Guy--Part Eighteen

Splog # 74

Eighteen

 

   Reclined in the water as he was, Guy felt too lazy to bring his head up so he could see how far he was from the shore. He heard the waves breaking on the beach so he knew he was reaching it slowly and surely. His eyes closed against the glare of the sky; he felt himself relaxing into the coolness of the water under him as small swells gently ran all along his skin at the point where the elements of air and water met. The warm air spread over him, reinforcing the languidness that was taking possession of him. He felt as if he was being caressed between two giant hands, one of cool water and one of warm air. And then the hands began to slowly turn in opposite directions. It was a strange sensation as the water rotated easily clockwise and yet on his face and chest he could feel the air gently blowing counter-clockwise. It felt as though someone was stirring the water. He opened his eyes. Although he could feel himself going around and around, there was nothing in that vast white sky for his eyes to catch on to and so he had no visual sense of motion. He made an attempt to straighten up so he could see the shore, but he found that the two hands were holding him firmly, laid out flat on the surface of the water. And now he found that the only sound was the quiet murmur of water rippling against his body. No longer could he hear waves breaking on the shore. He started to feel frightened. Had he drifted out to sea instead of in to the shore? And was he now caught in a whirlpool of some kind? The rotating motion was slowly beginning to pick up speed. And he was still being held motionless by pressure from above and below.

   And then he felt himself starting to sink. Yet, even though the sensation of slowly dropping downwards was unmistakable, he didn't go beneath the water. It must be a whirlpool, he decided, for he could see, from the corners of his eyes, water rising around him. And he was sinking in the center. He eyed the walls of water encircling him nervously, worried that at some point they would start to collapse and wash over him. They remained upright and he wondered if they were spinning around as he was or if they were holding stationary as he spun around within them. And then the sensation of descending gradually slowed and, after a few moments, it ceased. He was still spinning around and he still couldn't change his position, but now he was lying suspended in the depths of a cone with sides composed of water.

   And then he heard Splog's voice saying, "Do you know what's good for you?" He could feel the pebble pressing against his leg in the damp pocket of his shorts.