My wife used to accuse me of being a wet blanket. Maybe I am, but I think it’s fair to say swimming loses its novelty after you’ve almost drowned.
When I was younger, I went on a school trip to West Virginia. On the last day we went rafting down the New River. I was at an age when nothing seemed cool, yet I found the river and its surrounding tree lines breath taking.
The river guide was a twenty something hippy that called himself Digger. He was tall and lean with a long, curly beard and a deep tan. He looked like a burnout, but he knew what he was talking about.
“The river is just like a horse,” he said. “It’s majestic, it’s beautiful, but you need to show it respect. You show it respect, you’ll have the ride of your life. If you disrespect it, it’ll throw you off it’s back. Sometimes it throws you for no good reason”.
We stopped for lunch around noon. Digger saved Matt Schultz from being bitten by some venomous snake hiding under some brush.
“This ain’t a bathroom! You need to watch where you’re going when you go to drain the lizard out here”.
The teachers weren’t amused with Digger’s phrasing, but the fact of the matter was he saved Matt’s life.
We made our way down the river, listening to bird song and breeze. At one point we passed under the New River Gorge Bridge. There was sort of a droning sound, but I didn’t pay much attention to it. Fog careened between the evergreens like a snake. As I marveled, the droning grew louder and closer. The boat was moving a little faster without our rowing.
“Be alert, we got a Class Five coming up ahead,” Digger yelled.
Class Fives, the big ones. I readied myself to help my teacher steer from the back of our raft. The raft dipped down fast. Waves of water were crashing up into our boat. The sounds of rushing water and laughter filled the air, but I could see at the front of the raft that Digger was alert.
“LEFT! LEFT! GO”.
Before we could do as Digger said, the front of the raft crashed into a boulder. A couple of kids in front of me were rattled. I saw my teacher grab onto a strap. At that point, I seemed to float. The video of our trip would later show me thrown out of the boat like a rag doll.
I crashed into the water, shooting to the bottom of the river. My arms tried to do the butterfly; my legs did a bicycle kick. I reached the surface and took a deep breath. The people in my raft were paddling against the current. Digger’s voice was yelling over the drone. My arms flailed as the river sucked me down again. I was almost at the river bottom.
Your life does flash before your eyes when you think you’re going to die. There were flashes from my whole life up to that point. Bike rides, skinned knees, birthday parties, not everything but whatever could break through my panic. During that time there was a flash reminding me that I was in something called a hydraulic, or Eddie, or something.
I was supposed to ball up and let pressure shoot me out, I thought. You don’t think correctly when you’re drowning though. You struggle like Hell instead. I started my bicycle kicks again. Again, I reached the surface and gulped for air.
When the river tried to swallow me again, my teacher threw me a rope. The rope dug into my palms as I gripped it tight. Some of the people on my raft were paddling against the current while the others pulled the rope. They pulled me in and handed me my paddle.
“Are you alright,” Digger yelled. I nodded, not yet ready to speak. “Alright everyone, we paddle together, we steer together! Eyes open!”
For the next few minutes we were spun, pulled, pushed, and bumped. When we made it to the other end of the rapids, there were high fives and laughter. Digger and my teacher asked me if I was still okay. Still nodding, still not ready to speak. Later that night, my teachers and Digger did their best to console me.
Digger told me how happy he was I survived. One of his fellow guides lost someone the previous year. She had been trapped in a hydraulic just like me. They were able to get her out, but hypothermia had already set in. Oxygen depravation had caused her severe brain damage. The girl’s parents took her off life support, and the river guide drank himself to death a few months later.
I think Digger told me that story to show me how lucky I was. There was no doubt in my mind that I was, but after that I never wanted to raft or canoe again. Even water parks made me uneasy. I never went in the water again. That is until Mary.
_ _
Mary and I met during our Junior year at U of I in our Epic Lit class. We connected when we had to do a group presentation about The Odyssey together. She was beautiful, athletic, and intelligent. I was a sensitive sort, pale from years spent inside avoiding nature. It felt too good to be true when she invited to me to come to her meet.
“Do you run track,” I asked.
“No, I’m on the diving team”.
My blood ran cold.
“Is something wrong, “ she asked.
“No, no, I just. I don’t swim”
“You don’t swim? Well, you don’t need to. It’s MY meet. Please, I’d like you to be there”.
In the end I relented. After the meet we went on our first date.
As time went on, she managed to get me to go hiking. My pallor started to go away, along with my fear of the outdoors. One hike took us to a scenic view of the Mississippi.
“Let’s go get a closer look,” Mary said with an excited tone.
I was frozen in place. She tugged on my hand, but I didn’t budge. Her hand slipped out of mine, the sweat from my palms freeing me from her grip. She asked what was wrong with me. That’s when I told her the story about my rafting trip.
“That’s why you were so reluctant to go hiking at first? The reason you didn’t want to go my diving meet?”
I nodded, the sound of the river droning below us.
“I understand,” she said. “We’ll take things slow. Someday, we’ll get you back in the water again.”
I didn’t respond as she kissed me on the cheek. She took my hand and lead me back the way we came.
The next night she took me down to the lake by the place we were staying. Its surface was so calm that it looked like a mirror instead of a body of water.
“What are we doing here,” I asked.
“We’re going to go swimming,” she said with a smile on her face.
“I don’t have a swimsuit Mary”.
“That’s okay,” she said.” Neither do I”.
Her outer clothes fell to the ground. She then tossed her bra to the side and slid her panties down, stepping towards me. Mary started to undress me, kissing my cheek gently as she did. She stepped backwards, grabbing my hand. Her feet were in the water, her body bathed in moonlight.
“Come on” she said smiling, as she stepped deeper into the lake.
I could feel the water around my feet. Mary drew me into the lake nice and slow until we were floating. Two primal instincts were fighting in my mind. Reflections made her eyes glisten, her smile was wide. She started to kiss me gently on the lips, drawing me in closer.
“I want you to try something okay?”
Mary submerged completely. She was gone for a few seconds then bobbed out of the water.
“The bottom is only a foot below our feet down there. I think you can do this”.
She put her hands on my shoulders. At that moment I was torn between my fear and my love. I decided to see if love truly conquered all. When I nodded, we submerged together. The murky haze under the water distorted her appearance. The water felt cold and all consuming. When a ripple in the water above moved across my scalp, something awoke inside me.
My life wasn’t in danger, but visions of my whole life flashed in my brain. Panic gripped my heart and I bicycled toward the surface. Before I got out I could hear Mary call my name through the water, her face a blurred expression of concern. I tried to remember how to swim properly, rushing towards the shore. When my knees met the lake bottom I crawled to the shore. Naked and shivering, I ran back to the cabin we were staying in.
When Mary caught up I was shivering next to the fire. She apologized profusely, but I didn’t answer. The rest of the night, there was no talking, no sex, I didn’t even sleep in the same room as her. In the morning I showered and dressed. She approached me, a sullen look on her face.
“I, I know what you were trying to do,” I said. “ I appreciate, what you thought you could do. But you can’t, I can’t. Okay?”
She nodded and embraced me. Things were rough after that, but we worked through it eventually.
_ _
A few years after that night, we got married. We moved upstate and started our life together. Every year when summer came around, we would take a trip to Lake Huhawira. There was a site up there with three cabins. Our cabin was small and modest, with a kitchenette, a bathroom, a main room, and a bedroom off to the side.
Greg Johannson was off to the left. His cabin was a little bigger than ours with its bigger bathroom and extra bedroom. He had moved there permanently after his wife lost her battle with breast cancer. The widower was a model neighbor, always willing to share firewood if we had run out. Whenever he smoked brisket, he would invite us over for dinner. No need to bring anything.
Mike Basso and his family had the cabin on the right, and they were a different story. Their cabin was more akin to a McMansion than it was to most of the homes that lined the shores of the lake. He owned a plumbing company, and obviously did well for himself.
His cabin was a “renovation” that had grown to two stories and was clad in expensive stone. There was a two-car garage, and a trailer for his speed boat. All of this was protected by an array of security cameras that would make Orwell roll in his grave.
Tina Basso had a penchant for day drinking and often stumbled around their property. Their daughter Gina was always posting on social media, dancing a lot and wearing too little. Mike Jr. liked to shoot hoops in the driveway, even if his ball bounced into our car more than he made his shots.
All of us were down by the shore on Thursday afternoon. Johannson was doing laps along the public dock that ran alongside his property. He insisted it’s how he stayed in shape. Mike was tinkering away on his speed boat as Tina danced on the dock next to him. She went inside when the music stopped and switched to news and weather.
Mary loved Lake Huhawira because she could swim to her heart’s content here. She would often ask me if I wanted to join her, but the answer was always the same. So was her response.
“Okay, wet blanket,” she said with a smile.
I could see Basso ogling Mary as she went into the water. That pissed me off, but I didn’t say anything in case Mary hadn’t noticed. I wasn’t surprised though. Basso was a pig and Mary was much more attractive than Tina.
Greg came up to me soaked from head to toe. Despite being in good health, his physique was droopy. He was trying to get water out of his nostrils when he sat down next to me.
“Gonna get a few laps in today young man”?
I looked over and grinned.
“Maybe tomorrow, “ I said.
The old man grinned and wiped his face with an ancient towel. He sat down next to me and opened a beer. The music from Basso’s radio came on again. Tina reappeared, a white powder on her nostrils. She almost wiped out trying to dance her way onto the dock. Gina and Mike Jr. were taking turns dunking each other’s heads underwater.
“You should come in honey,” Mary said. “The water’s fine”.
I waved to her and she submerged.
“What are you a pussy or something,” Basso shouted to me from his boat.
“Seems money can’t buy manners,” Greg said.
Tina started laughing, then started to windmill her arms. There was a huge splash when she fell backwards into the water. Her children laughed hysterically as she struggled to shore. Basso had a good laugh to.
“Thanks a lot you asshole,” Tina yelled to her husband.
Her red, plastic cup was floating in the water behind her. She pinched her nostrils, trying to get the water out. Gina and Mike Jr. went back to water boarding each other. Mary was coming out of the water.
“I’m going to go in and take a shower,” she said.
She lingered for a moment.
“Okay,” I said.
She toweled off her hair and walked towards our cabin. When she was out of ear shot Greg hit my arm playfully.
“Are you seriously just going to sit there young man,” he said.
“Well, uh”.
“That beautiful wife of yours just put out an invitation and your sitting here drinking beer with a fossil like me”.
“I uh.”
“Are you two still trying,” the old man asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “We’re still trying”.
The old man nodded and looked out to the lake. He pinched a nostril trying to get water out of his nose again.
“Well, I wish you two the best of luck. Being a father is, well, it’s the greatest thing,” he said. “I hope it works out for you two”.
Then he slapped my knee and said, “Even if it doesn’t, you’re still having fun”.
I chuckled and took the last sip of my beer.
“Either way, go to her. I need to go swim this beer off. Are you still coming over tonight?”
“Yeah, want me to bring anything”?
“Hell no, just yourselves. I’m doing brats on the grill. See you around 5, 5:30”.
“Sounds great,” I said.
I heard him dive off the dock as I reached the cabin. It was followed by another splash.
“Nice one dad,” Mike Jr shouted.
I guess Basso wanted to go for a dip too.
_ _
Mary and I walked over to Greg’s around 5:15. I brought a six, like I always did. The old man would protest, but then he would help me finish it all the same. I climbed the steps and knocked on the door. After a minute I knocked again.
“Anybody home”?
I peered through the windows and didn’t see anything.
“Is everything alright,” Mary asked.
I handed her the six pack.
“Wait here, I’m going to check around back”.
When I got to the back of the house the grill was burning like an inferno. I ran over and carefully covered it with the lid. The brats were burnt, and I could still hear loud sizzles and feel heat with the lid on top.
“Greg?”
The back door to was open. When I climbed the steps I saw Greg face down in a pool of blood.
“GREG?”
I rushed over to the old man and turned him over. His skin was cold to the touch, blood was streaming out of his nostrils. His head flopped backwards as I held him in my arms.
“Mary! MARY!”
Mary came running around the back. She screamed when she saw Greg.
“Call 911!”.
A short while later the paramedics wheeled Greg Johannson away in a body bag. When they asked me if he had any pre-existing conditions I told them he was in better health than most people half his age. They tried to reassure me that there was nothing I could’ve done, but it didn’t make me feel better.
The fire department dealt with the barbeque properly, then left.
The police questioned me for about an hour. They wanted to know if the old man had any medical problems, any enemies, people who might have a grudge against him. I told them no to all counts. Then they asked the question they ask everyone who finds a body.
“Did you and Mr. Johannson have any problems with each other”?
“No, NO! Would he be grilling brats for us if we did?! Would I bring over a six pack, or have my wife call you people if we hated each other”?
The cop looked down at his notes. I could see them a little bit too. According to the notes, Basso thought Greg had died because he was “so fucking old”. The notes mentioned that Greg and I seemed to be on good terms, but to check anyway. Jesus.
“Okay,” the cop said. “If you think of anything else, reach out to us on the non-emergency line”.
The emergency vehicles pulled away, taking my dead friend and their suspicions with them. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tina stumbling around. She wiped a little more white powder from her nose. She looked disgusted when she looked at her hand. There was a little blood coming out of her nose.
_ _
“MY BOY!!! MY BOY!!!”
I woke up quick and ran to the window. Basso was carrying Mike Jr. in his arms. The boy was completely limp.
“Mary call 911” I said. I pulled on a t shirt and jeans, then slipped on some shoes.
“Huh, “ she said waking up.
“Just call 911” I yelled as I ran out the front door.
“What’s going on,” I asked Basso.
Tina and Gina were in the background. Both of them looked terror stricken. Basso was sobbing, as he held Mike Jr. The boy was as white as a sheet with blood flowing out of both nostrils. There was cereal on his face.
“I’LL TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENED! MIKE JR. STARTED TALKING GIBBERISH. THEN HE SAYS HE’S GOT A HEADACHE AND AN ITCHY NOSE! NEXT THING YOU KNOW, HE FALLS FAST FIRST INTO HIS FUCKING FRUITY FLAKES!”
“Mike, I had Mary call 911. They should be here any minute”.
“WHAT GOOD IS THAT?! WHAT GOOD IS THAT?! MY BOY!! MY BOY IS DEAD! HE’S FUCKING DEAD”!
I was so grateful when I heard the sirens approaching. The sound of tires on a the gravel road followed soon after. I stepped back to let the professionals handle the situation. As they pulled up, Gina wiped her nose. It left a streak of red on the sleeve of her white sweatshirt. Basso was sobbing.
“Everybody step back,” the paramedic said. “Sir we need you to let go of your son”.
Basso protested, and I couldn’t blame him. It took two cops and a paramedic to pry Mike Jr. from his arms. Gina started to notice the blood dripping out of her nose.
“Oh my God!”
“We got another one,” the paramedic yelled.
“Another what,” Tina asked.
“Miss do you have a headache, a tingling sensation in your nose, disorientation”?
Gina went white. She looked at Mike Jr. as the paramedics placed him into a body bag. Then she looked at her mother.
“Mommy, Daddy, am I going to die”? She started to cry.
“No, no baby! You’re gonna be fine,” Tina told her daughter.
She embraced the girl. Blood soaked into her shirt as the girl sobbed into her mother’s chest.
“Miss, we really need to take you to the hospital,” the paramedic said.
“SHE’S NOT GOING ANYWHERE” Basso yelled.
“Sir,” the paramedic said, “we need to get her to the hospital. They might know what to do”.
“I’M HER FATHER! I KNOW WHAT’S BEST FOR HER!”
“SIR! With all due respect, you have already lost your son, but we may be able to save your daughter!”
Basso looked like he was about to get physical when his wife put a hand on his shoulder.
“Baby, go with the paramedics,” Tina said.
Her daughter looked at her, then nodded. The girl gave her mother one last embrace. Then she hugged her father. He didn’t return it with the same enthusiasm. Gina looked back as the paramedics escorted her to the ambulance she would share with her brother.
“Now this is important,” the paramedic said. “Do any of you have the symptoms I described”?
I shook my head, so did Basso. Tina covered her nose with her wrist.
- -
Later that day I went to check on Mike and Tina. I didn’t like them, but no one should have to bury their children.
As I approached their cabin, I heard a thudding noise. When I reached the front, I saw Tina hitting her head against the glass door. There were cracks forming, blood spewing from her head. The blood from her forehead almost obscured the blood that was streaming from her nostrils.
“TINA!”
I ran to the front door and opened it. Tina fell forward on to the ground. I knelt down to turn her over. Her eyes were glazed and she tried to speak, but no sound came out. When I asked her to say something, she rolled out of my arms and starting bashing here forehead into the side walk. Blood splattered out the sides.
“STOP IT TINA!”
There was a cracking noise and she stopped slamming her head into the pavement. I rolled her over to see that her head had caved in and some of her teeth were broken. I looked at the blood coming out of her nostrils and noticed something wriggling. It was so small I almost couldn’t make it out, but there were tiny things, wriggling in the blood. I dropped her and backed away. Luckily I didn’t have any blood on me.
“MIKE!”
I ran into the cabin and called out to Basso. The place looked like it had been turned over by burglars. Did Tina make this mess before she started banging her head? A phone was ringing in the kitchen, so I ran in and swiped to accept the call.
“Hello,” the voice on the other side said. “Is this Michael Basso”? The person sounded exhausted.
“No, I’m his neighbor. I”
“Thank God,” the voice said before I could finish. “I, I’m sorry. It’s just, I couldn’t talk to another parent today”.
“What’s going on,” I asked.
“Could you please let Michael, Mr Basso know…..His daughter Gina has passed away.”
My knees started to give out, so I sat down on a bar stool behind me.
“When did this happen? How, how”
“How do you think it happened,” the operator said, interrupting me for the second time. “I’m sorry, it’s been a long day. It happened about a half hour ago”.
I sat there in silence.
“Are you still there,” the operator asked.
“Yeah, yeah. Listen,” I said. “Listen I need the paramedics. There’s another body here,”
“Yeah there’s bodies all over the place. Our morgue is just about full. Every cop, paramedic, fire fighter, and crossing guard is out dealing with this shit. As soon as someone can come, we’ll send somebody. Until then……I’m sorry for your loss”.
The operator hung up before I could say anything else. I slowly stood up and put the phone back on the counter. Everything was going to Hell and I felt powerless. I stepped to the back window and looked out onto the lake. That’s when I spied Basso down by his boat.
“MIKE!”
I started to run down the hill to him, but stopped in my tracks. Basso looked up at me, blood flowing out of his nose.
“HANUMUNAH,” he yelled.
He started walking towards me.
“Mike”?
“ARUVAGABBA”!
Basso raised his arms and started to sprint up the hill towards me. I ran up to the back deck and into the house. My heartbeat was pounding in my head. He tried to get through the back door but, I braced against it. After a few seconds he stopped slamming against the door so I turned to lock it.
As I did, I heard the sound of shattering glass. Basso came crashing through the front door, his arms raised like he wanted to strangle me. I ran left down the hallway and realized I had no idea where I was going. It’s not like I had ever been in this cabin before.
I ran past two smaller bedrooms. At the end of the hallway there were two doors. The first one lead into Mike and Tina’s bedroom. When I opened the other door it lead into the garage. As I opened it, Basso’s arms reached out to grab me. I turned and slammed the door against his head.
He managed to get one of his arms through. I slammed the door against his arm and head over and over, but he still struggled to get through. He snarled at me as he pushed the door open. I backed away and tried to open the passenger door to one of his cars. Instead of opening, the door remained locked and the alarm started blaring.
Basso let out a howl and rushed towards me. I ran around the back of the car, trying to get back to the door. He came back and blocked my escape route. I rushed over to the other side of the garage knocking things over as I tried to escape. Things clanged, broke, and rolled around as I tried to avoid him.
I almost slipped on something rolling on the ground. It was an aluminum baseball bat. At first I was upset that I almost wiped out on this thing, then I came to my senses. Basso hollered over the sound of the car alarm, lunging out at me. I held the bat out against him, making sure none of his blood got in my mouth or up my nose. For a few, frantic moments we struggled until my knee connected with his groin.
He rolled over in pain, then looked up at me with feral hate in his eyes. Basso started to lunge up at me, but I brought the bat down on top of his head. There was a loud ping noise as he went back down. I could see him trying to get up again, so I brought the bat back down again. And again, and again, and again until his forehead cracked open. When he fell back for the final time, blood pooled beneath his head. I knelt down to take a closer look. Just like Tina, there was something in her husband’s nostrils and blood.
Panic hit when I realized I might have his blood in my mouth or nose. I rushed to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. There was a lot of blood on my shirt and a little on my cheek, but none in my mouth or up my nose. Thank God.
I took off my shirt and washed my face and my chest with the foaming soap next to the sink. As I made my way out I surveyed the damage in the cabin. They had really feathered their nest, but they went out just as ugly as Greg. Maybe even uglier.
As I made my way back to our cabin, I marveled at what a beautiful day it was. Once again, the trees were beautiful and once again I had almost died. Mary was waiting for me in front of our cabin.
“The Hell To What You Happened?”
I looked at her trying to figure out what the Hell she was saying. That’s when I noticed a drop of blood falling from her nose.
“Damnit. I mean what the Hell happened to you” she asked.
“Nothing,” I said. “Just needed to deal with the neighbors”.
She smiled, but there was worry in her eyes. I took her and side and we laid down on our bed.
It was a while before one of us broke the silence.
“We tried,” she said.
“Yes, yes we did. Nobody can fault us that”.
A tear fell from her eye. A little bead of blood rolled sideways down her face.
“I love you,” she said.
“I love you too,” I said, trying to fight back tears of my own.
We laid there, holding each other until we fell asleep.
- -
When I woke up later, Mary was gone. A piece of paper was lodged in my hand. I unrolled it and saw that Mary had written, “Gone For A Swim, Love Mary”. I let out a laugh as hot tears ran down my face. It was already the following morning, dawn light peaking through the curtains.
I made my way down to the shoreline. What I saw broke my heart, but it didn’t surprise me. Mary was floating face down in the lake. I sat down in my beach chair and cried my eyes out.
- -
I’ve lost so much over the last few days. My friend is dead. I failed to save one neighbor’s life and was forced to kill another in self-defense. I have seen children die before their prime. Worst of all, my loving wife is floating in the waters she loved so much.
I am an only child and my parents are gone. Mary was the only person I loved. We hoped to start a family soon, but that will never happen now. The best I have now is to watch her float further out in to Lake Huhawira.
You may wondering why I’m bothering to tell you all this, why post this online?
911 isn’t picking up anymore. I haven’t heard a car pass for a while either. According to the news this isn’t happening. That leads me to believe, that hopefully this is only happening here.
You see, I finally pieced it all together. For the first time in my life, it was good that I’m afraid of the water. Mary, Greg, The Bassos, they all went swimming. All of them submerged their heads underwater. All of them had bloody noses.
The wriggling things, I think they travel up your nostrils. They get up to your brain, and they eat away at your mind. Sometimes they go far enough back you just drop dead.
I’m pretty sure that’s what is happening here. That’s why I’m posting this. If you are anywhere near Lake Huhawira, don’t put your head underwater. You might catch them too.
Now I’m going to log off. I’m going to think about things for a while. Think about my parents, think about my wife, think about my friends, and all the other people I love and miss. I’ll think about trees and water.
I used to love coming to this place. Even with what’s happened here, it’s still so beautiful. I’m just watching Mary drift off now. I can see why she loved the water so much. I’m just going to sit here and watch her drift away. What then? Who knows?
Maybe I’ll even go for a swim.