Plop.
“Oh no!” I cried as I watched the water ripple into endless circles. I saw that this was going to happen just five seconds before, yet stood frozen with unbelief.
“Grab the net! Grab the NET!” Cyan pointed to the corner of the deck.
“I can’t even see it.” I said as I gazed into the water. I tried using the net but it was hopeless. All the memories I had collected for the past two years were gone.
Forever.
In a cloud of algae.
- – - – - – - – - -
It’s the last Monday of May, Memorial Day 2013. Cobalt and I agreed after our week of fun and activity with friends and family that we would relax today. So he sat at his desk to play a computer game while I sat at my laptop to play virtual Scrabble and listen to music. At one point I was bored of staring at my computer screen, and coincidentally my friend texted me about my garden. That reminded me I should probably go check on it. So I grabbed my phone, my shoes and headed up our hill to the backyard.
While checking on the tomatoes, radishes, carrots, peppers, cucumbers, pumpkins and artichoke plants, I texted my friend about how they were doing.
All of a sudden, I heard a blood curling scream.
Must be kids playing in the woods, I thought. We have a tree line in between our house and our in-law’s house and sometimes the neighborhood kids play in it. Also, being a holiday weekend, this was more likely a fact.
But then I heard it again.
I listened for where it could be coming from and realized it was at my in-law’s house. I continued to listen to see if I heard crying or voices. I did hear voices. And I heard laughing.
I tried to distinguish the voices to figure out who they might be. To my relief, they sounded much like my sister in laws’. More at ease, but still curious what was going on, I walked over to their house. Soon enough, I learned that the girls were in their pool-pond and that one had pushed the other in. I smiled.
I talked to them for a few minutes across the fence that encircled the pool. Then felt sweat dripping down my back I decided that dangling my feet in the water would be refreshing. I’ve never liked their pond-pool, though (I’ve always been afraid of frogs/tadpoles of any kind), and thankfully the sisters know that, so they agreed not to push me in.
We talked for a while, then the girls decided they wanted to get out. Cyan walked out, grabbed her towel and began drying off. Cerulean did the same, only she asked me to toss her her towel. Intending to walk home afterwards, I slipped on my shoes and grabbed my phone. Then picked up Cerulean’s towel and tossed it to her.
That’s when I saw something else in the air.
I knew what it was but felt stuck. Had I had five more seconds, maybe, just MAYBE I would have done something. But really, if the pool hadn’t been a pond that would have been even better.
Plop.
“Oh no!” I cried as I watched the water ripple into endless circles.
“What?” Cerulean asked.
“My phone! My phone dropped into the water…” I replied.
“Grab the net!” Cyan pointed at to the corner of the deck.
I rushed to grab it, hoping and praying with all my heart that it would help.
“I can’t even see it.” I said as I gazed into the water. I tried using the net but it was hopeless. The water was black with fish, microscopic creatures and plants.
I was bummed. All the memories I had collected for the past two years were gone.
Forever.
In a cloud of algae.
Cerulean and Cyan tried to help. They went inside to find a flashlight. But couldn’t find a waterproof one. None of us wanted to dive into the water anyway because it was too deep.
Just my luck that it fell into the DEEP end of the pool. . .
- – - – - – - – - -
Needless to say, I learned my lesson:
- Don’t bring your phone anywhere near water even if you don’t think you’re going to drop it in the water.
- Don’t throw a towel in the same hand as a phone.
- Don’t get attached to any phone. You never know when it’s going to break/get lost/get water logged.
So in the meantime I have no phone until August when Cobalt and I get a new phone plan (I’m still on my parents’.)
If anyone has an old flip phone (that’s what mine was) that they’d like to give me, I’d much appreciate it. Otherwise, it might be nice not to have a phone for a while! :)
-Hope