She slipped into her black one-piece for an enjoyable dip in her spa on the afternoon of Friday the 13th, unaware she would be taking a soak in… THE TWILIGHT ZONE!
At first, she turned on the jets for a pleasant soak.
Then she turned off the jets, deciding that she wanted to have a little fun.
She began playing around, sticking her head partway into the water.
Then she submerged, wondering if she could keep the water out of her nose.
Strangely, she found herself unable to get up right away. She finally managed to get up, gasping in confusion, her hair in her eyes.
She sat there in amazement, wondering why she hadn’t been able to get up right away. Had it really happened? Or had she imagined it?
Then she slipped and went down backwards, completely submerging herself!
For a panic-filled moment she couldn’t get back up… as though something was holding her down! Then she got up gasping and sputtering, snorting water out of her nose! It stung something fierce and she decided to play with her dive mask for a while.
She grabbed a small weight, held it behind her back, slid down into the well of the spa and held her breath.
She started to come up, only to be jerked back down by the weight! To her utter shock she couldn’t let go! She burbled in fear as her chest began to heave, her lungs growing desperate for air. For a moment she wondered if she was going to be able to hold her breath much longer.
The next thing she knew she was flat on her back in the well of the spa as a foot held her down. She was horrified, thinking that some serial killer had broken into her patio and was going to drown her!
…and then amazingly enough the foot was gone, her dive mask was not on her face anymore and the spa jets were on again! Had she imagined it all??
She smiled and laughed… a nervous laugh. She was under a lot of stress. Perhaps she’d nodded off, relaxing against the jets. Yeah… that must be it! That HAD to be it! She was just imagining things!
She leaned back and floated on her back, allowing the jets to bubble all around her, relaxing her.
A dream… or some sort of strange hallucination! Yes, surely that was it! It was the stress; she needed a vacation!
…and then she was pulled under again! She cried out in terror, air bursting out of her mouth until she burst up, gasping and sputtering, her hair covering her face!
Trembling in fear, her heart beating wildly, she started to rise, anxious to get the hell out of the spa… only to feel a malevolent force grab her, keeping her right where she was! She whimpered fearfully, only to realize to her horror that she was being pulled down into the water!
She felt herself being pulled down and her hands waved under the water, trying to figure out what… or WHO… had a hold on her! But there was nothing in the spa with her… nothing that she could feel or see!
She grabbed a quick breath just before her mouth and nose were submerged and she closed her eyes in pure terror. “WHAT’S HAPPENING TO ME??!!” her mind screamed. “NO! I DON’T WANNA DROWN!”
She fought like hell, struggling to get back up. But it was no use. She was pulled down until all but the top of her head was submerged.
She screamed a flurry of bubbles that mixed with the froth of the spa jets, her mind crying out for someone to save her. She tried valiantly to hold her breath, hoping against hope that whatever was pulling her down would let her go before she couldn’t hold it anymore.
Her lungs heaved in her chest and she lost burst after precious burst of air as she struggled to poke her head above the bubbly surface.
“NOOOOOOO…!”
…and then she couldn’t hold it anymore! Air burst out of her body and she gurgled as she inhaled a killing lungful of air. She began spasming painfully, her body trying to cough the liquid back out, unaware that she was now floating face down in the frothing water.
She screamed inwardly, her lungs filling rapidly as her body jerked and spasmed. She opened her mouth one last time in an effort to inhale air, only to pull more water down into her lungs. Then she spasmed one last time before her body went limp.
And then the spa jets abruptly shut off by some unseen hand, leaving her floating face down as the swirling water calmed.
Her body twitched involuntarily. Then she floated lifelessly, waiting for the next-door neighbor to accidentally stumble upon the grizzly scene simply because the elderly woman needed to borrow a cup of sugar.
(written Oct 14 ’06 by riwa)
(Pictures are for illustration purposes only.)