Bittersweet Candy Bowl

31. Carry On, original chapter posted 2/4/07

Page 3 of 6

Transcript

*The students stand on a strip with raised bumps along the pool.*
Middle-school gym teacher: Now, you feel that texture around the perimeter?

Middle-school gym teacher: That’s one of those new safety features. It keeps you dummies from slipping and falling.
Mike: Hmm, smart.
*Lucy is panting nervously beside him.*

Middle-school gym teacher: None of you should be running in here in the first place, but the school doesn’t want to pay a cent for any idiotic behavior.
*Daisy looks to the side uncomfortably.*
Daisy: Geez
*Mike smiles nervously.*
Mike: He’s a little direct..
*Lucy, still panting, stares at the water.*

*She starts trembling.*
Lucy (thinking): But..

*Lucy’s anxious face is reflected in the water. Mike stands next to her, not noticing her plight.*
Lucy (thinking): W-what if I can’t get out..?!

Lucy (thinking): What if..

*Mike finally notices and turns to Lucy, concerned. Lucy looks gloomy.*

*Lucy shakily grabs onto Mike’s hand.*
Lucy (thinking): What if HE can’t get out?

*Lucy recalls Mike, panicking and shouting for help as he floated away.*
Mike: LUCY!!

*Lucy squeezes her eyes shut in anguish.*
Lucy (thinking): No!

*Lucy remembers her and Mike sinking downward, Lucy struggling to breathe.*

*Lucy clenches Mike’s hand tightly.*
Lucy: NO!

*Mike winces in pain.*
Mike: Oww! Lucy?!

*Lucy panics.*
Lucy (thinking): I can’t feel like that ever again.. I can’t.. I have to get out of here.. He.. we..

*Lucy looks at her and Mike’s reflections. She’s breathing heavily.*
Lucy (thinking): Away from.. from..

*Lucy shudders, and her eyes lower.*
Lucy (thinking): ..water..

*Lucy looks dazed and starts tilting backward.*

*Mike looks at Lucy, unnerved.*
Mike: Lucy..?

Author commentary

Veronica: You can see Lucy’s train of thought in this.. just bashing herself endlessly about various worries and concerns.. building up until it finally explodes into a frenzy.. everything is completely unstable.

It’s sad because Mike doesn’t really understand what’s happening to her, and you can’t really blame him because he was unconscious for a lot of the time! He didn’t think what happened was that big of a deal, but it really took a toll on Lucy.