A Fear Leads to Danger

My hands were clasped, as my thumbs fidgeted back and forth. I could feel

my heart beating, water dripping from a faucet. The deep abyss of water and its

unknown layers always scared me. However, scuba diving was the only way

Avery, my little sister, and I could get closer to Mom.

“Alright. That’s the end of the safety video,” The lifeguard said. “Are you all

ready to enter the diving area?”

“Let’s do it,” Mom said without acknowledging me or Avery’s answer.

“Wait, Mom.” I tugged at her arm. “How deep is the pool this time?”

“Compared to others, Aria, it’s not that bad. You and Avery are going to love

it,” Mom said.

I knew she was trying to hide the truth from me. She always compared things

when they were bad.

I asked again, “How deep is the pool, Mom?”

Her eyes avoided mine. as We walked into the diving area holding our fins,

with our wet suits on, and air tanks and mask attached like a backpack.

“Okay, you all are all set up,” The lifeguard said. “Last check, Aria is 14, and

Avery is 10, correct?

“Yes, and no worries, they both are certified to dive,” Mom said. “This little

one right here was able to get her diving certificate a month earlier, due to her

advanced swimming skills.”

Avery giggled. “And me and Aria are the best swimmers on our swimming

teams. Right, Aria?”

I smiled at Avery and nodded to boost her confidence.

The lifeguard chuckled. “I’ll leave you all to it. Remember, I am in the

control room so if there is any trouble, wave at the cameras like you all learned in

the video.

At that point, the moment became real. I squeezed my hands and closed my

eyes tightly to calm myself.

I felt a cold hand on my shoulder. When I opened my eyes, it was Mom.

“Listen, I know you are afraid of being underwater. But you are a terrific

swimmer, and you have always excelled in the diving training I have given you

and Avery.”

I shrugged.

“If you want to join me on my shipwreck expedition, you need to become

comfortable diving into deeper waters.”

I felt a little hand reach for mine. “Don’t worry, Aria. If you feel scared, I’ll

hold your hand,” Avery said. I grasped her hand and smiled back.

When we walked up closer to the diving pools, I saw three light blue circles

inches from one another. As I inched closer to the first one, the light blue turned

dark blue. It was like looking down into the night sky, but it was made of water.

Maybe this was how it felt when Alice went down the rabbit hole. I stared at

the sign underneath my feet.

DIVERS BEWARE 25 FEET DEEP

“What?” I couldn’t believe Mom didn’t tell me. “I change my mind. I don’t

want to join you on your marine archaeology trip.”

Mom seemed surprised. “If you don’t want to go, then, Avery, I’m sorry— we

have to cancel.”

“Not fair.” Avery stomped her foot, and tucked her arms in.

“Sorry, Avery,” I said. “But you know how I feel when I am underwater. It

makes me feel trapped.” Avery nodded and looked down at the floor.

I was not acting as a good big sister to Avery. The only reason Mom decided

to take us on her archaeology trip was because we wanted to spend more time

with her. When I was Avery’s age, I rarely spent time with Mom. She was always

traveling to different countries, exploring caves, or going on underwater deep sea

dives. She even missed Avery’s 8 th birthday, due to an expedition.

So, I came up with this plan. I told Avery it would be the only way we could

spend more time with Mom. I couldn’t back out now. I couldn’t do that to myself

or Avery. I sucked up my fears and took a deep breath. “I’ve changed my mind.”

We all sat at the edge of the pool, staring into the deep.

“Remember, stay together, and always communicate so I know you are safe,”

Mom said. “Okay, be careful when swimming near the pool vents. Do you both

understand?”

I never saw this serious side of Mom, but I knew it was important.

“Understood!” Avery and I said.

We placed our masks over our faces, checked the pressure, then shimmied our

butts off the edge into the frightening waters.

“Aria and Avery, are you okay?” Mom said. It felt weird hearing my mom’s

voice inside my mask every time.

“Yes, Mommy, I’m fine,” Avery answered first.

“Yes, I’m okay,” I said, but I really wasn’t. It felt like a monster den. I felt a

weird thing tugging my arm, but when I turned, Avery was there reaching for my

hand.

Suddenly, the fear went away. I could only think about protecting Avery. I

grabbed her hand, and we continued following Mom. My ears wanted to burst, but

then I remembered Mom teaching us to press our nose against the mask and blow

forcefully through our nose.

The deeper we went, it felt like mud and air. It was so thick that it was

difficult to swim to the bottom. But touching the water felt like I was touching air.

“We’re 15 feet below the pool’s surface,” Mom said checking her meter.

“Great!” I said. “Can we now go back up?”

“Copy that, over,” Mom said.

I was excited. So excited that I let go of Avery’s hand and began swimming

back as quickly as possible.

“Aria, slow down…,” Mom said.

I was so happy that I didn’t hear what else she said because our suit radios

were too far apart now.

Suddenly, I saw tiny white bubbles pass my mask. I stopped and looked

around. There were no fishes or aquatic wildlife nearby to make those bubbles.

This time a bunch of baby bubbles were coming from the right side. When I

looked closer, big vent flaps were slowly opening.

“Mom, do you hear me?” I waited but no answer.

“Mom, are you there?” Mom wasn’t answering, and the bubbles were

multiplying. What do I do?

“Mom, Mommy, can you hear me? I’m scared!” I looked below and couldn’t

see anything or anyone.

“Yes, yes, we’re still here.”

My eyes filled with tears when I heard her voice. “Mommy, there’s these

strange bubbles coming from the pool’s vent.”

“Aria—SWIM—AWAY!”

“Mom, you’re breaking up!” When I looked back up at the vent, a gush of

white bubbles pushed me back.

It felt like I was on a rollercoaster, but I couldn’t see or hear anything. I tried

to swim, but the current of bubbles knocked me into the pool’s wall.

“Aria, I’m here.” I was too dizzy to see what was happening. I felt a small

hand grab me, then I almost passed out.

My eyes opened a little, and I saw my mom and sister staring at the top of the

pool’s surface.

“Just a few more minutes,” she said, “Just a few more minutes, sweety.” After

those words, I did pass out.

**********

When my eyes finally opened, I saw my mom by my bedside, while Avery

was holding my hand. My eyes wandered around the room—the lifeguard’s first

aid room.

I looked back at Avery and squeezed her hand, then reached for Mom’s. hand.

Mom smiled as a tear fell from her eyes. “You scared us there Aria,” Mom

said.

She hugged me, and Avery leaned closer to join.

“I’m sorry, I should have listened and stayed with you guys.”

“Yes, you should have,” Mom said. She stopped hugging me and sat back up

looking away from my eyes.

“After today’s event, I decided that it would be best if you and Avery do not

join me on this expedition.”

My heart sank in sadness.

“My work is too dangerous, and I wouldn’t want to see you, or Avery get hurt,

or worst case, I lose you both.”

“But Mom,” I couldn’t control my tears, “you can’t do this. It’s not fair to me

or Avery.” Avery nodded in agreement.

Mom looked at me with disappointment. “Fair? Fair? You almost drowned.

Not only that, but Avery could have also gotten hurt due to the actions you—"

Mom looked away from me and held back her words. I knew what she wanted

to say, but I also knew she didn’t mean it. But now, I had something to say.

“Mom, the only reason why me and Avery wanted to go on the stupid trip

with you is because we wanted to spend more time with you.” You’re rarely ever

home. I didn’t want Avery to reach my age, having spent less time with you.”

Mom eyes widened and her mouth opened as she took a breath. She stayed

frozen.

“But because I made a dumb mistake, you are punishing us and abandoning—

Avery pulled my hand. “No, don’t hurt Mommy’s feelings.” Her fragile

disheartened voice made me drop my head and cry.

Knock! Knock!

We all looked at the door. “Come in,” Mom said wiping her tears away. The

lifeguard handed her some paperwork to sign.

“She looks good to go home,” he said. “Please visit the emergency room just

to make sure she has no concussions and present this document of the incident.”

From there we left the diving facility and did not exchange any words.

The next morning Mom and Avery came rushing through my bedroom door. I

couldn’t tell if Mom was still mad at me.

“Avery, you want to tell your big sister the good news,” she said smiling at

me.

Avery hopped closer and closer to my bed, until she jumped and sat next to

me. “Mommy, is taking a sa-bar-cold?” Avery looked toward Mom for the right

word.

“Sabbatical,” Mom said.

“Right, to spend more time with us. In a weird way, our plan worked!” Avery

jumped with excitement.

I grabbed my mom’s hand. “I’m sorry I let my fear put myself, you, and

Avery in danger. I also didn’t mean all the things I said. We just want to spend

more time with you.”

Mom hugged us both. “I understand, and I’m sorry if I ever made you feel like

you or Avery were not important to me.”

From that day, I learned three things: 1) My Mom loves us a lot, and she

sometimes must make choices, even if we sometimes don’t like them. 2) I also

learned that we shouldn’t say or do things that will hurt each other’s feelings. I

should be truthful about how I feel, and 3) I think I will stick to swimming, for

now.