Note: an older, re-edited story.
Doreen left her towel on a patio chair. She placed her sunglasses and cell phone on the adjacent patio table. Then she set up a video camera on a tripod.
She pointed it at the water in the deep end of the pool before turning it on. When she was done, she brushed her hands back and forth. Everything was all set; she was at the ready.
She looked at the house as though half expecting someone to come out and confront her. She stood there in grim determination with hands on hips. But the woman inside was old, frail and hard of hearing. She was not a threat.
Doreen saw no one in the window. She heard nothing that might indicate someone was coming to the back door. “I’m not afraid,” she murmured, more to convince herself than anything else. “I don’t believe in any curse.”
She looked down into the water, hesitating for a moment. Then she looked over at the house again. A quiver of uncertainty rippled through her, but she shook it off.
Once more she told herself she was not afraid. The video camera would dutifully record her actively completing the dare. That’s when she decided it was time.
Gathering her courage, she inhaled sharply before diving into the water with a splash. She angled downward, swimming the entire length underwater on one breath. She swam back and popped up as though revealing herself to the video camera.
She smiled and motioned grandly. “See? I’m in the pool. Nothing’s going to happen to me.”
She submerged before kicking off the wall toward the other end. She swam back and forth on one breath three times. The pool wasn’t very big, allowing her to make the swim easily.
She made several laps like that without incident. Each time she came up for a breath she would glance over at the back door. But she was left alone in the pool.
No one showed up to kick her out. No one harangued her over her unauthorized access. And most importantly, there was no eerie sound or supernatural occurrence to interfere with her swim.
She swam another couple of laps underwater, growing more confident by the minute. Then her cell phone rang, interrupting her swim. It caught her by surprise, startling her.
Despite her bravado she quickly got out of the water and answered it. She did not want to tempt fate by allowing it to ring too long. Doreen did not want to attract any undue attention…
“Hello? …yeah, I’m here! I told you I’d do it, didn’t I? You just interrupted my swim. …what do you mean, ‘you don’t believe me’? I’ll show you! I’ve got a video camera running right now! I’m burning up the batteries standing here talking to you! …no, I’m not afraid of the bitch! And I don’t believe in any curse either! …you want me to WHAT? …get naked in her pool??!! What the hell is that supposed to prove?? …all right – all right; I’ll do it! I’m hanging up now! I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to… no, I’m not afraid! I just don’t want to tempt fate! Now goodbye!”
“Bitch doesn’t believe me!” she muttered angrily as she hung up. “I’ll show her!”
She went to the deep end and adjusted the video camera. She made sure it was pointed down toward the bottom. When she was finished adjusting it she sighed with disgust.
Doreen took another deep breath. Then she stepped off into the water with a splash. Since she was already here, she was more than willing to do what was necessary to satisfy that bitch!
She skulled to the bottom and sat on her ass. She reached behind her back and unhooked her bikini top. She made a show of waving it at the camera before tossing it aside.
She rose up to the surface, air bubbling out of her nose. “Happy now?” she told the camera, rolling her eyes in disgust.
She grabbed her breasts and groping them a little. Then she took a deep breath before slipping back under to finish the job. The sooner she got finished and got out of here, the better.
Once more she skulled to the bottom of the pool. This time she proceeded to remove her bottoms. She was wearing a string bikini, so it was easy to pull on the loose ends and pop it free.
She made another show of waving it upward at the camera. Then she tossed it away in the direction of her discarded top. Now she was naked in the pool.
She shot up to the surface again, air streaming out of her nose until she burst up. Then she flipped the camera the bird. “Satisfied?” she told it in disgust. “Or do you want more?”
Shaking her head, she headed back down. Now she was going to stay on the bottom and hold her breath. She was going to do it long enough to prove to her friends she wasn’t afraid of any old woman, much less any so-called “curse”.
She reached the bottom of the pool, making sure to keep her focus on the video camera. She posed several times, spreading her legs to show her goodies. Then she grabbed her tits.
She stared up at the camera, sticking her tongue out and blowing bubbles. She was obsessed with proving herself to those who’d made the dare. Thus, she was oblivious to the green garden hose near the shallow end next to the house as it started to uncoil.
The end of the hose slipped into the shallow end of the pool like a snake in search of its prey. It slowly uncoiled from its location by the house. Somehow it seemed to zero in on the naked woman in the deep end.
It drew ever closer to the unsuspecting young woman. Doreen had her back to the shallow end as she made faces up at the camera on the tripod. She never once looked behind her.
Her lungs were straining when she surfaced in a flurry of bubbles. She panted for breath as she sneered at the camera, “Is that what you assholes wanted to see?”
She suddenly became aware of something brushing her left foot. Instinctively she looked downward. What the hell had gotten into the pool with her??
She was utterly shocked at the sight of the end of the garden hose wrapping itself around her ankle. There was no time to cry out. A moment later she was jerked underwater with a burble.
She looked down in alarm, wondering how the hell she’d missed seeing the hose lying in the water. What really startled her was the way it had snagged her ankle and pulled her under. She bubbled anxiously before shooting up to the surface.
Doreen was shocked as the hose abruptly pulled her right back under. Astonishment quickly gave way to fear as she struggled against the hose attached to her ankle. She cried out a burst of bubbles, shaking her head as fear gripped her heart.
She pulled hard with her arms, kicking herself back to the surface. She barely managed a loud gasp for breath before she was abruptly jerked back down. This was insane!
The idea of there being any kind of curse leapt to the forefront of her thoughts. She thought about the old lady who supposedly lived inside. Where the hell was she when she needed her most??
Incredibly, the hose was acting as though it was alive. And it was scaring the shit out of her! Now Doreen wanted out of the water in the worst way.
She shot up to the surface for another breath, only to be jerked right back under. Doreen began waving frantically with her arms. Bubbles poured out of her mouth as she waved for the camera… as though whoever was watching might stop what they were doing and come to her rescue. Sadly, it was not a live feed.
She tried to kick herself back to the surface. But the hose jerked her up short. No matter how hard she tried, it seemed the hose was not going to allow her back up.
Doreen couldn’t explain it. But she thought she heard a voice in her head. It was an ominous voice, telling her she’d already gotten the very last breath she would ever receive.
At that moment she was suddenly hit with a jolt of extreme panic. She looked down at her ankle in terror, frantically shaking her head. Her mind screamed, “NO! LET ME GO! I WON’T EVER COME BACK; I PROMISE!”
There was no response. If anything, the hose clung even more stubbornly to her ankle. It was as though it simply refused to release her.
Doreen’s chest heaved insistently. Her breasts bounced and wobbled from convulsions ignited by the raging inferno in her lungs. Then she lost a big burst of air.
Instinctively she covered her mouth with one hand to keep from losing the last of her breath. She used the other to wave frantically at the surface above her, a panicked expression picked up by her camera. Her eyes were wide in terror as spasms and convulsions painfully wracked her body.
She desperately need for another breath. She was growing tired of struggling. Another convulsion threatened to empty her lungs.
Doreen covered her mouth with both hands. She looked all around, her eyes wide with terror. Then she coughed into her hands as her lungs heaved in her chest, setting her breasts to bouncing and wobbling.
She coughed again, the agony almost doubling her over. A moment later her lungs opened up. She just couldn’t hold her breath anymore.
Her eyes flew open in horror as she started coughing and convulsing. Her lungs heaved again, causing her to suck great gulps of water down her windpipe. She grunted and gurgled, her nipples becoming painfully erect from the eroticism of her terror.
She waved up at the surface as though signaling for assistance. Her movements became disorganized as her brain sent mixed messages to her nerve endings. Her body almost doubled over with each cough as she spasmed painfully.
There was a sudden release of small bubbles as her lungs were flooded. Doreen shuddered weakly before becoming exhausted. She no longer had the strength to put up a fight for survival.
Arms and legs twitched sporadically as her body continued to hitch in little spasms. Smaller bubbles slipped out past her parted lips. Then she went completely limp.
For a moment Doreen hung tethered between the air above and the bottom of the pool. She swayed softly, her arms outstretched by her sides as the hose kept her secured to the pool floor. Her long, blonde hair gently swirled around her head, settling all around her and partly obscuring her face.
She looked up at the surface as if in a daze. Her eyes glazed over as the life winked out of them. Her last thought was the horrible realization that the curse was indeed real. It was knowledge that came much too late to save her.
She gently hitched a couple of times. Then consciousness drifted away into oblivion. Her body swayed softly, still tethered to the bottom of the pool.
The hose slowly disentangled itself from around her ankle as though the task had been completed. That’s when it began to retract. It was as though an invisible person was slowly pulling it out of the pool, coiling it back into its place.
Her naked body drifted upward until she floated face down. Arms and legs hung down as her vacant eyes stared at the bottom of the pool. A few stray bubbles slipped out past her parted lips.
The surface of the pool eventually grew still. Doreen dutifully floated in place. Her video camera faithfully recording it all.
The back door to the house suddenly swung open. But no one appeared in the doorway. For a long moment there was an eerie silence.
There was a sudden flash of light that appeared from out of nowhere. A moment later the body in the pool was gone. It was as though it had never been there to begin with.
The surface looked smooth and undisturbed. There was no evidence of a swimmer. No articles of swimwear lay on the pool floor.
A moment later the video camera also winked out of existence. It was followed by the cell phone, sunglasses and towel. That’s when door to the house closed just as silently as it had opened…
2011; 2020 (written May 2 ’11; ed. Jul 19 ‘20 by riwa)