The bird excitedly chirped as the cool morning
air blew and the sun
was shining brightly even though
it had just
rose
a few hours ago.
Bell practically sleepwalked down the carpet-covered stairs. She sleepily threw her
hair in a messy ponytail
then made her
way towards the
kitchen, where she found her
mother, already dressed in her work uniform
reading the newspaper with the coffee brewing on the kitchen
table. She already had her
hair at the top of her
head in a clean, neat bun and
her lips were
a deep shade of red.
She turned her head when
she felt Bell’s presence and scanned
her outfit in
disgust. She muttered something incoherently and gestured to Bell’s
toast. “Eat this toast”
her mother said, not
taking her eyes off
the newspaper. “Mom, why don’t you
ever cook something
like pancakes?” Bell whined. “Isa, we’ve been
through this. Toast is healthier,
pancakes make you fat” she pointed a stern
finger at Bell’s
frown. “First of all,
mom it’s Bell – not Isa. And second, there is no way I’m
going to compete in that
math championship thing, I’m competing with the swimming team, mother” she emphasized. Her mother glared at
her and leaned
closer. “Bell if there’s
any championship you’re competing in, it’s Math” she stood from her
stool, making a loud screech. Bell
slumped back in her seat. Frowning, her mother folded her newspaper. “If I hear
anything about any other championship that’s not Math, I’m going to put you in
a boarding school” her mother threatened and stomped her way out the house.
Bell huffed and threw the apple to the bin and headed to school.
The calm, clear water looks even more beautiful under the lights. Her
long ginger hair was soaked and smelled like chlorine. Bell dove to the bottom
of the pool, her pale skin even paler under the lights above the pool. As her
back touched the pool floor, her eyes squinted, looking to the surface of the
pool. The thump of her heart was beating
loudly, as if to echo throughout the pool water. Her legs wriggled around,
keeping her underwater, making her feel as if she was a mermaid. She was
finally calm, until she felt the tip of her callused fingers touch a soft
object. She whipped her head to the right, and that’s when her heart skipped a
beat. She could feel her heart drop to the pit of her stomach and it seemed as
if she lost all capability of screaming. There, at the bottom of the pool next
to her, was her mother. Pale, limp and mouth agape.
Bell’s eyes turned the size of quarters as she sat on her bed, waking
up from her terrible nightmare. She chewed on her manicured nails as her mind
brought her back to this morning when Coach Malone registered her name in the
swimming competition and she agreed right away, not even caring what her mother
would say. She cringed at the sight of her fingers that are still wrinkly due
to spending too much time in the water and let out a sigh as she realized that
the swimming competition is tomorrow yet her mother is still expecting her to
join the mathematics competition. She tried to talk about the swimming
competition during supper but her mother only gave her short replies, not even
paying attention to what she said. When Bell tried to ask why her mother hated
swimming so much, she only gave Bell the evil eye and told her to finish her
meal.
Bell was a nervous wreck as she stood by the crystal blue water in tight
blue spandex. She knew that her mother wouldn’t come, even if she already
placed the white envelope on her mother’s bedside table this morning. Her heart
skipped a beat as Coach Malone called her name and there she stood by the edge
of the pool, readying herself to hop in when her eyes met a pair of familiar
confused hazel eyes in the crowd. The neat bun could be easily spotted from
afar and that familiar business-outfit and deep shade of red lipstick is hard
to miss. As the whistle was blown, the brown eyes were filled with something
Bell couldn’t fathom. Was it sadness or happiness? Bell didn’t have time to stare longer as she heard the whistle blown and before
her mind process
it all, her body was already in the water, swimming to the other edge. Her long legs easily brought
her back to
the edge of the pool
where she hopped
in and she was quickly lifted from the pool as
her teammates hug her
tight. A chorus of “we won! We won! Thanks to you!” filled her ears as she searched
for those brown eyes and the neat bun and red lipstick. As her head turned, she found those brown eyes
beaming with happiness and those
red lips curved up into
a smile. As the figured neared closer,
it hugged her
drenched body and whispered
“I’m so proud of
you. You’re just like
your father, you belong in
the pool” and with that,
Bell’s mind took her
back to the times when
she could lay
on her father’s chest and hear his heartbeat
drumming.
