The Pool Shapeshifter

I was Year One in 2017, February. I had a first nice month of Term One with no swimming. 

   I hated swimming! Then March came. 

  “From tomorrow on, we will go swimming in the school pool,” announced my teacher.

    But I hadn’t had any swimming lessons. I could barely blow bubbles and I didn’t know how to float, so I always sank!

My inner voice mocked me silently. Go and sink!

   I tried not to think that, but it was true: without my goggles I couldn’t see!

   The next day we went to the pool. We lowered ourselves down the ladder. Then my friend Violet dragged me to the deep end. I could feel nervous tinglings in my throat, urging me to speak. But I was scared. 

Drown, said my inner voice.  

I uttered a word. “No! I like the shallow end.”     

I was terrified of the water and being wet because I couldn’t touch the floor with my hands. Having wet hair made my shoulders cold. I was shocked each time the cold surged over me.

The water was a monster that existed in my mind but seemed real. It was a shadow that loomed over me, waiting for me to drown. The water was a kraken and made me curl in fear. It made me more afraid of the water as it turned into a hungry shark. It also turned into an octopus squirting ink into my face. It fed on my fear.

I knew I had to overcome my phobia of the water, then I would have fun!

When I got home I told Mum and Dad.

“You need to pretend you are in the pool and stick your head under the shower,” they said. 

I was stunned by this suggestion but I agreed.

   I tried 1 million times to bear the water! So every day in the shower I practised the same techniques: I swam from the shark, caught the octopus, threw stones at the kraken and shone light on the shadow. It helped me not to be afraid.  

  Each time I stopped, discouraged, Mum and Dad gave approval and kept encouraging me strongly. 

  “Good,” they said. “ Keep on trying! You can do it!”

  My inner voice tried to discourage me though. C’mon! Let yourself give in to the water! Give in to your fear. Your fear… 

  But I always ignored it and kept trying continuously. 

  I repeated the techniques in my mind for ages and splashed water on my head. I practised until one day I dripped water on my head without thinking. I had gotten rid of the shadow, kraken, shark and octopus. I overcame my fear!

   Two weeks later, I widened my eyes as the water ran down my hair. I had gotten used to the water now. My parents thought I was so brave that they told my teacher, and she gave me a certificate for the achievement! I was proud of myself.