Carina Silver awoke face up on a diving board. She had grown so used to
sleepwalking that she no longer freaked out about it. Regularly, she
returned to the world of the living in awkward, or even dangerous,
positions. It was best to remain as still as possible until she could assess
the situation. She saw a waterslide in the middle distance, but it was still
difficult to tell how far up she was. She had to move to figure that out.
She sat up slowly, and braced herself on the edges. Swinging her legs down
to straddle the board, she now realized she was on the high dive, and also
that the pool was empty. It wasn’t covered, or anything. Judging by the
leaves and trash below her, it was abandoned long ago. Falling from this
height could be fatal, and even if she survived impact, it could potentially
be years before anyone else came round here. The two ladders still remaining
appeared to be in bad shape, as was the board. The more she moved, the more
she could hear it slide against the bolts that once held onto it tight. It
was a wonder she hadn’t fallen to her head while she was still asleep.
Obviously the more she approached the steps to safety, the more stable the
surface would become, but getting far enough away from the far end was going
to be hard. It might be impossible. She made one move towards the steps, and
the entire thing came up like a seesaw, tipping her over towards an early
death. Carina exhaled as it teetered, hoping the release of air made her
light enough to keep from going over. She didn’t know if that had anything
to do with it, but the board did end up tottering back, and returning to its
rightful place. Moving was not an option. She had to keep it in balance, so
if she was ever going to get off this thing, it was going to take a miracle,
or maybe just some assistance.
Carina was a quiet person, both literally and socially. She spoke in low
volumes, and said unprovocative things. She didn’t like to disturb people,
and even now, when calling out for help could save her life, she struggled
to speak beyond a whisper. She kept trying to raise her voice, so others
would know she was in trouble, but she just couldn’t do it. Part of it was
fear that her voice alone could tip her back towards the concrete below, but
most of it was because of how unnatural and unfamiliar it felt. Before too
long, she gave up, and lay back down on the board to watch the stars. She
could not see them well when the tears welled in her eyes, and rolled down
her temples. She fell back asleep, knowing that she could end up falling
over because of it, but also calculating there to be a remote chance that
her sleepwalking self would figure out the problem for her. When she awoke
yet again, the stars were gone, and the sun was blinding her eyes. The sound
of joyful cries and laughter overwhelmed her ears. A few drops of water made
it all the way up to her, and danced upon her shoulders. She sat up and
looked around. Yes, she was still above the pool, but it was no longer
abandoned. It was full of patrons, mostly children, and also water. They
were jumping off the two lower boards, and chasing each other around, and
swimming laps in the lanes. Had she traveled through time, or filled the
pool with her own tears, or had she simply imagined the state of the place
last night, and it was actually all fine all along? They were having all
sorts of fun, and appeared to be unperturbed by her presence. A child was
standing at the top of the steps, waiting to take his turn on the high dive.
Below them, Carina could see a line of others. They weren’t complaining, or
yelling at her. They were just waiting patiently, and letting her take all
the time she needed. Even so, she didn’t want to keep them waiting, so
Carina smiled and waved at everyone. Then she rolled over, and dove into the
water.
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