strength when suddenly, I felt like there was something above. It was wooden.

Oh great, how am I going to move this? It’s probably a well cover, and with my luck, it is probably locked. But I was desperate, and if there was a slim chance I could push it, then I was going to use all the force I could muster. With my left hand, I pushed as hard as possible, but nothing happened. My attempt was in vain.

Daaamn it! I yelled and tried punching the cover. My heart was racing, and I was about to run out of strength. This will be my end.

But then, just as I was about to give up, I heard a noise. Like someone unlocking a door. And then there was light.